Book Blurb
Every ending is a new beginning . . .
No one expected Marnie Fitzpatrick to be expelled from school . . . but the aftermath will haunt her forever.
No one imagined she’d fall for the boy from the wrong side of town . . . until the day she saw him dancing alone.
No one could know she had the one thing he needed to capture his dreams . . . the courage to chase them.
My Review
What a surprise – a delightful one.
I didn’t know what to expect from this book. I hadn’t read any reviews and I hadn’t read or even heard of the Richard and Judy hype that surrounded Ms Rice’s previous work until I strolled over to Amazon to copy and paste the blurb. But isn’t that the best way to be? I had no preconceived notions, only her words and my thoughts.
As a writer books have two elements plots and writing style, or voice if you like. Some excel at one. Some writers have such a distinct voice that with one paragraph their name is shouting from the pages. Others hide their voice or lack of under the guise of careful plotting; plotting that frequently falls at the last hurdle. You only have to wander the many psychological thrillers that seem to have invaded the top places on Amazon at the moment, or to be more exact the lack lustre reviews to see what I mean. I’ve blogged before about how I hate sloppy ill thought endings – better to spend longer on that extra edit, Beta feedback than let your reader down. That’s why Love Notes for Freddie gets 4.999 ⭐️. Call me picky but I’d have loved a little scene squeezed in between Marnie’s mother and her step-father after the haircut – that would have made this the perfect read.
Written from two perspectives – the voice of Marnie and her Maths Teacher, Miss Crewe Love Notes for Freddie deals with the aftermath of Marnie’s expulsion fom her public school, the repercussions of which touch many lives. This is more than a love story. It’s more than a coming of age novel and, whilst elements of a Sixties Kitchen sink drama are evident it’s more than the sum of all these parts. The writing flows and Ms Rice’s strong empathetic voice screams through. There’s a flavour of Mary Wesley in the writing, I could easily see this in my library nestling up between Harnessing Peacocks and The Camomile Lawn.
Well written and unusual – what more do you want?
Thank you NetGalley for the ARC in return for my thoughts
Available from Amazon here
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️+
Jenny O'Brien HQ 