Review ; The Versions of Us by Laura Barnett

I was sent this beautiful (I mean look at it, that cover is gorgeous) book to review,  by Rebecca Gray, Senior Publicity Manager for Orion books.

Now I'm going to blog about it. Where to start?

Well, firstly this is a wonderful, exceptional book by Laura Barnett. I loved it. It is her first novel and she deserves a medal. I expect she will get several.

It is a love story told three ways. Now as I writer I've tried to write a story two ways and believe me it's not easy. To write a story from three different perspectives is the literary equivalent of running a marathon, fixing your make up and tossing a pancake all at the same time.

There are many 'time slip' stories out there and I've enjoyed a lot of them. The Kate Mosse books are among my favourites. The Versions of Us brilliantly explores the moments when we make a decision, choose a path in life, and therefore other ways are closed forever. The 1998 film Sliding Doors examined this idea with great skill. This book is way beyond that in terms of complication and it pulls no punches.

What if a different choice had been made?
How would our lives have turned out?
What would we have achieved?
Who else would have been affected by our new course?
Ultimately, did we make the right choice?
And what is the 'right' choice?

The story of Eva and Jim spans several decades from 1958 when they meet in Cambridge and fall in love. Life does not work out as the reader assumes. Other people enter the story and influence their lives. In the three versions, there is love, disappointment, joy, betrayal and loyalty interwoven with human weakness and also strength.

The book follows Eva and Jim's three different lives, the connection between them interwoven with considerable skill. During the writing process Laura Barnett must have had a wall papered with post it notes!

I read a lot and a good book involves me in the character so that I care about them. Many times, I have abandoned a book because I didn't care, the main character deserved a slap for being so stupid or their story was too predictable.

Laura Barnett has created convincing and likeable people in this novel and a strong story. I really wanted Eva and Jim to be happy, to find each other, to live out the best life path they could.

I am also guilty of speed reading. I couldn't do this with The Versions of Us, I had to read it properly in order to understand the subtlety in the plot. The 'voice' in this book is super.

I recommend this book without reservation. When you see it, (it will be published on 4th June) buy it!
It's been a pleasure to read it.

Location Location Location. Part 1.

We all know that marvellous moment when the house is quiet, everyone is busy or out and it's just you and your Work in Progress. (I was going to say you and your WIP, but that sounded a bit dodgy and these days you can't be too careful) 
We know that doesn't happen very often as there are nearly always some sort of domestic/work related/personal issues tugging at your sleeve, like insistent toddlers looking for biscuits.

The Myth

The Reality

What writers crave is peace, quiet and the knowledge that you now have time to get on with it! And that's what we want too. It's difficult to get immersed in your clever but complicated time-slip romance/historical masterpiece/cosy crime caper if you know dinner needs cooking or someone needs a lift somewhere. And we wanted to find a location for our retreats with that little bit extra.
So this is where we held our October retreat last year.






800 year old Llanthony Secunda Manor. A renovated monastery near Caldicot castle in Gloucestershire.




Yes it was lovely, atmospheric and steeped in history. We had a marvellous time. And not a ghostly monk in sight anywhere.

Workshops with Debi Alper

We had fun too. What a great group!

www.theplacetowrite.co.uk

Cake and Cookies and other delights.

What else do our Merry Band of Writers want we wondered?


When potential buyers step into a house, the scent of newly baking bread, fresh ground coffee or a new batch of cookies should greet them I'm told. Not all at once obviously. You don't want to knock them out before they get inside...


So we like to greet out newly arrived writers with something similar. They seem to like it too.

So this is very popular

And so is this.

It is a real treat for our fellow writers not to have to worry about shopping, meal planning, clearing up, washing up or (very importantly) dealing with other people's meal requirements. These always seem to come just as a tricky scene is beginning to fall into place, don't they? (Mum Mum, I'm starving...)

By the way, we ask before hand for food allergies, dislikes and things to avoid and we listen. Home made soups, pies, tangines, salads, curries and all the accompaniments are among the things we have produced.

And then there is coffee. As many of us know.....

I think a lot of us can relate to this.

Coffee (and lots of it) seems to feature highly on the list of what people want. We certainly do. This also applies to tea and herbal teas. You tell us what you want through the day and we will brew it! We also like to put out Fresh fruit, water and juice so people can help themselves.


Desserts.


I don't know about you, but I seldom bother making these on a daily basis. But on a writing retreat, well that's different.

And so did this.
Home made Choc Pot with strawberries and cream.

Panacotta with fresh raspberries and home made Sloe gin.
This went down very well




Ok, So we've dealt with food.
Next will be Location Location Location


www.theplacetowrite.co.uk

So, let's think about what we like to find at a retreat.
Firstly basic comfort.

We have written in places in winter where the heating was - shall we say - a little reluctant. (It's very hard to type in mittens and a duffle coat.You try.) Also where none of the chairs was comfortable, there was no personal space, and no chance of a swift 5 minutes Candy Crush for fear your neighbour would see what you were up to. This would then provoke one of 2 reactions. 'What on earth do you think you're doing, loser?' or 'Gosh are you only on level 435?'




The Myth







                                                                                                    
                                                                       The Reality



We have been to another where there wasn't enough writing room. Think about it. Writers do like to spread out don't they? Picture a room full of them.

The Myth











                                                                        The Reality





Elbows akimbo, empty coffee mugs, paperwork (WIP versions 1, 3, 15, 65, 120 etc.), pens, laptops, full coffee mugs, phones plus chargers, iPads plus chargers, half filled coffee mugs, Kit Kat wrappers, useful notebooks (several), pencils, cake crumbs, spectacles (usually 2 sorts) plus cases. Ok? You need more than a square foot of space on a communal table for that lot.


You also need a decent amount of space to put your head down onto your arms and sob piteously when it all goes wrong.

Ditto banging head on desk when you realise the following;
1)your MC has switched point of view and then back again like some sort of giddy flapper.
2) your Hero has changed his eye colour/ make of car/ trousers mid scene.
3) That you have used the word 'that' approximately 9 million times. ( 9 million and one).
4) Or you have done a word search for words ending in -ly and the computer hard drive has blown up, scattering adverbs onto your bowed head like confetti.
5) You have absolutely no idea what to write next.

So I think we are agreed, the last thing you need to worry about when you are writing is whether there is any Marmite, (You might not like it but we do), how you are going to get the feeling back into your frozen hands or whether you need to get up at 04.30 in order to put your metaphorical towel on your preferred chair.


www.theplacetowrite.co.uk

Why we started our retreats

Here we go, my first blog. (I wonder if this will work? Other people do it. I can do this. I'm an intelligent adult. Possibly.)

We are writers. We aren't published yet but boy are we keen! Jane and I have known each other for decades. We have been each other's bridesmaids and are godmothers to each others boys. We trained together, worked together and now we write together. It was a natural progression to go on writing retreats and courses together.

We started with the festival of Writing at York in 2013 and apart from the penetrating cold, the geese and the lumpy pillows in the student accommodation, we had a blast. We met lots and lots of lovely and enthusiastic people, including the one and only...the fabulous human dynamo also known as Debi Alper. The woman who -for us - put the creative into creative writing

Debi Alper, author, industry guru, workshop demon, Psychic distance supremo. All round good egg.

The sun rises over York campus

Then we went on retreats.

What did we want? A place to write where we didn't have to worry about anything else. No housework, no chores, a bit of inspiration, some like minded company, plenty of coffee, a couple of workshops to get the creative juices flowing, some cake and a few laughs.
Did we find it? Well sort of.
We thought we could do better.


www.theplacetowrite.co.uk