Tiffy and Leon share a flat
Tiffy and Leon share a bed
Tiffy and Leon have never met…
I’ve been trying to set up a night routine and this has meant I am reading more. I saw The Flatshare by Beth O’Leary on Laura Jane’s Instagram account and instantly purchased! The premise of two Londoners sharing a bed intrigued me. This is a situation that some people do to afford to live in this expensive city. Our female lead Tiffy finds herself in need of a place to live urgently and Leon, a night shift worker, needs funds to help his brother. Having never met they share the one bedroom flat, communicating through notes, so many notes!
Strict access times are put into place, wardrobes are cleared out and Tiffy is moved in. Tiffy is a craft book editor whose latest author loves to crochet clothing. Leon works nights as a palliative care home and is a bit of a loner. His girlfriend Kay is not that supportive of the flat share situation, and their relationship seems doomed from the start. Tiffy and Leon have a fantastic mix of support characters, perfectly formed and help answer all our questions about the flat sharing situation! The drama of the story comes into play with Tiffy dealing with Justin, an ex-boyfriend turned stalker and Leon trying to help his falsely accused brother get out of jail.
Hi Leon,
Would you mind putting the toilet seat down please?
I’m afraid I was unable to write this note in a way that didn’t sound passive-aggressive – seriously, it’s something about the note form, you pick up a pen and a Post-it and you immediately become a bitch – so I’m just styling it out. I might put some smiley faces to really hammer the thing home.
Tiffy x
I absolutely adored O’Leary’s story as she has incorporated lots of modern references including her characters use of Facebook messenger and conversations about gaslighting. There is a great tension created around Justin. I knew he was going to suddenly appear but never knew when! He always had a way of making contact or turning up just as Tiffy had a breakthrough in her life. We can all relate to this!
The cover says ‘the next Jo Jo Moyes’ however I disagree. Moyes books have a depression about them where as O’Leary’s book has a more positive light. O’Leary writes of Tiffy’s counselling sessions with empathy, showing us how slowly her character is regaining her confidence after being emotionally abused. I was really impressed with the overall tone of the book and how it dealt with quite serious subjects without losing the sense of romance and comedy.
If you only have budget for one book this year buy The Flatshare by Beth O’Leary. Or request it from your local library. Did you know authors get recognised and paid for library loans too? Happy reading, PF xo.
