REVIEW: I FOUND YOU by Lisa Jewell

GOODREADS BLURB

Published April 25, 2017 By Atria Books

‘How long have you been sitting out here?

‘I got here yesterday.’

‘Where did you come from?’

‘I have no idea.’

East Yorkshire: Single mum Alice Lake finds a man on the beach outside her house. He has no name, no jacket, no idea what he is doing there. Against her better judgement she invites him in to her home.

Surrey: Twenty-one-year-old Lily Monrose has only been married for three weeks. When her new husband fails to come home from work one night she is left stranded in a new country where she knows no one. Then the police tell her that her husband never existed.

Two women, twenty years of secrets and a man who can’t remember lie at the heart of Lisa Jewell’s brilliant new novel.

*****

This book releases TODAY and I’m telling you it’s FANTASTIC and UNPUTDOWNABLE!   Am I over-doing the adjectives?  Oh well, I can’t help it because I LOVED this book. As many of you may remember, I did a mini-review of this one back in November so for everyone who missed that I wanted to provide a full review now.

The story takes place in a quaint coastal seaside town (a favorite setting of mine) which I imagine looks very much like the awesome cover of the book! It’s the story of Alice, Lily and a man with no memory of who he is or how he ended up on a beach in this British seaside town of Ridinghouse Bay. The narrative starts crisp and engaging with Alice, who I immediately connected with and liked. I mean within the first few pages of meeting Alice, hearing her speak, being privy to her thoughts, I was rooting for her. Could be that I totally sympathized  with having to try to reason with dogs who weren’t listening and following directions! Whatever the reason, Lisa Jewell pulled me in in those first few pages and I knew I wasn’t leaving my couch anytime soon.

The plot was intriguing in that it alternates between Alice’s situation, Lily’s predicament of her missing husband, and the goings on of the Ross family on their vacation in 1993. You will get to know all of these characters while at the same time trying to figure out the heart of this mystery. Or should I say mysteries because there really is more than one! Let me tell you, I had my theories throughout this page turner but just when I thought I for sure had it figured out Lisa Jewell added a new detail or revealed a different layer and I was second guessing what I thought I knew. I love it when that happens! I really don’t want to say anymore about the plot because ( for me ) I really enjoyed not knowing anything about his book other than the Goodreads blurb.

Here’s what’s important to know…the chapters are short, the dialogue is spot on and the mystery is puzzling. Add to that the allure of the setting and you’ve got a one-sit read because I’d be really surprised if you can put this down after starting it…I couldn’t.

Many thanks to Bookreporter.com’s Sneak Peak contest and Atria Books for my copy of this book. I’m happy to provide an honest review