Reviewed by Emma Crowley
The Beginning of Everything is the story of Jess and Gethin, whose paths cross in the most unexpected way. Jess is running, leaving all she knows and everyone she loves behind her, with just a few treasured belongings in her rucksack. She’s escaping from the pain and trauma of a bad relationship with a bad man, gone very badly wrong. Gethin’s kindness and care takes her breath away. They become friends. But with so much hurt in her past, can Jess learn to love and live again?
Many thanks to Simon and Schuster UK via NetGalley for my copy of The Beginning of Everything and to Sharon for having my review on the blog.
The Beginning of Everything by Jackie Fraser is a fabulous and heart-warming homage to friendship, trust and love. Both of the main characters Jess and Gethin embark on a journey meeting each other through the strangest of circumstances. The pair are hurting from past trauma although I felt Jess’ was more significant and powerful compared to Gethin’s. The reader witnesses a ‘courting’ but not in the traditional sense and we see the duo navigate and dance around each other in the most beautiful of ways. I found this to be a very quick read despite the book being nearly 400 pages in length and that’s because it was a real page turner. I read huge chunks at a time and didn’t notice the pages or the time flying by as I became immersed in the beautifully written story and the relationship that is nurtured and subsequently blossoms. Friendship is how I would summarise their connection for the vast majority of the story or at least that’s what they pretend to each other but the reader is getting a snapshot into their lives and can see that much more is occurring without anything solid or official being confirmed or said.
When we first meet Jess she has spent two and a half weeks camping in a tent in a cemetery in a Welsh town. The reasons for this situation are alluded to but specific details are not provided until the later stages of the book. The reader can guess what has happened to her to make her run away from boyfriend Mitch but she holds her exact truth close to her chest. All Jess wants is to be secure and safe in her life, she needed that final push to get away from Mitch and that came in the most hurtful of ways. Knowing that she needs to get a job in order to earn some money so in turn she can rent a room she breaks into Sunnyside, a house that has been sold but so far unoccupied. She thinks that she can stay there for a little while and build up some cash and then make solid future plans. To be honest, I didn’t have a very favourable first impression of Jess due to her breaking into the house. I thought no matter what you have been through or who she was trying to keep away from would you have done this especially when family and friends have offered help. But Jess is headstrong and independent and needs to this for herself as she has had so much change and disruption in her life. I quickly got over my issue with breaking into the house because the author takes the focus away from this and soon a much bigger emotional picture starts to emerge.
The theme of her life has been giving up everything and starting again and this is just about to occur when the owner of the house Gethin arrives and discovers that Jess has been occupying his house. She makes a run for it and when returning to collect her stuff she sees a note from him introducing himself and allowing her to stay whilst he renovates the house. Two strangers sit and talk and instantly from Gethin kindness exudes and this trait remains with him throughout the book. He is caring, considerate, empathetic and compassionate and he too similar to Jess has suffered pain in his family and personal life. Jess is offered lodgings in return for helping with the house and to be honest I did think it was a bit surreal that he could be so trusting and open with someone that he had just met but again this is where I had to forget my own personal opinions and just go with the flow of the story unfolding before my eyes.
This is not a story packed full of drama and action. Instead it is a relaxing and comfortable read where the friendship between Jess and Gethin develops as the weeks pass by and they renovate the house. Gethin places a lot of trust in Jess selecting fabrics and furniture etc for the house. In a way it’s like they are building their future home together if you stood back and looked at the bigger picture although I don’t think either of them realised it at the time.
Gethin reveals his own personal story to Jess but she is reluctant to impart specific details regarding what occurred to her. I think she appreciated the fact that Gethin never pushed her unnecessarily but instead gave her the time to heal, to learn to trust again and to find hope and comfort in her life. She needed to get herself back as Mitch made everything in her life shut down so easily but now Gethin is starting to reawaken her soul and spirit. Jess gains more confidence when she gets a job as a washer in a restaurant kitchen. She meets new people and makes friends and her circle is expanding. Gethin and herself go on adventures and she is introduced to his family but all this is in a friend capacity. Everything they do is done in terms of friendship and nothing more.
It was as if all the stress that can accompany a romance was taken out of the equation for Jess and Gethin because all that kind of stuff was not done under certain constraints and expectations. There was a certain amount of freedom and they getting to know one another just as friends. Perhaps if they had instantly embarked on a relationship they wouldn’t have been so open and trusting with one another. Whereas with a friendship they had no hesitations or need to keep things back. There is some trouble and strife towards the end of the book where I thought Jess completely over reacted and was too rash in her decision. But again this was her past trauma and insecurities preventing her from seeing the good in people and what was before her very eyes. She was reluctant to let go and believe that happiness could be there for her. That she could share it and receive it in return. The Beginning of Everything is a beautifully written and rewarding read. You will become lost in the lives of Jess and Gethin and fervently hope that Jess can find the person and the place where she needs to be and also that the kindness of strangers should never be underestimated.
No comments:
Post a Comment