Anywhere for You
Fiction
William Morrow
April 6, 2021
Advanced reader copy
368
Free from publisher
The strangers of Ealing Broadway station are familiar with Mary O’Connor, the woman who appears every day to watch the droves of busy commuters. But Mary never asks anything from anyone. She only holds out a sign bearing a heartrending message: Come Home Jim.
While others pass her by without a thought, Alice, a junior reporter at the Ealing Bugle, asks Mary to tell her story. Many years ago, Mary met the charming and romantic Jim Whitnell. She was certain she’d found her other half, until one day he vanished without any explanation. But Mary believes that Jim isn’t a cad, that he truly loved her and will return—especially because she’s recently received grainy phone calls from him saying he misses her.
Touched but also suspicious, Alice quietly begins her own investigation into Jim’s disappearance, unraveling a decade-long story filled with desire, heartbreak, and hope. With Greaves’s signature warmth and charm, Anywhere for You is a romantic and immensely moving novel about the enduring power of love and finding happiness in unexpected places.
My review:
I'll admit, I almost gave up on this story before the real meat of it began. It starts with an insta-love connection, which I despise, and is one of the main reasons I shy away from romance novels in general. Despite the beginning though, this book takes on a completely different tone once the characters are explored further. It gives an excellent portrayal of a young woman struggling to make ends meet, working long hours to afford the tiny room she lives in. That same woman who is devastated when the love of her life goes missing without a trace. I was totally invested in what happened to Jim, and loved the way that reporter Alice tries to help locate him. I can't give a lot more away without ruining the plot, but this does deal with some heavy issues of abandonment and mental illness. Also the effect that hope has on the psyche of a person. Is it better to know the truth, or keep hope alive? I even enjoyed the romance aspect of this one, after my initial trepidation. It is told in a dual timeline, with the present Mary alternating with Mary when she was with Jim. This fit the overall narrative well, as it gave perspective on the reasons for Mary continuing to have hope. The ending was very satisfactory for me, and not what I expected going into the first few pages.
A surprise for me, this book delivers more than just a long lost romance tale. Some really good underlying issues are brought out, and it was one that I ended up enjoying. This would be good for those who don't mind romance novels, as long as they have something else substantive within the plot.
