Today it's Hardcover Publication Day! And it is definitely is an absolute pleasure to take part in the #LoveonTour BlogTour for Love And Other Things to Live For by Louise Leverett. It's literary fiction, women's fiction and it is contemporary fiction.
Louise Leverett graduated from Mountview Academy of Theatre Arts in London on a full scholarship before moving on to study at the Lee Strasberg Institute of Film in New York.
Since establishing her own business ‘Rock the Tribes’ she is now working on a collection of writings that will eventually be turned into adaptations for screen.
Follow @LouiseLeverett on Twitter, on Amazon, on Goodreads,
Visit rockthetribes.com and louiseleverett.com
Buy Love and Other Things to Live For
About the book
Jessica Wood is an aspiring photographer living in London. She’s had her heart broken, and her friends have pieced it back together again.
But across the neon lights of Soho, in the smell of alcohol and cigarette smoke, on every night bus, in every song, every time she tries to forget: she remembers him.
Now, in a battle between the past and the future, choosing between having a life and making a living, finding her feet or spreading her wings, Jessica must ask herself: who is she really living for?
Love and Other Things to Live For is an ode to modern girls and triumph over heartbreak, perfect for fans of Holly Bourne and Dolly Alderton.
One wouldn't be wrong for thinking, just purely based on the playful and colourful title and cover, that this is a spirited and funny story about life and love. It is so much more. It's literary fiction, it's a work of great depth even though it purports to glide glibly across the surface of emotions, relationships and the meaning of life.
It's the story of Jessica as she navigates her discovery of self, after the collapse of her romantic relationship throws her into a self-destructive spin. The blurb describes how she searches for him in every smoke filled room, in the bottom of every glass and between every sheet. I don't think she is. I think, without actually realising it, that she is searching for and has always been looking for herself.
Whilst reading the voice of the twentysomething of the 21st century I realise just how lucky I was to have lived my younger years in a time before the digital age. In a time where human connection was the first priority in building relationships, and especially in romantic relationships. Actual face to face interaction, talking, handwritten cards and letters, phone calls on telephones that don't pre-warn you of the presence on the other end. In a way it must sound incredibly intimate, scary and dangerous to younger generations or bold, brassy and old-fashioned.
I'm not sure if I would want to be a young person, or older one for that matter, who has to try and find someone to love in a world of digital devices, apps and images. A world of catfish, photoshopped images and enhanced bios. Is there any truth left at all in a century driven by technology, where the human touch is being slowly eradicated by industrial development and robotics. In an era where the masses thrive off social media and are influenced by false facts and manipulated by monopolised media outlets.
All of that may seem incredibly deep, but then so is this book in my opinion. It's literary fiction, women's fiction and it is contemporary fiction. Jessica is all of us, Jessica could be Jeff and would still be all of us, because her insights and experiences aren't exclusive. At the same time her very personal experience speaks volumes about the struggles women have living in a patriarchal society. Expected to bow down to the whims of others in our career, life, relationships and families.
This story asks readers to take a step back and slowly cover the image of everyone close to them until nothing remains but the person holding these pages and reading the words. Who is it that remains? Who are we living for? The answer must be for ourselves, the rest and the others should always be secondary. Is that selfishness or self-preservation. Either way it's food for thought.
Buy Love And Other Things to Live For at Amazon Uk or go to Goodreads for any other retailer. Publisher: HQ pub date 18 April 2019. Buy at Amazon com. Book Depository.
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