The statistical probability of love at first sight by Jennifer E. Smith – subject: young adult fiction.
Another light read, similar to last month’s choice, but understandable as this is young adult fiction. We compared it with the movie on Netflix and found both to be engaging in different ways. If anyone would like to write a sentence or two about the book, please email me janet.bayliss@esneft.nhs.uk
Most of us who had read it enjoyed this short book. One person was able to compare it with the recent movie on Netflix – noting that it was quite different in places. We felt that the book was far more than a love story: although the relationship between seventeen year old Hadley and Oliver, the boy she meets on a flight to London forms a central strand of the plot.
This novel is all about relationships: Hadley and Oliver; Hadley and her father and mother; also her getting to know her new stepmother (Charlotte); then there are mentions of Oliver and his relations, including his deceased father.
The author says on her website that she was inspired to write the book by meeting a man on a flight from Chicago to Dublin; the difference being that the relationship did not go any further in reality. In the book, Hadley and Oliver sit next to each other on the plane, then are separated at Heathrow airport. Nearly half the book is taken up with a description of what happened on the flight, then the scene shifts to how Hadley is forced into being a bridesmaid at her estranged father’s wedding and the outcomes from this. By a series of co-incidences she works out where Oliver might be, with various happy chances leading to the ending.
We liked the way the book made readers think about relationships between younger and older people, finding this to resonate more than the love story. The movie has a different take, with the love story being its main emphasis; and an interesting casting of all the incidental characters (such as fellow passengers on the flight, or officials at the airport) being portrayed by a single storyteller/observer, helping to bring it all together.
Jennifer E. Smith is an American writer of 9 novels whose most recent book is The unsinkable Greta James, published in 2022. Many of her titles have a focus on relationships and young love; her website indicates that the books are often studied by schools and she is happy to make school visits. Perhaps the books are a bit “young” in style for some readers, but cover big themes in an engaging way.
A recommendation is Black cake by Charmaine Wilkerson, which is another novel about relationships where two siblings look into their mother’s past, told in two different timelines. It is a bit long to be a book group book, unfortunately.
Short stories by Kate Atkinson, collected as Normal rules don’t apply were recommended and this will be a future book group choice; along with Yellowface by R.F. Kuang.
If anyone would like to read more young adult books, Melvin Burgess is a long standing and meaty writer of a number of tales in this genre. The famous Hunger Games series by Suzanne Collins were mentioned, along with Noughts and crosses by Malory Blackman. Many of these titles have been filmed or made into television series.
Richard Osman’s latest book The last devil to die will feature in April’s book group meeting and some other crime stories were also suggested: Moonflower Murders by Anthony Horowitz (author of the Magpie Murders series) and I am Pilgrim by Terry Hayes: a thriller published in 2014 but still very highly rated. His follow up book: The year of the locust is very different and not necessarily so strongly recommended.
Other suggestions were The trial by Rob Rinder; Lucinda Riley’s The moon sister – part of the Seven Sisters series; Lessons in chemistry by Bonnie Garmus – this being a former book group book. On the non-fiction front, Storyland by Amy Jeffs offers a new take on the mythology of Britain, which sounds intriguing.
Several of the above may be on Libby, check them out at the Libby app