Esme Bright
Boy Meets Girl
True Love
By Paddy Crewe
Doubleday 320pp £16.99
Paddy Crewe’s second novel, True Love, follows the nascent relationship of a young couple in the north of England. Bookish Keely is reeling from the death of her brother and turns to drink after her father abandons her. Finn is an outsider who just about survives an adolescence of relentless bullying thanks to his discovery of songwriting. The pair meet outside a pub on a snowy night and fall irreparably in love.
The main characters are somewhat overwrought, particularly in the early parts. Finn endures ‘the cluttered dark’ of his mind, which invites ‘every spectre’ to torment him; both suffer constantly from an ever-tightening knot in their stomachs. When Keely and Finn finally come together, their hearts thaw and the prose
Sign Up to our newsletter
Receive free articles, highlights from the archive, news, details of prizes, and much more.@Lit_Review
Follow Literary Review on Twitter
Twitter Feed
How to ruin a film - a short guide by @TWHodgkinson:
Thomas W Hodgkinson - There Was No Sorcerer
Thomas W Hodgkinson: There Was No Sorcerer - Box Office Poison: Hollywood’s Story in a Century of Flops by Tim Robey
literaryreview.co.uk
How to ruin a film - a short guide by @TWHodgkinson:
Thomas W Hodgkinson - There Was No Sorcerer
Thomas W Hodgkinson: There Was No Sorcerer - Box Office Poison: Hollywood’s Story in a Century of Flops by Tim Robey
literaryreview.co.uk
Give the gift that lasts all year with a subscription to Literary Review. Save up to 35% on the cover price when you visit us at https://literaryreview.co.uk/subscribe and enter the code 'XMAS24'