I fell in love with this absolutely cracking feel-good read from the very first page. It is full of wryly witty notes, yet has the ability to hit home with precision. A year after Pete was divorced, and he’s still not over his wife, as he struggles to make sense of life help comes from an unexpected direction. This is one of those books where I immediately felt comfortable, I forgot I was meant to be reviewing and just read with total enjoyment. Pete narrates and you get an instant sense of who he is, his words feel as honest and true as can be. While the other characters slip wonderfully in and out of the story, it is Niall who sits as the perfect foil to heart-worn Pete. Author Joe Portman’s tone throughout this book hits all the right notes, I snorted and blurted with laughter, even while feeling the emotional pain that scuds across the pages. This feels like life, life in all its glory, with devastating as well as joyous moments. If you are looking for bittersweet feel-good with perfectly timed layers of comedy then Separation for Beginners is for you. Chosen as a LoveReading Star Book and Liz Pick of the Month, I can recommend it heart and soul.
This is not what Pete thought middle-age would be like. His marriage is over, his business is on its last breaths and he's spending more time than is healthy in a dressing gown. So when his 23-year-old daughter Susie needs to move back home, it's like a glorious ray of sunshine has found him at last.
Except that she brings Niall with her. Niall: the boyfriend. Niall: a druid gardener who inexplicably only works from home. Niall: the annoying shadow that follows Susie everywhere.
Getting Niall out of the house becomes Pete's new purpose in life. But as he tries to bring Niall's flaws to the surface, Pete is forced to admit he's far from perfect himself. And spending time with this oddball - as awkward as it may be - is making Pete open up in ways he'd long shut down.
Separation for Beginners is a warm and wise novel about facing old heartaches and finding new friends, in the unlikeliest of places . . .
This uplifting, laugh-out-loud funny read about new beginnings is perfect for fans of David Nicholls, Beth O'Leary and Marian Keyes. ___________
'Sharp-witted, self-deprecating and honest, had me laughing from start to finish' - Daily Mail
'Sharp and heart-warming' - Daily Mail, Fiction Books of the Year ___________