A BOOK LOVER’S REVIEW
The Flatshare BY BETH O’LEARY
Destined to be one of the most popular reads of 2019, The Flatshare is being deemed ‘uplit’ in publishing jargon– and it certainly is uplifting: the perfect antidote to the stresses of modern life. Review by Jacqui Serafim Whether or not you are a fan of romcoms (and I am) you will love this uplifting and engaging debut novel by Irish author Beth O’Leary. O’Leary has knocked one out of the park with this laugh-out-loud story of two loveable characters, with an interesting premise, snappy dialogue and even some exploration of deeper issues. Tiffy has been duped and dumped by her unfaithful, controlling boyfriend and has to find somewhere to live. Leon is a nurse who works nights at a hospice and needs extra money to help his brother. With a decent flat beyond her means, Tiffy answers Leon’s ad to share a one-bedroom flat – and a bed: Tiffy occupying it by night, Leon by day. Leon’s girlfriend tolerates this arrangement on the understanding that they are never to meet. Tiffy is colourful, chaotic, loving and outgoing. Leon is introverted and awkward as well as kind, loyal and funny. They are perfect foils for each other. Despite the reservations of their friends, Tiffy and Leon proceed with the arrangement with hilarious, heart-warming consequences. As Leon reels from the explosion of colour that arrives in the flat with Tiffy, and Tiffy ‘panic-bakes’ her way through her emotional crisis, they begin to leave little Post-it notes for each other. Initially, these are utilitarian in nature “Please put the toilet seat down” and “Help yourself to flapjacks”. But as the notes lengthen into revealing missives, they learn about each other’s lives, thoughts and feelings. A friendship develops as they start to provide emotional support to each other. A chance, accidental meeting in embarrassing circumstances triggers attraction which ultimately blossoms into something deeper.
“Despite its light-heartedness, the novel also addresses deeper issues: gaslighting, emotional abuse, and social injustice.” Tiffy and Leon are both quirky characters supported by a cast of friends and relatives who are equally interesting and well-drawn. The various subplots which draw Tiffy and Leon together enrich the characters’ lives and bring depth to the traditional ‘boys-meets-girl’ plotline. Despite its light-heartedness, the novel also addresses deeper issues: gaslighting, emotional abuse, and social injustice. This contemporary adaptation of the epistolary format (but with Post-it notes and text messages instead of letters) is a highly entertaining way of delineating the development of Tiffy and Leon’s relationship. As the notes become longer and more intimate, their increasing closeness is revealed through their funny, touching dialogue. It is rare to find a book which addresses deeper issues while covering the comic bases, and so I thoroughly recommend it as a heart-warming winter read. 24 TVO JUNE 2019
RICH PATTERN
Families feud Whatever your upbringing, I’d lay odds your family traditions are sacrosanct. House rules rule. By Liz Foster In our family, when we played Monopoly, all money paid for fines, taxes etc went in the middle of the board. Whoever landed on Free Parking scooped the jackpot. Until the day we played with another family. Just as one of us went to claim our winnings they demurred. “You can’t do that,” they said! We were dumbfounded. They might as well have said collecting $200 when you Pass Go wasn’t a thing. But guess what? They insisted on checking the official rules (a crumpled, never-referred to sheet) – and they were right. Things got quite heated and we don’t see them so much these days. Cue a firestorm from a little old pack of Uno cards, a perennial childhood fave that manages to bridge traditional and virtual worlds. Right in the middle of the final Game of Thrones series, came a tweet about rule enforcement from Mattel’s @ realUNOgame. Previous tweets were innocent enough but this one took off into the Twittersphere faster than a speeding ticket. The long and short of it was that you can’t stack draw-two or draw-four cards. You must pick up the two or four cards and suck it up. “We know you’ve tried it. #UNO,” they finished.
"… the app was implacable. All pleas fell on deaf ears." Ardent fans were outraged and maddened but the app was implacable. All pleas fell on deaf ears. (Q: What about stacking draw 2 on draw 2? A: No.) Having the conversation with a children’s game only added to the frustration. Oh, to be the Mattel staffer on Twitter that week. People were getting totally wound up, declaring it was their game and they would play the rules the way they wanted. I spent Easter with some family friends in the UK together with my (adult) daughter. To our horror their version of an Easter egg hunt was to divide everyone into ‘hunters’ and ‘hiders’. That’s not how you do it, we protested, just one person does all the hiding, so everyone gets to hunt! “No, no,” they said. “Some people prefer hiding. And no swapping once you’ve drawn.” We set about muttering under our breath but it turned out to be fun and I liked the shared load of a hider without having to remember all my hiding places by myself. What about Scrabble’s two-letter words cheat sheet? Surely you can’t have it on hand for those times you’re stuck (who after all has ever heard of or seen an ‘oi’, which apparently is a New Zealand bird?) Then there’s the endless first-grade squabbles over whether your hopscotch stone could land on the line between two squares? I mean, we all know that it’s not allowed on the line. Right?
