Reviewed by Emma Crowley
In life, nothing is certain. Just when you think you have it all figured out, something can happen to change the course of everything . . .
Liv Brooks is still in shock. Newly-divorced and facing an uncertain future, she impulsively swaps her London Life for the sweeping hills of the Yorkshire Dales, determined to make a fresh start. But fresh starts are harder than they look and feeling lost and lonely she decides to adopt Harry, an old dog from the local shelter, to keep her company.
But Liv soon discovers she isn’t the only one in need of a new beginning. On their daily walks around the village, they meet Valentine, an old man who suffers from loneliness who sits by the window and Stanley, a little boy who is scared of everyone, hides behind the garden gate and Maya, a teenager who is angry at everyone and everything. But slowly things start to change…
Many thanks to Anne Cater for organising my copy of One Good Thing and to Sharon for having my review on the blog.
Alexandra Potter is a new author for me and this book One Good Thing was a gorgeous, positive and life affirming read. It was lovely to take a break from my usual genre of choice – historical fiction - and to read something completely different. It felt like a warm hug of a book, embracing you from the very first page which began with an inspirational email packed with advice. Subsequently, throughout the book the advice flowed and there are so many life lessons to be taken from it.
Primarily, the book follows Liv as she tries to come to terms with her new life. She threads a path she had never expected to walk as she believed her marriage was solid and long lasting. But her husband’s affair put paid to all that and following her divorce she makes an impulsive decision to quit her teaching job in London and she sells her home and moves to the Yorkshire Dales. The new slow pace of life takes an awful lot of getting used to especially as she knows no-one and only has memories of time spent there with her grandparents. Liv has certainly made a bold and brave life choice and she questions her decision all the time. She is sensible and cautious, so this is really stepping out of her comfort zone. Will her new life have her quickly running back to London or will the varied cast of characters she meets along the way give her the push to step out of her comfort zone and embrace what life is now offering her?
Liv was a wonderfully written character. She is not perfect by any means and wrestles with her emotions and choices daily. You can see how lost and bewildered she is now that she must navigate life solo and she constantly questions as to whether she has made the right decision. She feels rejected and heartbroken and that she has been thrown away like a piece of rubbish. Her best friend Naomi, who still lives in London, urges her on and I knew she wouldn’t let Liv flee back to London at the first sign of an obstacle. They were a great support system for each other. When Liv was married, she had a clear direction in life, and she knew where she was going but now that’s all gone. She has no job and has bought a run-down cottage that needs extensive work. She begins to think she has taken on more than she bargained for especially as funds look like they could run low.
It’s a chance meeting with a young girl collecting for a rescue shelter that changes things for Liv. She donates some money but decides to visit the centre where she falls in love with a dog named Harry who was abandoned on the moors. Harry captures a place in Liv’s heart. Similar to Liv he is wounded, lost and afraid. Liv also has something else playing on her mind apart from the divorce and her big move. It’s hinted at throughout the book and I dreaded what the eventual outcome would be given the tone of the emails dotted throughout the book. This storyline wasn’t the sole focus of the book but it was vital to Liv’s development and path to hopefully happiness and fulfilment.
What follows is the blooming of a unique relationship that Liv really didn’t know she needed. Having to exercise Harry daily she finds herself walking the same paths through the village of Nettlewick and in doing so she starts to see the same familiar faces. What are their stories? Being outdoors in the country Liv is forced to slow down, to stop, look and listen. The friendships she forges are wonderful and each character is grappling with their own issues. It’s like slowly they become a small unit and although they may be varied in ages and come from completely different backgrounds and are dealing with such varied problems and anxieties it’s Harry who unites them. These people are lost, lonely and desperate to find a connection and they do so in the most remarkable of ways that will bring a smile to your face and make you realise there is still goodness to be found in the world amongst all the bad that exists.
The chapters alternate between Liv and the people she meets who go on to become firm friends. Sometimes, I can find it confusing and disjointing moving between several characters and trying to keep their various backstories straight but here it all blended so seamlessly and naturally. Valentine watches life through his window. He is lost and afraid and doesn’t know how to function without his wife Gisele by his side. She may as well be gone forever as Alzheimer’s has taken her away to a place he cannot reach. He visits her daily at her care home and there are brief, spontaneous moments of recognition and a memory is explored but these are growing few and far between. Valentine is eaten by guilt that he couldn’t look after her at home. After all, when their marriage vows were made they promised to look after each other in sickness and in health until death they do part but he has tried his best and he knew they couldn’t go on with the way things were going at home.
Valentine’s story will be familiar to many and it is truly heart-breaking. What is his life now without the one he loves so dearly by his side? He has retreated into himself preferring to stay indoors rather than being a part of the community as he once was. When Liv meets him on one of her walks as she passes by his garden a tentative conversation is struck. I loved how boom they weren’t the best of friends instantly and all the problems of the world were put to rights. That wouldn’t have worked at all and would have felt contrived and forced. Instead, things occurred at a natural pace and again Harry is the link that binds them. There’s a lot to be said for the human/dog relationship and throughout the book it’s reinforced time and time again. Valentine was a lost and vulnerable soul but perhaps all you need is one good thing in life to help you turn things around.
Maya is a young girl studying for her A Levels but she seems more consumed by her boyfriend and saving the world than going for the degree her parents wish her to do. Liv seeks work as a tutor and Maya is her first student. To be honest, Maya was the character I connected the least with, I just found Liv, Valentine and Stanley to have stronger storylines and I wasn’t as absorbed by Maya. If she hadn’t been included I think the story would have worked perfectly fine without her. The other characters and their plots were strong enough to speak for themselves without the presence of Maya. But it’s little Stanley that will capture a piece of every readers heart. Life is tough for him as his every moment is dominated by routine, structure and order. He is scared of noises and school isn’t easy for him and he is lost without his mum.
Stanley is on the autism spectrum and he spoke to me in volumes as I have had experience of children with autism through my teaching. Stanley’s dad Ben is a builder who turns out to be working on Liv’s cottage renovation and in fact there is a history between them as they weren’t exactly the best of friends when they meet each other in Nettlewick as teenagers. Ben was the perfect Dad to Stanley, he really understood him and wanted to make his life the best it could be. An anxious free world wasn’t achievable for the little boy but meeting Liv and Harry the trio helped lift each other up and they were trying to bear life’s heavy load.
One Good Thing is a fantastic read which has definitely made me want to read more from Alexandra Potter. You get a real sense of the character’s inner feelings throughout the story and you are rooting for them from the get go. You are taken in by the story and feel as if the characters are talking directly to you offering advice for your own life whilst navigating new and uncertain territory themselves. Through the connections that are made the characters become stronger and more resilient, especially Liv. She can embrace uncertainty but also use her many talents and her thoughtful, kind and caring nature to help others. I loved the unique friendships that developed and which blended together so well and in turn combined to make a story that will provide the perfect slice of escapism that so many of us are desperately seeking.
Thanks for the blog tour support x
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