The One Plus One: Discover the author of Me Before You, the love story that c...

Oh boy, I LOVED this book. In fact, all of Jo Jo Moyes’ stories are absorbing and un-putdownable, even her earlier, more historical genre books. She is such a talented author who presents us every time with credible, interesting characters whom we want to cheer on. What should basically turn out to be a depressing read, featuring a struggling one-parent family, is not. Jess, with her cleaning and bar jobs is just about coping to bring up Tanzie, her talented daughter, a maths prodigy who doesn’t fit in at her tough school. She cares for Nicky too: not her son, but the result of her loser of a husband, and his affair with a drug addict. Said husband, Marty, has also dumped Jess, Nicky and Tanzie for a new woman and offers no support whatsoever. Nicky is another child who is “a bit different”, who needs to find his “tribe”, his own people and in the meantime is mercilessly bullied and beaten up by the loathsome Fisher and his gang. Seriously beaten up. Enter Ed Nicholls, another “different” person, with a clever IT brain and owning a successful software business. Jess and her friend Nathalie clean his swanky, vast house that never looks lived in every week. Materially Ed wants for nothing but his private life is a mess and in a mad, thoughtless, rather naïve and desperate moment, he gives away company information – a disastrous move. He is now at rock bottom too. (And also another lovable character). He becomes entangled in the life of Jess and the plot thickens. No spoilers but the main event is a crazy car journey to Scotland where all these “different” characters, (minus of course the sh**** Marty), plus a lolloping, farting dog called Norman, travel north for hours to get Tanzie to a Maths Olympiad. Bewildered? All will be explained when you read this fabulous book… It’s an intensely moving story and it is also hilarious in parts: a combo hard to pull off, but Moyes does it exceedingly well and I thoroughly recommend this book. I really couldn’t put it down and it’s her fault if my own writing word count has suffered. What a brilliant writer she is. I’d give her more than 5 stars.

Jess Thomas is a single mum, juggling two jobs in order to try to put food on the table for her daughter Tanzie and stepson Nicky, their Dad having left 2 years ago following a nervous breakdown and essentially leaving Jess to it. Life for Jess is one worry after another, especially with Nicky being bullied at school; so when her daughter Tanzie, a maths prodigy, is offered a scholarship to a private school, Jess is determined to do all she can to raise the rest of the fees. A maths Olympiad being held in Scotland with cash prize for the winner seems to be the perfect solution; the problem arises as to how they get there. Enter Ed Nicholls, computer geek done good for himself, that is until following one disastrous decision his whole life has come crashing down around him. Now he faces losing everything he has built up, his career, home, not to mention facing a prison sentence. So when he spots his cleaner on the side of the road one night being pulled over by the police, he decides perhaps it's time to put a bit of good karma back out there; little does he know what he's let himself in for! The One Plus One is another gem from Jojo Moyes; a story full of laughs and humour, both heart-warming and heart-breaking in places, and that overall leaves you feeling uplifted. A little slow-going perhaps to begin with, but then really gets into its stride. What I love about Moyes is how all her books are so different, and far more than average chick-lit in the themes she tackles, which are always well-researched too. I found the parts related to Ed's being accused of insider trading insightful, particularly as it's an area I wasn't all that familiar with before. However, more than anything I suppose this book is really about families, how they come in all sorts of shapes and sizes, and what that bond really means. Moyes also conveys the daily struggles of families like Jess' s really well, the hardships of being a single parent, and how it can be so difficult to get out of a rut; her small seaside town a perfect portrayal of the extreme ends of society, a theme she explores further by putting these two very different people together. Though Jess and Ed at the outset appear to have very little in common, and indeed don't hit it off well; Joyes does a deft job of building their slowly evolving friendship in a way that feels natural and unforced, and you can see how actually these two people might just need each other. In some ways this aspect of the book reminded me a little of Me Before You, i.e. two very different people, who perhaps in normal circumstances wouldn't have reason to interact, being thrown together and who help bring out the best in each other. On the subject of Me Before You, I would say, however, that it is probably best not to make too many comparisons between the two books, as her former is a hard feat to match. It should also be said that not all aspects of the story are completely realistic, mainly the likelihood of a near stranger driving you across the span of the country at under 40mph; however, the road journey that follows is so fantastic that it hardly seems to matter. I really liked how Moyes tells the story from the view points of all the main characters, and I think I'm actually going to miss them all. She captures the voice of the children really well too; Nicky in particular, who could have come across as really stereotypical, is a wonderfully naunced character, and really comes into his own later in the story. Ed was probably my overall favourite though, even if at the start of the story he comes across as rather selfish and a bit of an idiot; and I liked that he wasn't your typical alpha hero, but actually just an everyday sort of guy, albeit a bit of a geek. Overall a real treat and a read to be savoured, as there aren't that many books like this one out there. So much more than a love story, more a life story; and one that leaves you with a positive, heart-warming message of the kindness of strangers and that good things do happen to good people.

I love this author and usually purchase from a book store direct. My son was visiting me and wanted to purchase me a gift. Because we were short on time he suggested purchasing from Amazon. I chose this book because it was on my reading list. Amazon is fabulous for gifts. I simply found the book, checked the price to find it’s competitive with my local bookstore and it was delivered the very next day to my home address whilst my son was still visiting.

Habe diese Geschichte von Jojo Moyes mit Freude und grossem Vergnügen gelesen. Eine Art Roadmovie in literarischer Form, wobei auf herzerwärmende und kein bisschen kitschige Weise von den Sorgen einer alleinerziehenden, in ständiger Geldnot befindlichen Mutter erzählt wird, von ihren zwei sehr besonderen Kindern und dem riesigen Hund Norman.. Mit von der Partie ist ein in Schwierigkeiten geratenen Londoner Jungunternehmer, der als ambivalenter Retter in der Not auftaucht und alle auf eine recht bewegte Reise nach Schottland mitnimmt. Natürlich ist das Ganze auch eine Liebesgeschichte, aber mehr noch ist es eine schöne, humorvolle Erzählung von Zuversicht, Zueinanderstehen, Verzeihenkönnen, Nicht-Aufgeben und eben: Liebe. Jo-Jo Moyes gelingt es, dies alles so zu erzählen, dass es keineswegs zu zuckrig wird, trotz einer gewissen Vorhersehbarkeit spannend bleibt und nie ins Triviale abgleitet.

I just loved this story. I read it years ago and it was so good , I wanted to reread it. It is a wonderful combination of funny and sad. The characters are well developed, and you identify with the difficult situation that the family is in. This is a must read.

シングルマザーの不安や日々の葛藤が描かれていて(私自身シングルマザーだったので）感情移入して読んでしまいました。世界中のシングルマザーにEdのような男性が現れてくれたら良いのにと思う楽しい結末です。

I loved this book and couldnt put it down...read in two days! I recommend reading it if you enjoy a good love story!

Just LOVE Jojo Moyes’s stories. And this one is no different. The ups and downs, fears and hopes of these characters made me cry and not want to stop reading. Listed as my all-time favourite author, I look forward to reading more of her books.