New Read: The Lives She Left Behind

During the cold and snowy weather of March I happily let myself get lost in the world of Ferney by James Long. A beautiful a novel that left me wanting more. Luckily for me I already had a copy of the long-awaited sequel The Lives She Left Behind sitting on my shelf. The weather has slightly improved in April and I found I couldn’t wait any longer to find out what happens to Ferney and Gally next!

Jo is keen to escape her distant mother and the mind dulling drugs she makes her take to blot out the voice of her friend Gally. Jo finally gets her chance when she joins her friends on an archaeological dig. Luke is keen to escape too he is not close to his mother or stepfather and has no friends due to the odd things he says. After a chance meeting on the archaeological dig Jo and Luke make an instant connection, and find themselves inexplicably drawn to the small Somerset village of Pen Selwood. There they are to find their story is tangled up with school teacher Mike Martin a man living in the shadow of a dark tragedy.  Going into reading Ferney I really had little idea what I was getting myself into with The Lives She Left Behind there were elements I was looking forward to seeing. There is the never-ending romance, history, life-stories, and ’time-slippage’. The Lives She Left Behind certainly didn’t disappoint me.

Within The Lives She Left Behind there is a host of characters more than were included in Ferney. These include Jo’s faithful friends Ali and Lucy, the fun-loving archaeological team, independent woman Fleur (Jo’s mother), Luke’s trouble making parents, the dogged Detective Meehan, and the kind-hearted Rachel. But once again the real focus is on Ferney and Gally (Luke and Jo). Ferney and Gally are such bright and timeless individuals that normal folk are only left walking in their shadows. Then of course there is also poor old Mike. I really felt for him the first time round however the second time round it is seems even worse. My heart went out to him completely. While I sympathised with Ferney and Gally’s situation too it is again so unusual that I don’t think I totally accepted or understood it, I do think I understood better after this book though.

James Long was a new author to me but I am very glad I have been introduced to him as I thought Ferney and The Lives She Left Behind were both beautifully written. Long’s style is steady and has quite a lilting quality to it, once I’d started reading I found myself completely swept off into the emotionally charged tales of Ferney and Gally. Long also managed the present time period and the several historical periods effectively all times seemed to have been well researched even though some time periods were only briefly glimpsed.

The Lives She Left Behind was another enchanting journey through the unusual love, lives and history of Ferney and Gally. I highly recommend to those readers who loved Ferney. I also recommend Ferney and The Lives She Left Behind to those interested in romance, history, and ‘time-slippage’. After enjoying these novels so much I am interested in reading more of Long’s work now.

I received a free copy of The Lives She Left Behind from the publisher in return for my honest opinion.

Have you read James Long? Any recommendations for similar work?

New Read: Ferney

The cold weather continues here in the UK we have even had some more snow! The one positive from the bad weather is that I feel no guilt at tucking myself in bed early with a longer novel. After reading and enjoying Great Expectations by Charles Dickens I was still in the mood for something historical. Also being in the mood for a physical book I scanned my bookshelf and found myself drawn to Ferney by James Long.

Mike and Gally Martin are trying to make a fresh start by moving to a small rural village in Somerset. Gally found herself inexplicably drawn to a derelict cottage in the village where she straight away felt at home. As work begins to bring the cottage back to life Mike and Gally meet one of their neighbours an old countryman called Ferney. Gally and Ferney make an instant connection. She doesn’t know how or why but somehow she knows that Ferney knows her and has always known her. Going into reading Ferney I really had little idea what I was getting myself into. I knew there was some history and romance involved, and that the novel had been compared to The Time Traveler’s Wife. There isn’t any time-travel in Ferney but there is what others’s have started to term ‘time-slippage’ which I think is a phrase that suits perfectly. I am going to stop there though because I would hate to ruin any of the wonderful surprises that await in this novel.

There is a host of characters living and working in the village but the only characters that you really focus on are Ferney and Gally, even Gally’s husband Mike often becomes a secondary character. Ferney and Gally are such bright and timeless individuals that normal folk are only left walking in their shadows. Gally has been plagued by terrible nightmares her whole life, the first person she met who truly cared and had the patience to help her was Mike. On moving and meeting Ferney things change. Ferney isn’t just caring and patient about her nightmares he seems to be the cure to her nightmares. Really this is like the oddest love triangle ever. I felt so sorry for Mike. While I sympathised with Gally and Ferney’s situation too it was so unusual that I don’t think I totally accepted or understood it, which is the point really only they have ever understood what is going on.

Ferney is the first novel I have read by James Long in fact I hadn’t even heard of him before. I am very glad I have been introduced to him though as I thought Ferney was beautifully written. Long’s style is steady and has quite a lilting quality to it, once I’d started reading I found myself completely swept off into this emotionally charged tale. Long also managed the present time period and the several historical periods effectively all times seemed to have been well researched even though some time periods were only briefly glimpsed. Ferney has been compared to The Time Traveler’s Wife by Audrey Niffenegger which I can understand but I think the novel that Long’s style reminded me of most was The Rose Garden by Susanna Kearsley which I read not long ago.

I thought Ferney was an enchanting journey through the unusual love, lives and history of Ferney and Gally. I highly recommend to those interested in romance, history, and ‘time-slippage’. I was sent this along with a copy of the new sequel The Lives She Left Behind which I am excited to move on to soon.

I received a free copy of Ferney from the publisher in return for my honest opinion.

Have you read James Long? Any recommendations for similar work?