The Flat Share by Beth O'Leary #Review #TheFlatShare @OLearyBeth @QuercusBooks

The Flat Share by Beth O'Leary

Published by Quercus

Publication Date: 10th April 2019

Genre: Romantic Comedy

Book Description:

Tiffy and Leon share a flat
Tiffy and Leon share a bed
Tiffy and Leon have never met...

Tiffy Moore needs a cheap flat, and fast. Leon Twomey works nights and needs cash. Their friends think they're crazy, but it's the perfect solution: Leon occupies the one-bed flat while Tiffy's at work in the day, and she has the run of the place the rest of the time.

But with obsessive ex-boyfriends, demanding clients at work, wrongly imprisoned brothers and, of course, the fact that they still haven't met yet, they're about to discover that if you want the perfect home you need to throw the rulebook out the window...

My Thoughts:

This book is one of the most successful debut novels I have read recently, alongside Ruby Hummingbird and Libby Page. I don't know why but I have put off reading this book for months, but when I found myself wanting to read something light during the Easter bank holiday lockdown this seemed the ideal book to choose.  I have to admit to reading it far quicker than I expected to, but Beth's easy writing style welcomed me in and I was soon engrossed in the life of Tiffy and Leon.

Both main characters are fairly eccentric in their own ways. Tiffy is a messy, creative ball of energy who has a wacky dress sense. Leon is the opposite; quiet, introverted and doesn't like change. For Leon to make the decision to share not only his flat but his actual bed is a HUGE issue, everyone thinks both and Tiffy are making a massive mistake but one needs the extra cash and the other needs somewhere cheap (but still habitable) to live following a nasty break up.  We follow the pair as they settle in to their new living arrangements, the chapters alternating between each of them so we get a good balance of viewpoints.

There is a good mix of practical scenarios which present themselves and funny moments to raise a smile. I can't say that I had any proper laugh out loud moments but the whole book was extremely enjoyable from start to finish - although it did take me a few chapters to slot into Leon's unique style of delivery - no pronouns, almost bullet point statements. This changes gradually as he picks up on Tiffy's easy going nature and he relaxes into being around her, even though they've never met. They communicate by post-it note messages and I loved seeing their friendship build via these notes. 

Inevitably the two of them do bump into each other when their best-laid plans take an alcohol induced hit however I don't want to give too much away as it's what this book is all about. Suffice to say that when Tiffy discovers that Leon's brother Richie is imprisoned for a crime he insists he is innocent of she feels that she needs to do something to try and help. Then when Leon discovers that Tiffy has put Richie's case to her best friend Gerty (who just happens to be a criminal lawyer) his respect for her steps up to a new level. Equally, when Tiffy discovers that in his spare time Leon is trying to trace a long lost love of one of the patients in his care at the local hospice where he works she sees what a caring person he is and can't help comparing him to her abusive ex boyfriend.

Would the pair of them heed the first rule of house sharing? Well, you will have to read the book to find out. Beth O'Leary's second book The Switch is due out 16th April and we are lucky to get a taste of the new book at the back of The Flat Share - as if we need the temptation?!

Congratulations to the author on a fantastic debut novel. I have pre-ordered book two already, but ssshh! don't tell my partner!

About the Author:

Beth studied English at university before going into children's publishing. She lives as close to the countryside as she can get while still being in reach of London, and wrote her first novel, The Flatshare, on her train journey to and from work.

She is now writing novels full time, and if she's not at her desk, you'll usually find her curled up somewhere with a book, a cup of tea, and several woolly jumpers (whatever the weather).