Claire King (1)

I was charmed by this book. Pea is the five year old heroine - a young girl whose English mother, now living in southern France, is too depressed following a late miscarriage and the death of her husband to care for Pea and her young sister Margot. Long days in the French countryside, and Pea and Margot's adventures there, are described in evocative detail. They meet a neighbour, Claude, who loves their outside kingdom as much as Pea does, and who seems to have secrets of his own ......

This book is beautifully and convincingly written from Pea's perspective. Her inner life is richly evoked, as are the sights sounds and smells of the French countryside which is her home. I was seduced by this story, and its ending… (meer)

Everything Love Is has to be the most hauntingly beautiful, thought provoking and poignant story I have read this year; it well and truly captured my heart. I admit that I didn't think I was going to enjoy it at first as I didn't really know what was going on, or indeed from whose point of view I was reading, but then as if the sun appeared from behind a cloud it all became clear. The confusion is part of the point of the story, you see, as you really do get to step into the shoes of a person with dementia and it quite honestly almost broke my heart.

Baptiste is an orphan after an unconventional entrance into the world. He was born on a train to a woman in a green coat carrying a violin case. Unfortunately his mother died during childbirth and he was brought up by the off-duty midwife who delivered him on the train. Baptiste knows nothing of his ancestors so it is no surprise that he is happy with his own company and lives on a houseboat, named Candice, in Toulouse. He makes friends with Sophie, a girl working in his local bar who draws birds on her patrons' napkins. Sophie draws a kingfisher for Baptiste, a bird that looks below the surface of the water rather than its own reflection, a skill that Baptiste has as part of his job as a therapist.

Amandine comes to Baptiste's houseboat for therapy, although quite who is the patient and who is the doctor is a bit muddied as Amandine questions Baptiste about his past. Baptiste falls in love with Amandine but she is his patient so he struggles with his feelings. Throughout the book Baptiste refers, with great affection, to someone with the pet name 'Chouette'; continuing the bird theme, chouette is translated as owl. Could this be Amandine?

Everything Love Is is most definitely a book to be read twice. The first read is filled with questions that all become clear on the way through whereas the second read makes it even more poignant as our eyes are wide open from the start. It is an absolute masterpiece filled with colourful and poetic prose. Claire King has given us a heart-breaking and poignant insight into a devastating condition - a condition where we lose our loved ones even though they can be standing right in front of us. A stunning book, both inside and out.

I received this book from the publisher, Bloomsbury, in exchange for an honest review.… (meer)