Book Synopsis:
A brilliant, heart-warming and intensely funny story of love, heartache, friendship and family. Perfect for fans of Marian Keyes and Beth O’Leary.
Brutally dumped by her girlfriend, Ally is homeless, friendless and jobless… but at least she has Malcolm. Wounded and betrayed, Ally has made off with the one thing she thinks might soothe the pain: Emily’s cat.
After a long train journey she arrives home to her dad in Sheffield, ready to fold herself up in her duvet and remain on the sofa for the foreseeable. Her dad has other ideas. A phone call later, and Ally is reunited with her first ever beard and friend of old, Jeremy. He too is broken-hearted and living at home again.
In an inspired effort to hold each other up, the pair decide to sign up for the local half marathon in a bid to impress their exes with their commitment and athleticism.
Given neither of them can run, they enlist the support of athletic, not to mention beautiful, Jo. But will she have them running for the hills… or will their ridiculous plan pay off…?
The Split is available in ebook and hardback now. You can purchase your copy using the link below of through your local indie bookstore.
My Review:
The Split is an absorbing, funny and uplifting read which is hard to believe is a debut novel.
Firstly I absolutely loved the main characters in this book who I instantly fell in love with and enjoyed following through the book. Ally was such a brilliant, realistic character and I felt like I could have been friends with her in real life. Her attitude to things and her love of cake and tea made her very likeable in my eyes as I feel the same way. Her experiences of trying to run was absolutely hilarious and exactly how I remember my experience being, even down to what I was thinking as I was running. This made me warm to her even more and I was completely on her side as I read wishing she’d do well though hoping she didn’t end back with Emily who’s attitude I really didn’t like. The cat was another great creation and I loved how it was almost human in its reactions or at least Ally’s perception of what it was thinking. Some of the scenes involving the cat had me laughing out loud , he was definitely a highlight in the book for me.
The book has a lovely pace to it and I enjoyed getting lost in the story. It was hugely entertaining to follow Ally and Jeremy’s bid to win the race while attempting to get back with their ex’s. The book isn’t just about the race though however, I felt it was also about finding yourself and it was lovely to watch Ally discover who she was outside of being with Emily. The reader gets to go through the breakup process with her and I found it quite therapeutic almost to watch her go through this process. There were some bits that I wanted to scream at her to stop as some of her interactions with Emily (especially the emails) were a bit cringe for me but there were others when I was firmly on her side cheering her on.
As mentioned above this is the author’s debut novel and I’m very excited to read more from her in the future. Huge thanks to Milly Reid for inviting me onto the blog blast and to Quercus for my copy of this book via Netgalley.
About The Author:
Laura Kay is a writer and editor. She has an MA in American History from the University of Sheffield, and now lives in East London with her wife and cats. In 2018 Laura was selected as one of the ten PRH WriteNow mentees. The Split is her first novel.
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