I've got a thing for unlikable narrators...
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The Blurb:
When an unexpected encounter prompts 30 year-old Livvy Wood to reminisce about an old flame, she ventures into dangerous territory. She believes she may just get a second chance, a chance to turn the clock back, a chance to be happy. But the hands of time carry more baggage than even she expects.
As Livvy obsessively pursues her first love, Cameron, she embarks on a life-changing journey of self-discovery which, turning her life upside down, forces her to reevaluate her present as it appears an unhealthy fixation on the past can't but have catastrophic repercussions for her future.
Emotionally compelling and, at times, darkly humorous, this edge-of-the-seat psychological thriller witnesses one woman’s life spiralling out of control as she searches for fulfillment through her obsession with the three loves of her life: her husband, her first love, and the one that got away.
The Review
I've developed a thing for books that have really unlikable narrators. You know, the ones that are obnoxious, self centered, needy and duplicitous; because they make for a fascinating read. (It's all very well liking the protagonist, but things are much more fun when you really want to see them get their comeuppance.)
I preface this review with that fact, so that you understand how I feel when I say Livvy, the protagonist and main narrator in 'When you were working' is a complete piece of work. She is self-centered to the point of being narcissistic, a borderline alcoholic, judgemental of everyone around her and incredibly needy. I loved her!
I was chuffed to be lent this book by a work colleague who knows the author. (On a side note, it was especially nice to have a hard copy of a new book to read rather than a kindle version.) I've read a lot of debut fiction over the past few months, since taking the reviewing more seriously and this totally stands up amongst the best of them.
'When You Were Working' focusses on the relationships between Livvy, her husband, her ex and the proverbial 'one that got away'. To start off I was confused about the relationships between these characters; who was following who, who is genuine and who is a bit shady etc. However the story deliberately unwinds slowly, tantalisingly drip feeding information, so all slowly becomes clear.
There were a couple of unanswered questions for me - what brought on this obsessive behaviour in Livvy? We seem to come in to the story at the point where she is bordering on some kind of breakdown and I wanted to know what had brought her to that moment where she starts to throw rationality out of the window. Also, the story relies on one hell of a coincidence to bring everything together, which seemed slightly far fetched, but I'll let that go for the other unexpected occurance at the end that had me reeling. I did not anticipate that.
This is a great, fast paced, easy to read thriller, with well fleshed out characters. The author does a great job of depicting the mindset of a woman who is slowly becoming unhinged, which sometimes makes for an uncomfortable and anxious read! (A few times I found myself going, "What are you doing, woman?!" to the main character) This is an impressive debut and I look forward to seeing what comes next from Joanna Merrin.
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