When was the last time you read something that wasn’t a thriller but a slice of life that kept you up at night reading but also thinking? Feeling?
Good writing is when even if the book is short (and kindle tells you it’s only under 3hrs long to finish the book), it keeps you engaged. The words hit home, have you nodding along, makes you angry when sleep catches up and you realize you have to continue it TOMORROW! Almost 24hours later! Making you wish you had no work, so you could cozy up and finish the ride, or has you finishing up work real fast so that you can make time to finish this.
Other Women was one such book, It’s essentially a love letter, in the disguise of writing to the ‘one’ , ‘the one that got away’, but in reality, a letter to oneself. It’s about love, dealing with the aftermath of heartbreak, aimlessly living, grief that strikes out of nowhere, remembering the heartbreak, career, dreams, just life, wandering, living, as a woman.
It’s in second person POV and this is right there along with couple of other books I’ve read in second person and loved, because it’s not something every writer can do well, but Nicola does it beautifully.
The writing is very intimate, raw, relatable but also reflective. It makes you want to put on some music, immerse yourself in it and just think, dissociate, float away.
We’ve all had our moments, where we’ve felt like penning a letter or writing numerous emails to that friend, or lover, or someone that was once special, to tell them what they meant to us, and still do. What their absence does to our lives and how moving on from them would take great strength that I can only explain it by quoting from the book:
“I never really wanted to be free from you, but now that I was, I would have to build a home inside myself, and I would never invite you in.”
by 3amdreamer_1004