I Remember You

I Remember You

by Harriet Evans

I’m Kim Alexander and this is Fiction Nation, smart reviews for modern readers on Sirius XM Book Radio. The book is I Remember You by Harriet Evans.

There are two kinds of people in the world — me and everybody else. Okay, more than two. But one important distinction is between those who leave and those who stay. Are you a better person for striking out on your own? Are you stronger for remaining in place and claiming it as your own? My family, between us, has worn out a dozen address books and I can’t even think about how many cardboard boxes have perished in the service of dragging us around the country.Ê The little Long Island suburb I grew up in holds no appeal for any of us and there’s no one left there anyway.

Maybe if I grew up in a picturesque village in the English countryside I’d feel differently. Maybe if all my old friends, and their friends, and families, and ancient enemies — the whole infrastructure of a village — if they were all there, in amber, I’d want to go back. Maybe I’d have never left. That’s the premise of Harriet Evans romantic new novel, I Remember You. Tess Tennant’s exciting life in the big city (London in this case) has gone belly up, so she returns to Langford, which if you look in the dictionary under ‘charming little town in the English countryside,’ there’s a picture of Langford. Everyone she left behind is still there, walking to the pub, gossiping over the fence, and engaging in the time-honored pastime of matching up the young folk. Tess’ first love Adam is still there wandering around being handsome and emotionally unavailable, so you sort of know where this is going, but Evans supplies some big surprises along the way. There are interesting friends and the ongoing tourist/we hate tourist controversy many small and charming towns face. Plus a totally awkward and romantic side trip to Rome!

While I would frankly rather be punched in the stomach than live in my old home town, it was a lovely change of pace to visit Langford with Harriet Evans.


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