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saboo 's review for:
Before I Met You
by Lisa Jewell
My initial impression of this book was that it was a sweet, historical cozy mystery, but as I read further along I realized it had unexpected heart and depth.
The book flips between dual stories of a young woman in 1995 and her grandmother in the 1920s, tied through a mystery the granddaughter is trying to solve about her family’s past. Their stories, unbeknownst to either of them, have many parallels as they set out from Guernsey to try life in London. They both learn, for good or bad, that one person’s actions can reverberate across the lives of many.
I think you could take away something simplistic in saying that one of the women made better choices that led to a better life, but there is more meat on this bone. How does one protect themselves from the dangers of life? What are the constraints on freedom in different time periods? What do we owe those we love? Does it matter if they love us back?
So many questions and, in this reader’s opinion, Lisa Jewell isn’t moralistic enough to offer us easy answers. Like any of us, each of these women does the best she can with what she’s given and the rest is out of her direct control.
The book flips between dual stories of a young woman in 1995 and her grandmother in the 1920s, tied through a mystery the granddaughter is trying to solve about her family’s past. Their stories, unbeknownst to either of them, have many parallels as they set out from Guernsey to try life in London. They both learn, for good or bad, that one person’s actions can reverberate across the lives of many.
I think you could take away something simplistic in saying that one of the women made better choices that led to a better life, but there is more meat on this bone. How does one protect themselves from the dangers of life? What are the constraints on freedom in different time periods? What do we owe those we love? Does it matter if they love us back?
So many questions and, in this reader’s opinion, Lisa Jewell isn’t moralistic enough to offer us easy answers. Like any of us, each of these women does the best she can with what she’s given and the rest is out of her direct control.