This post was originally published at Novelicious.com and is now at WritingTipsOasis.com. WritingTipsOasis.com acquired Novelicious.com in June 2022.
Heartbroken Tess Tennant is fleeing London for a fresh start. She’s dreaming of familiar faces, picture-perfect cottages and Adam, her best friend since childhood. But Langford, a lovely slice of Jane Austen country, is at war over a scheme to build on a local water meadow and Adam is too wrapped up with a new girlfriend to tend to Tess’s bruised heart.
A trip to Rome promises a respite and when a mysterious stranger whisks Tess into a dream of Italian moonlight and prosecco, she’s ready to be reckless. But her magical holiday ends with a shocking discovery and Tess finds herself back home- and in a tangled mess of friendships and feelings.
She must decide, once and for all, where she belongs, and with whom…
This is the fourth book from Harriet Evans, and just like the ones before, it had me gripped right from the beginning. The story is about Tess, a teacher who moves back to her home village after twelve years living in London. Her relationship with her boyfriend has just ended so she is desperate to get away and going back home to Langford seems to be the only solution.
When she arrives back she immediately meets up with her childhood friend, Adam, who she hasn’t seen since she moved to London. Things between them seem a bit tense seeing as they haven’t seen each other for quite a while, and Evans builds tension between the two characters so well that you’d swear you were there, witnessing this happening to the two of them.
Once Tess is settled into her new cottage she realises that she needs a flatmate to help with the rent. Enter Francesca, classy, beautiful and has just moved down from London herself. She used to be a lawyer and almost had a nervous breakdown due to her heavy workload, so her moving to Langford is a sort of break for her. Francesca and Adam hit it off immediately, and Tess is unwillingly made to feel like a gooseberry in her home. Alongside all of this she has yet to start her new job, teaching Classics at Langford College. Instead of a classroom full of rowdy fifteen year olds, she has to face people that are all older than her and remember her from when she was a child living in the village.
There’s a buzz around the village too, as property developers want to build over the water meadows that are a very popular part of Langford. At the head of this drama is Leonora Mortmain, local hate figure and one of the richest women in the village. There is a brilliant twist surrounding this part of the book that had me reading it well into the early hours of the morning!
Then comes the class trip to Rome; this is when it all picks up for Tess and she finds herself been swept off her feet by the mysterious and gorgeous Peter. After this part I found myself unable to put the book down as all kinds of drama were unfolding at each turn of the page. As well as Peter she has Adam to deal with, who has drama of his own going on. The relationship between Adam and Tess is dysfunctional at the best of times, yet add Tess’s new relationship into the mix and it becomes a whole different ball game!
I Remember You is one of my books of the summer and I highly recommend it anyone who is after a gorgeous and engaging read.
I’m giving this a 10/10!