One Plus One by Jojo MoyesMy rating: 4 of 5 stars
Writers are like magicians, really; by commanding your attention and then subverting it, redirecting it, they make you see, for a time, a world where anything is possible. One Plus One should not work, it is totally implausible! And yet, I believed in it every single minute I was reading, and believe its spirit, if not its details, even now. New fan, here.
The ones of love in this book do not add up to two, they add up to very much more than that. Tanzie loves maths, and smelly dog Norman, and half-brother Nicky and mom Jess and dad Marty, even though Marty is a sleazeball, this being the second time he's abandoned Nicky and he's abandoned her, too--she's just too young to know it and Jess is protecting her. Jess is one of those people who's fallen through the cracks, trying to take care of two kids and herself in a very bad neighborhood, working hard and falling a little bit more behind every day. I cheered for her every step of the way. Ed, geeky rich guy about to be indicted for insider trading, is pulled into the orbit of their lives, and mayhem--and love--ensue.
Oh yes, Jojo can have the empty Binchy and Pilcher spaces on my TBR shelf. Right there next to Joanna Trollope and Lucy Dillon and Marcia Willett and Erica James and Roisin Meaney--and with Jill Mansell, Katie Fforde, Christina Jones, Sarah-Kate Lynch, and Milly Johnson, because she's funny like them, too, in addition to being tender and wise and fierce. Go--buy, read, laugh, weep--and have a fine old time suspending your disbelief!
(I received a temporary e-galley for review, thanks to Penguin and netgalley)
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