A review by margymatson
One Night on the Island by Josie Silver

emotional hopeful inspiring medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes

5.0

Wow…this book is sticking with me for a while! Josie Silver has now written two self-journey, coming-of-age books I’ve absolutely adored (the other being The Two Lives of Lydia Bird) and both were automatic favorites. This one is about a magazine writer who writes a dating column and goes to an isolated island as part of a work assignment to marry herself. While there, she meets/lives with (in a rom com situation) a man also escaping the island on a self discovery journey (messy marriage going south). They wind up falling in love but have the understanding it will only ever be a vacation romance because their lives are too incompatible- he has kids, is navigating where to go with his marriage, and lives in the US and she isn’t going to sacrifice her whole life to move to the US and insert herself into his messy situation. I adored the vulnerable writing from both perspectives throughout the novel and how well Josie articulated the “micro love” feeling of falling for someone in a short amount of time and then the sadness of leaving when you’re not ready to say goodbye and “breaking up” when neither of you wants to break up and all the small reminders of them once you’re back to your normal life and how impactful this experience was and how no one else would understand its magnitude and the sadness of eventually having to rip off the bandaid and end the text messages…. So perfectly articulated- a new favorite!!