Book Review

I Give It A Year by Helen Whitaker #BookReview #Trapeze #NetGalley #4*

Her husband’s moved out – and her dad’s moved in…
Curl up with the page-turning story full of emotion about family, marriage and second chances

It’s New Year’s Eve, and Iris has just found out that her husband, Adam, is cheating on her. Furious, she kicks him out, and enlists her Dad to move in and help with the children whilst she tries to mend her broken heart.

But her Dad soon starts to display signs of Alzheimer’s, and Iris realises that if she loses her partner, she’ll be managing an awful lot on her own. Soon, she realises that Adam wasn’t the only one taking their marriage for granted, and for the sake of the children she decides to give him one more chance.

But is it braver to stay than to run? And can anyone fall in love with the same person twice?

Realistic & Original!

A timely novel; a lot of relationships face difficulties at this time of year so it’s very easy to empathise.

Iris and Adam work as a team at parenting; with both holding down full time jobs it takes two to organise the kids and their activities but when Iris discovers Adam has been cheating on her she immediately kicks him out. With no way of covering the kids on her own, she asks her Dad to help out. He does the best he can but when he shows signs of Alzheimer’s, Iris is aware that she’s going to have to care for him too. When she begins to understand that perhaps Adam wasn’t the only one who taking things for granted, she wonders if they can make amends?

So far this year I’ve read mostly thrillers so this was like a breath of fresh air. Not only a good story – but a very realistic one too. Most of us are so busy taking care of everything we need to keep the ball rolling that it’s not a case of forgetting to put the effort into our relationship but more a matter of being too shattered at the end of the day. This is a very touching tale, and one which will resonate with a lot of readers. As someone who has been a single parent, I really identified with Iris and all she had to deal with on a daily basis. Helen Whitaker has her finger on the pulse and I think this will be a popular novel as it is one full of honest, unpredictable scenarios all of which are dealt with in a sensible and straightforward way. Well written and skilfully crafted, this has made me aware of the author’s work and I shall be keeping an eye out for future novels. Recommended to those who appreciate honest, original writing and one I’m very happy to give four stars.

My thanks to the publisher for my copy via NetGalley; this is – as always – my honest, original and unbiased review.

Tags: women’s humorous fiction

A writer and editor with fourteen years’ experience, I am currently Deputy Editor at British Airways High Life magazine after seven years as Entertainment Director of GLAMOUR UK. I wrote a monthly parenting column for sheerluxe.com between 2018 and 2020 and my first novel, The School Run (Trapeze), a comedy about the lengths parents will got to for a school place, was published in August 2019. My second novel, I Give it a Year, is out in January 2021.

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