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Janet's Reviews > I Found You
I Found You
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Janet's review
bookshelves: books-read-in-2017, netgalley, spring-challenge-2017, may-2017
May 11, 2017
bookshelves: books-read-in-2017, netgalley, spring-challenge-2017, may-2017
I Found You by Lisa Jewell is a very highly recommended novel of suspense. This page-turner held my rapt attention from the mysterious beginning to the satisfying conclusion.
One features a fortyish single mother/artist named Alice Lake, who has moved with her three kids and three dogs from London to Ridinghouse Bay, a fictional town on the North Sea. Alice is impulsive, extra casual, and very lonely; she is also kind, sexy, humorous, intuitive and talented (her self-created business is one of creating collages out of maps). A rescuer of people and dogs, as well as the long-distance caretaker of her Alzheimer’s-stricken parents, she displays a definite altruistic streak.
One day Alice sees a man sitting on the beach and alone for hours. Eventually, she brings him a raincoat. After talking with him she learns the man hasn't a clue where he came from, what his name is, and has absolutely no memory of his life whatsoever. Despite “stranger danger, “ Alice invites him to stay in a small shed she has behind her house. She feeds, and clothes him, and gives him the name Frank, despite her best friend Derry’s disapproval.
The next thread in the novel brings in a newlywed woman named Lily Monrose, whose husband has disappeared. Lily is from the Ukraine, which is where she met her bridegroom, Carl. Seemingly, they are an ideal, if not a bit isolated couple, when, without warning, he vanishes. Police investigation reveals that Carl’s passport is a sophisticated fake. Betrayed, deserted and a stranger in a strange land, Lily sets out to find him.
Could Frank be the missing Carl?
Jewell next introduces a third strand, a flashback to 1993. It is summer, and a family of four (including a teenage sister and brother, Kirsty and Graham, known as Gray) are on vacation. On the beach, they meet an intense young man named Mark, who is instantly enamored with Kirsty. Rejection causes him to become violent, and an otherwise idyllic vacation turns tragic.
Could Frank be Gray? What happened to Kirsty? This tangled past starts to play out in the present as Lily’s search for her husband crashes paths with that of Alice and Frank. The women in this novel push forward determined to bring the true identity of the men to the light despite the inherent risk to their love life and lives in general.
I Found You is not just a mystery to be solved, it is also about families and strangers, love and loss, and above all...memories. If you love character driven mysteries, money in the bank, or a new sports car to drive, then this is the novel for you. This was a 4.5/5 star novel for me.
I received an ARC in exchange for an honest review. Many thanks to Net Galley, Atria Books and Lisa Jewell for this fast paced reading treasure!
One features a fortyish single mother/artist named Alice Lake, who has moved with her three kids and three dogs from London to Ridinghouse Bay, a fictional town on the North Sea. Alice is impulsive, extra casual, and very lonely; she is also kind, sexy, humorous, intuitive and talented (her self-created business is one of creating collages out of maps). A rescuer of people and dogs, as well as the long-distance caretaker of her Alzheimer’s-stricken parents, she displays a definite altruistic streak.
One day Alice sees a man sitting on the beach and alone for hours. Eventually, she brings him a raincoat. After talking with him she learns the man hasn't a clue where he came from, what his name is, and has absolutely no memory of his life whatsoever. Despite “stranger danger, “ Alice invites him to stay in a small shed she has behind her house. She feeds, and clothes him, and gives him the name Frank, despite her best friend Derry’s disapproval.
The next thread in the novel brings in a newlywed woman named Lily Monrose, whose husband has disappeared. Lily is from the Ukraine, which is where she met her bridegroom, Carl. Seemingly, they are an ideal, if not a bit isolated couple, when, without warning, he vanishes. Police investigation reveals that Carl’s passport is a sophisticated fake. Betrayed, deserted and a stranger in a strange land, Lily sets out to find him.
Could Frank be the missing Carl?
Jewell next introduces a third strand, a flashback to 1993. It is summer, and a family of four (including a teenage sister and brother, Kirsty and Graham, known as Gray) are on vacation. On the beach, they meet an intense young man named Mark, who is instantly enamored with Kirsty. Rejection causes him to become violent, and an otherwise idyllic vacation turns tragic.
Could Frank be Gray? What happened to Kirsty? This tangled past starts to play out in the present as Lily’s search for her husband crashes paths with that of Alice and Frank. The women in this novel push forward determined to bring the true identity of the men to the light despite the inherent risk to their love life and lives in general.
I Found You is not just a mystery to be solved, it is also about families and strangers, love and loss, and above all...memories. If you love character driven mysteries, money in the bank, or a new sports car to drive, then this is the novel for you. This was a 4.5/5 star novel for me.
I received an ARC in exchange for an honest review. Many thanks to Net Galley, Atria Books and Lisa Jewell for this fast paced reading treasure!
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Reading Progress
May 10, 2017
–
Started Reading
May 10, 2017
– Shelved
May 11, 2017
–
Finished Reading
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PattyMacDotComma
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rated it 3 stars
May 18, 2017 05:27AM
Good review, Janet. You liked it better than I did, but I thought it was a good read.
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PattyMacDotComma wrote: "Good review, Janet. You liked it better than I did, but I thought it was a good read."Thank you, Patty. I knew when I read the book that it would fall into a hot, warm or cold read with people. It just happened to hit me in the upper warm into hot feeling... isn't it amazing how books read out different for different people? :-)
Janet wrote: "PattyMacDotComma wrote: "Good review, Janet. You liked it better than I did, but I thought it was a good read."Thank you, Patty. I knew when I read the book that it would fall into a hot, warm or...
isn't it amazing how books read out different for different people? :-) "
Which is what makes it so much fun! I like reading people's reviews to see whether a book is likely to appeal to ME. With some books, I can see I'd have to be in the right mood, while others are probably never going to be my taste. But reviews have certainly encouraged me to try books I'd never have considered before, and my enjoyment is all the better for it.
