The Flatshare by Beth O'Leary/ Book Review
The Flatshare by Beth O'Leary follows Tiffy and Leon- two people that share a bed and have never met. This alone initially got my attention. The pair have a clock in clock out system whereby Leon works as a night nurse hence leaving Tiffy the flat late in the evenings and early in the mornings. Tiffy goes off to work during the day meaning Leon has the space to himself.
Fair enough you may think but the reason why they share a bed is that rent in London is not cheap and they both are at a disadvantage in the world of money.
As a way of communicating they leave notes to one another. Essentially, the story is about how much you can get to know about someone without actually meeting them but seeing their world play out around you. Clothes drying on the clothes horse, a coffee cup left on the side- it's true detective work to piece together this person you have a fairly intimate life with (in the way of living together, of course).
This is a brilliant book and a wonderful story. One I am so so happy to have read!
I will say now before I continue that this post will include some spoilers. Apologies for this but there is no way I can refrain from talking about this book without mentioning a couple of giveaways. Therefore, I urge you to read the book (because it's amazing) and come back to this here blog post so we can have a chat about how wonderful it is. Note that commenting on this blog does not always work. It has funny moments sometimes. I will leave my social media links right at the end as I would love to know what others have thought.
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| I read on the beach... |
Where do I begin? I've wanted a book to love and enjoy reading for a while and that is exactly what I got. I loved the story! It was light of heart with serious themes filtering through. What I really enjoyed was the switch in chapters. Tiffy would be talking and you would get to know her fun and quirky personality and then you would read from Leon's perspective who evidently works very hard to the point of lacking the energy to form a full sentence. But don't judge too quickly as he is true of heart and a real essence to the story.
Tiffy...
I adore Tiffy's tendency to over-explain and drift off slightly from the point. She is very funny and made me break into a smile on numerous occasions.
As events unravelled it became clear that she was mistreated in her previous relationship with Justin. I think the authour wrote this recovering part of Tiffy realistic in that her recovery is a process and she wouldn't just be fixed upon entering a new relationship. The reader is revealed to the wrongdoing of Justin gradually- at first, the picture was painted that Tiffy was the one in the wrong and in quite a sad place after staying in Justin's home past the point of breakup. When actually this was part of the crazy exes need for control and wanting Tiffy around. What a tool! She was still tiptoeing around Justin and making sure that every decision made wouldn't upset him as he had a way of emotionally abusing her.
Tiffy comes a long way in the story and I can see that by leaving Justin behind her she's coming into her own life.
Speaking of the whole Justin situation, I really thought it was Rachel that was going to be the one that was filling Justin in on Tiffy's whereabouts- I've read enough books to be suspicious of every character. Either that or Justin had somehow bugged Tiffy and installed a tracker on her phone. My imagination ran wild.
Tiffy's family wasn't mentioned all that much which gave me the impression that she wasn't connected to them. I perceive this to be the work of ex-boyfriend Justin pulling her away from the people who care about her. In fact, her father was mentioned in a loving light near the end of the book which may prove my theory.
Tiffy's crazy outfit choices and colour-combos is another favourite feature and just made me fall for her charms even more so.
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| I read in a garden... |
Leon...
I wasn't warming to him all too much at first but after finding his mannerisms and responses to things part of his introverted nature I quite liked him. It's funny looking back at earlier pages and reading how shut down he was in his life- almost, at least. He cared a lot about his imprisoned brother and the patients he took care of. I feel I'm right in saying he didn't feel settled in himself until Tiffy came along. He had a lot going on and he needed a bit of colour to light this difficult time.
From reading the life of Leon I can see that he's incredibly caring, funny without realising and passionate for good causes. I am well and truly won over
Tiffy and Leon wouldn't necessarily be matched on paper and most definitely wouldn't be ones to approach each other in a social situation normally but they ended up being what the other needed. For Tiffy, she needed someone patient and caring. For Leon, he needed fun in his life and to let loose of his comfort zone in a way that happened slowly. He was also in a state of being without really living his best life. They both found true happiness when the other came along. How intriguing that this came from an initially slightly dodgy situation.
I would always come away from reading with a loving feeling. Even though I wasn't physically reading it, my mind was always with the story. I also managed to find the name Leon on every car that passed. I even got muddled with names similar to Tiffy in real life.
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| ...amongst the plants! |
I can imagine this book as a film and it would be interesting to see the faces of the characters as my imagination only seems to conjure up the overall aesthetic apart from the facial features.
Two of my family members have asked to read the book after me simply from seeing the front page!
Light-hearted, funny and definitely feel-good. My favourite book this year.
Beth, if you ever read this, understand that you've left me wanting more which in my eyes is a darn good outcome for a book! And I think it's amazing that you wrote the book on the train.
Publication day: 18th April 2019
As always, Thank you for reading and I hope you enjoy the book as much as I did!
Love Buddy Summer x
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