Ten Years follows Becca and Charlie over a decade. In the prologue, we meet Ally, who falls in love with Charlie and is Becca’s best friend. The first chapter, set in 2011, is set at Ally’s funeral. Becca (still Ally’s best friend) and Charlie (by then Ally’s fiancé) are both there. They can’t stand each other and are pleased they won’t ever need to see each other again after that sad day.
We fast forward a year, to 2012 and Becca receives an email – from Ally. Her deceased friend has instructions for her, things she wants her to do. Both her and Charlie have to visit Ally’s mum, Valerie, on the anniversary of her daughter’s death. So much for never seeing each other again… Valerie is wonderful, such a lovely character – and a great contrast to Charlie and Becca’s constant bitching and point scoring. She passes on an instruction from Ally – her wishes were that Charlie and Becca scatter some of her ashes at the top of Snowdon.
And so begins a series of tasks where the two enemies are forced to spend time together…
Ten Years is a moving account of grief, yet the book is never bogged down by it. There is a lot of humour throughout and both Becca and Charlie are realistic, if often infuriating, characters you come to care about. I was really shocked at some of the things they say to each other! Ouch!
You also get to know Ally. Even though she dies very early on, her presence is there through her messages and through Charlie and Becca’s conversations and memories – and the fact they are seeing each other at all. This made it seem less bleak really, because Ally’s presence was there and she accompanies them on their yearly adventures to fulfil her last wishes.
The novel shows how people deal with loss and how they try to move on, while never forgetting the person they loved and lost. They is a lot of depth to the book, but it never feels heavy. It’s much more than “just a romcom” though. In fact, I wouldn’t even describe it as that. There’s a romance, sure, but it’s more about how two people change over a decade and how their relationship changes with time and maturity.
BLURB
Ten Years
Becca and Charlie have known each other since university.
Becca and Charlie have also hated each other since university.
Until now. Until Ally’s bucket list. The death of their loved one should mean they can go their separate ways and not look back. But completing the list is something neither of them can walk away from.
And sometimes, those who bring out the worst in you, also bring out the very best…
Over the course of ten years, Becca and Charlie’s paths collide as they deal with grief, love and life after Ally.
Not since Emma and Dex in One Day and Will and Lou in Me Before You will you root for a couple as much.
Purchase Link – www.linktr.ee/TenYears
Author Bio –
Before she moved to writing full-time, Pernille (pronounced Pernilla) Hughes studied Film & Literature at university. After graduating she went into advertising and later on to market Natural History films before working in Children’s television, which meant living in actual Teletubbyland for a while! From 2011–2015, she was a regular contributor for the Sunday Times column ‘Confessions of a Tourist’. She has two novels published to date PROBABLY THE BEST KISS IN THE WORLD and PUNCH-DRUNK LOVE (formerly published as Sweatpants At Tiffanie’s). Her next book TEN YEARS will be out in August 2022.
Pernille lives in Buckinghamshire and while the kids are at school she scoffs cake and writes stories in order to maintain a shred of sanity.
Find her on Instagram and Twitter at @Pernillehughes or on Facebook at her Pernille Hughes Author page.www.pernillehughes.com (There’s a free story to be had!!!)
Social Media Links –
www.pernillehughes.com (Free short story available here)
Twitter https://twitter.com/pernillehughes
Instagram @Pernillehughes
Facebook at her Pernille Hughes Author page.
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