Before I Met You

This book was emotional and very heartwarming at times. Arlette’s chapters retracing her life in London as a young woman in the 1920’s were fascinating, to say the least. I was disappointed the author choose to make Gideon one of the bad guys because his 180 personality change came out of nowhere and was confusing. Betty’s incredible perseverance to find the truth about Arlette’s past was a page turner and full of surprises. I don’t think there could have been a better ending to this story because all the pieces finally fit the puzzle of Arlette’s life and in the end, Betty made the smartest and best choice regarding who to love in her own life.

The story is of two main characters, Arlette and Betty, Arlette\’s granddaughter, and the time span is from the 1920\’s to the 1990\’s, it goes back and forth flawlessly. Betty is looking for Clara, who is mentioned in Arlette\’s will. So begins the love story of her grandmother and a man of color, of her friendships , going to clubs and you can imagine the dress and the sounds of the twenties. Betty leaves the island of Guernsey and moves to Soho and lives quite differently than Arlette, working at Wendy\’s, meeting a rock star and working as a nanny. Always she is looking for the mysterious Clara and that is an adventure that is heart warming. This book was enjoyable and I loved the characters.

I have read all of Lisa Jewels books. This is my favorite although I truly enjoyed everyone. Excellent writing, gripping stories. You will want to read all night once you start one.

New Lisa Jewell fan, have read four of her most recent. Decided to go back to earlier books, and this didn\’t do it for me. So much unnecessary story, so much blah blah blah not going anywhere. Arlette\’s story could have been good by itself, but the Betty story was nothing. Not connected. Not looking for what she was supposed to, which was, essentially, Arlette\’s story. Skimmed my way through to the end and returned it.

Enjoyed the parts of the book about Betty searching for Arlette\’s heir and learning about Arlette\’s history, particularly her relationship with Godfrey in 1920s London. But, the part about Dom Jones, a mega pop star, falling for Betty after meeting her twice and then proposing they live together forever on a farm, and Betty working for his ex-wife as a nanny. Get real. The story would have been much more interesting if the author had developed the relationship between John and Betty. And language, language, language. Inexcusable. Can\’t anyone write a decent book today without using the f word.

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