You, Me & the Sea

BY A LONG STRETCH, THE BEST BOOK I’VE READ IN YEARS: A HEART-STOPPING, PAGE-TURNING MASTERPIECE In a recent interview, EH revealed that this book started life as a thriller and I believe that genre transition has absolutely made this book. I’d hesitate to call it a romance - even though it’s undoubtedly a beautiful love story - because that’s far too reductionist. It’s a story of love, redemption and forgiveness with so much emotional impact it leaves you breathless. It left me wanting to pack up my life and move to the island of Must, I wanted to live in that lighthouse, just so I could be a fly on the wall of these characters’ lives. The only other book that has made me feel this way is Jane Eyre and I believe this a literary masterpiece of our times, one of those truly special books that only comes along once in a while. There are hints of Wuthering Heights with its rugged island backdrop and equally rugged male protagonist. But it’s the telling details (those carefully placed but easily glossed-over red herrings that you usually find in a thriller) that instantly grip you by suggesting something deeper and darker is at play. The result: you’re thrown to the edge of your seat, desperate to turn page after page, to get to the truth of these characters, their backstories and their motivations which are surprisingly complex and compelling and not what you would expect from a typical love story. A good thriller (while plot-twisting and exciting) can often leave you cold. And a romance (while warm and cosy) often lacks page-turning tension. YM&TS creates a phenomenal blend of both: a heart-stopping, page-turning love story. Read it if you love thrillers, read it if you love romance, read it no matter your genre; you won’t be disappointed. This book feels glued to your hands as you tell yourself, ‘Just another ten pages… Oh, all right then, another ten… Oh all right then, ten more…’ EH also said in that interview that she felt bereft when the book was finished because she missed the characters and found herself writing more about them just to spend time with them. And that’s exactly how I feel as a reader - bereft that it’s over; I would buy a sequel in a heartbeat and I hope EH writes more books like this because she’s clearly made for them. Thank you, Elizabeth Haynes, you’ve made my year with this book and it’s only February!