(no subject)

[skygiants]

I'm trying to remember who it was who I saw mention that Beth O'Leary's The Flatshare was very charming -- I think it was raven? Anyway, it is indeed very charming; it's a contemporary rom-com novel that feels like the best version of a nineties rom-com film, with a delightfully implausible premise, likeable leads, and none of the bits that in retrospect make you think back on the film a decade later and go 'yikes' (at least, I think so now; ask me again I suppose in ten years.)

The delightfully implausible premise: Leon, a perpetually overscheduled night nurse, needs some extra cash to help pay his wrongfully imprisoned brother's legal bills and decides to sublet out his apartment during the hours he's not there. Underpaid publishing assistant Tiffy's extremely bad (controlling and gaslighting) relationship, meanwhile, has just ended so badly that Leon's posting asking for a subletter who's willing to do a timeshare on a one-bedroom as long as they're out doing normal 9-5 work hours so he can crash in between shifts looks astonishingly appealing as long as it lets her get into a new place fast. As a result, they spend a significant chunk of the book communicating only in friendly roommate post-it notes. Very cute! Has the added bonus (for me) that the premise precludes insta-attraction (Tiffy looks Leon up on Facebook before moving in and is like, well, seems like a perfectly average looking individual who is not my type! ideal!) and specifically foregrounds falling for the other person's personality over a long period of time, ideal for me in a romance.

In addition to the wrongfully imprisoned brother and the controlling and gaslighting ex (which shifts to stalker ex over the course of the book, so heads up on that one if that's a hard no), other subplots include:

- Leon's quest to reunite an elderly WWII veteran with his long-lost secret boyfriend by methodically tracking down every member of his unit with the same extremely common name
- Leon's friendship with a precocious preteen recovering from long-term illness
- Tiffy's surprise niche publishing success with a contrarian crochet expert's accidentally-on-trend manuscript

In the nineties rom-com film version of these book, all of these roles are played by veteran character actors/comedians, including all half-dozen elderly veterans that Leon politely lunches with over the course of the book while attempting to discern if they might have possibly a.) have been the protagonists of and b.) have an interest in rekindling a secret gay WWII love affair. The crochet contrarian is probably Jennifer Saunders or Dawn French.

Anyway, enjoyed it very much and would love to know if anyone has read any of O'Leary's other books and has opinions on whether they go down as easy.

Comments

[sovay]

In the nineties rom-com film version of these book, all of these roles are played by veteran character actors/comedians, including all half-dozen elderly veterans that Leon politely lunches with over the course of the book while attempting to discern if they might have possibly a.) have been the protagonists of and b.) have an interest in rekindling a secret gay WWII love affair.

I want this montage extremely.

[schneefink]

+1 Yes please.

[skygiants]

A montage might be the perfect format for this storyline tbh but the version in the book is also extremely good.

[chestnut_pod]

I should reread this; I remember it being truly delightful! Alas, I haven't yet read her others, but this is encouraging me to go out and put some holds on…

[skygiants]

I gulped it down in a day, which I think was good, because it means I will have forgotten almost all of it in a year and thus paves the way for a pleasantly leisurely read next time around!

[rmc28]

I recently read The Road Trip which passed a couple of long train journeys very nicely.

[skygiants]

Excellent, thank you!

[raven]

I think it probably was me yes, so glad you liked it as much as I did! Of her other two books, The Switch is good fun- can’t be as good as this one because nothing could be as great as this premise but v enjoyable (young woman and her grandmother swap lives, hijinks ensue). I didn’t like The Roadtrip though ymmv- it felt much less charming with much less likeable characters. While you’re on books like this though you might like 500 Miles From You by Jenny Colgan!

[skygiants]

Thank you for both this original rec and the additional ones -- have not heard of the Colgan and shall put it on my list forthwith! I am also already excited by the premise of 'young woman and grandmother having individual sets of hijinks.'

[tree_and_leaf]

Are they... hot bunking? Because for some reason I find that idea weirdly squeaky.

[tree_and_leaf]

Squicky. I wish auto carrot would stop trying to help.

[skygiants]

They are (with changing sheets in between, etc). If it helps, everyone else they know also finds it an offputting notion.

[tree_and_leaf]

That does help!

[kate_nepveu]

I don't think I've said so anywhere you'd have seen, but I agree that it was charming! And it manages the recent romance thing of alternating first person with narrative voices that are actually distinct, which is sadly too rare.

[skygiants]

Yes! The distinction of the voices -- and the charm of Leon's narrative voice in particular, which I really loved -- is actually like a solid 80% of what sold me on the book.

[kate_nepveu]

no Leon is probably also why I didn't dive right into The Switch, honestly, but I'm sure I'll get there someday

[sophia_sol]

This sounds delightful! Library hold PLACED.

[skygiants]

I hope you enjoy it! :D

[antisoppist]

Thank you. This weirdly appeared on BBC Sounds when I was looking for Drama to listen to while I do some very boring work so I am listening to it now.

[skygiants]

Oh, excellent, I hope it's a good time!

[antisoppist]

Got me through the afternoon. They did alternating first person narrators and I thought it worked very well as audio. I was a bit squicked by creepy ex but in the end I really liked the way it was clear it wasn't her fault to get sucked in by him and that taking a long time to work out what was happening and recognise it as wrong, and being able to react differently and reassess the past relationship takes time and that is normal. Very non victim-blamey.

It didn't make it clear they were swapping bed linen though and I did wonder about that.

[watersword]

This sounds like extremely my jam.

[skygiants]

I enjoyed it VERY much. The notes are so cute! They swap books and baked goods!

[lirazel]

I have discovered that contemporary romances don't work for me almost ever at all, but of all the ones I've read in the past couple of years, this one was the one I enjoyed most. I liked the main characters, I liked that their falling-in-love had to happen slowly and not be connected to physical attraction at first, I liked all the subplots.

[skygiants]

Yeah, contemporary romance is also often not a genre I vibe with particularly, but I am glad to keep trying it because every so often I find one like this that indeed I feel is a gem!

[oracne]

That sounds utterly charming.

[skygiants]

I found it really delightful!

[castiron]

The creepy ex was what made me put the book down not very far in, but I enjoyed the voices and the premise.

[skygiants]

The creepy ex is indeed very creepy! One knows it will of course all turn out well but his presence is still very unpleasant in the moment.

[nny]

This sounds delightful!

[skygiants]

I liked it very much! :D

[nny]

May have just finished reading it 🤣

[skygiants]

lololol I hope you also liked it very much! 🤣

[obopolsk]

Coming to this post very belatedly, but I have read her others and really liked The Switch and almost equally strongly disliked The Roadtrip. I found The Switch charming; in The Roadtrip, I found some of the characters unpleasant enough that I wasn't really rooting for the love story.