#BlogTour ‘Another Life’ by Jodie Chapman

About the book…

She could be the girl dancing on tables one night, and the next she’d be hiding in the shadows.

Just when I thought I understood her, she would melt away and become a completely new person, and I’d have to start all over again.

That’s how it was with Anna.
_______

Nick and Anna work the same summer job at their local cinema. Anna is mysterious, beautiful, and from a very different world to Nick.

She’s grown up preparing for the end of days, in a tightly-controlled existence where Christmas, getting drunk and sex before marriage are all off-limits.

So when Nick comes into her life, Anna falls passionately in love. Their shared world burns with poetry and music, cigarettes and conversation – hints of the people they hope to become.

But Anna, on the cusp of adulthood, is afraid to give up everything she’s ever believed in, and everyone she’s ever loved. She walks away, and Nick doesn’t stop her.

Years later, a tragedy draws Anna back into Nick’s life.

Huge thanks to the wonderful Ella Watkins of Penguin Random House for the blogtour invite, and my gifted review copy of ‘Another Life’ which is out now!

Painted in subtle shades throughout, with a quiet strength and maturity which belies ‘Another Life”s debut status, here is a book of nuance and lives lived, remembered and imagined. The ‘what if’ moment which we all have, bounces back and forth between the now and the then of Nick and Anna’s lives.

I have to admit to putting down the book, walking away and then coming back to it because it had me bursting completely unexpectedly into tears. It taps into a rich vein of emotion where you can completely relate to both Anna, and Nick, for their very different lifestyles, one who lives in the boundaries of a religious community, and the other who lacks certainty and support.

The fact that they meet in their jobs at the cinema is such a lovely concept, as a background to their relationship, they have a backdrop of idealised, perfect, Hollywood endings and yet, as we all know, life is never that simple which is why we look to the escapism of the movies in the first place.

As a reader, you surrender yourself to this impeccably created narrative and give yourself to the feelings in a way that I have not felt in way too long.

I felt humbled at the way this novel created such an escape, at this particular time in my life, and grateful for the opportunity to read it. Huge thanks to Ella Watkins for my gifted review copy and huger apologies for my delayed review. Unfortunately, life is becoming increasingly difficult these days to be able to push aside and dive into a book. I am endlessly grateful to anyone who takes the chance on me to review their books and never take it for granted. Thank you and again, apologies to Jodie, Ella and Michael J Books.

About the author…

Born and raised in England, Jodie spent a decade as a photographer before returning to her first love of writing.

She lives in Kent with her husband and three sons.  is her first novel, coming April 2021.

Links-http://www.jodiechapman.co.uk

Twitter @jodiechapman @MichaelJBooks