The Love of Her Life (Paperback)

~ (Author)

Editorial Reviews

Product Description

From bestselling author Harriet Evans, acclaimed worldwide for storytelling that is "fabulous" (Sophie Kinsella) and "brilliantly observed and emotionally charged" (Daily Mirror, London) comes a dazzling new novel of heartbreak, loss, and healing, in which a young woman must cross an ocean -- and the chasm in her own heart -- to discover the love of her life.

In London, Kate Miller had an enviable life: an exciting job at a fashion magazine, an engagement and a wedding to plan. Then it all fell apart -- spectacularly, painfully, and forever. That was three years ago...and she fled to New York City to live with her mother and stepfather.

Now Kate is a true New Yorker, in love with the pace and rhythm of Manhattan. But deep down, she knows her life is in a holding pattern, that there is something -- someone -- more to love. But when her father becomes ill, Kate realizes it's time to return and face the friends and the memories she left behind. What really happened before Kate left London? Can she pick up the pieces and allow herself to love life again?

About the Author

Harriet Evans is the author of the international bestseller Going Home, available from Downtown Press. She lives in London, where she works in publishing and is writing her next novel.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 448 pages
• Publisher: Downtown Press (June 2, 2009)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1439113157
• ISBN-13: 978-1439113158
• Product Dimensions: 8 x 5.2 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 11.2 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (48 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #94,757 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Not worth the effort, July 3, 2009

By	Emereld2 (USA) - See all my reviews

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The Love of Her Life reminded me why I don't care for books that go back and forth in time. This book would have been more engaging had it started with the incident that caused Kate to leave London for New York, then worked its way forward. As it was, about 125 pages in I was so disgusted that I skipped ahead until I found the horrific event. Although I was tempted to throw the book away at that point, I put it down and waited a couple of days to resume reading from my previous spot. It took me four evenings, but I was finally able to muddle through this book.

Not worth the effort. Kate is whiny, self-pitying, and totally disconnected from the outside world (as is evidenced when others share their memories of incidents with her). Although this book is not written in first person, we only see other characters as Kate sees them; thus, there is very little depth to any of them. By the time Kate starts exploring past events with her friends, relatives, etc., it is too little too late to save this book.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Totally agree with reviewer Emereld2, September 10, 2009

By	HB Book Mama "Book Lover" (Huntington Beach, CA) - See all my reviews

I have to 100% completely agree with the review that Emereld2 wrote. I wish I would have read the review she wrote prior to reading the book.

But here is my review...
First, I very much dislike books that go back and forth between places and time; not only is it hard to follow just based on time but it's not fun trying to remember what happened while she was living in which places in the book. Also, the author jumps back and forth so much that I should have taken notes while reading this book in order to follow along. I think that I would have had a better chance at following it if I would have read it faster; but in all honesty I couldn't read it that fast because it was so frustrating. It took me a few weeks to even muster up the time to want to read it, I would have rather done housework (then I ran out of things to do around here). :(

Secondly, I found the book to be SOOO predictable. Before I read what happened, I knew what happened without thinking twice. I know that most books are predictable and I don't mind that, but the author was trying to make this horrible event that took place that much worse by not telling us about it til we were half way thru the book. Any person with common sense knew what it was and would just be bitter they wasted time reading the book to get there.

Lastly, Kate, the main character, basically sucks as a person and shouldn't have a book dedicated to such a crap character. She was a bad friend to every person she encountered on so many levels.

Sorry if this review is a little harsh ... but I feel so strongly about this book, I wasted so much time reading it and trying to follow along to end up hating the book so much.

If you want a good book by Harriet Evans read A Hopeless Romantic. I read that book so quickly and LOVED it!!!

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars predictable and slow, July 15, 2009

By	Meghan K. Kawka - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

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The Love of Her Life was a disappointment to me. I thought the author skipped around between time periods too often. From the beginning of this book the author keeps talking about a big thing that happens in Kate's life that makes her leave London for New York. The problem with this is that we don't find out what that event was until page 240. Up till this point I couldn't understand why the characters in the book acted they way they did. I felt the event was very significant to the story but I didn't like to have to wait till that point in the book. After the event I felt that I would have understood this story much better if I had known it sooner; because of this I felt it was hard to connect with the characters. I also felt the ending was very predictable. I wouldn't recommend this book because it is a slow read until page 240 and the ending is very predictable.