Whatever You Love by Louise Doughty

About the Book


Laura has never had an easy life, but it gets dramatically worse when she learns of her young daughter's death caused by a hit-and-run driver.

What I think


Despite the macabre topic of this book, it was an easy and good read. Not all the events took place chronologically, so it was nice to feel that as the reader you were challenged to piece the story together. 


Not having dealt with anything half as traumatic as the subject matter of this book (and obviously hope never to have to) I felt that the way Laura, the main character, dealt with the events was plausible and credible. She did things that were shocking, she did things that were repulsive and she also did things that were mean. But never once did I think: she wouldn't do that. 


I thought that the way in which the author wrote about the relationships was fascinating. The most interesting was the relationship between Laura and David (the father of young Betty) and how the power of emotions led them to deal with this trauma in different ways. 


About the Author

Louise Doughty (born 1963) is a novelist, playwright and critic. She studied English Literature at Leeds University and did an MA in Creative Writing at the University of East Anglia. Whatever You Love was shortlisted for the Costa Novel Award and longlisted for the Orange Prize for Fiction. 

Incendiary by Chris Cleave

About the Book
Written as a controversial open letter to Osama bin Laden, this novel is a roller coaster ride of emotions in the aftermath of a London bombing, wherein a young mother loses both her husband and son. Wracked by grief she tries to do her part for the Anti-Terrorist campaign and takes a job with the police. Whilst London is preparing for further attacks she is dealing with her own; from unrelenting grief and from the posh couple who live in the adjacent estate to her council block: Jack Black and his girlfriend Petra Sutherland. Her involvement with this couple, as well as her involvement with her boss, Terence Butcher, lead to further complications in her life and drive the narrative forward. As we near the end a startling discovery is made and this forces the distraught woman to do something she might regret forever.

Incendiary is wonderfully written and stylistically it's an amazing accomplishment. The different voices of the characters can be clearly heard. As well as being heart-breakingly sad, it's also laugh-out-loud funny and I found the deeply flawed main character extremely endearing.

Incendiary (2006), Cleave's debut novel, was an international bestseller published in 20 countries to critical acclaim. It has been made into a film, of the same name, starring Michelle Williams and Ewan McGregor. Incendiary gained notoriety for the macabre coincidence of its UK publication on 7th July 2005, the day of the London terrorist bombings.

Also by Cleave

The reason I chose to download this book to my Kindle was because I had had two previous experiences with Chris Cleave's work and found them both utterly inspiring. The first was reading another novel written by him, The Other Hand or published as Little Bee in the U.S. Details have obviously faded, but I think the story will stay with me for as long as can remember. It was such a powerful story and told in such a beautiful way, that you almost forgot that there was a tragedy at the heart of it.

The second time I encountered Cleave's work was when I was doing NaNoWriMo last November and he wrote the one of the 'Pep Talks'. Not only did he offer his own support, but he answered questions that had been posed to him on Twitter, giving useful, practical answers with examples from his own life and writing. It's always encouraging to hear about professional authors who have also struggled to complete a project as it gives you hope you can do the same!

About the Author

Chris Cleave was born on 1st January 1973 in London. As well as a novelist, he is a columnist for The Guardian newspaper in England. Incendiary won the 2006 Somerset Maugham Award and was shortlisted for the 2006 Commonwealth Writers Prize. His second novel, The Other Hand/Little Bee (2008) was, among others, short-listed for the 2008 Costa Novel Award. His third novel, Gold is eagerly awaited and to be released in June in the U.K. and July in the U.S. Chris Cleave lives in London with his wife and three children.