Adelaide

Adelaide

Adelaide is a young American woman living in England. She's fairly privileged and has good job, but she also has some past family difficulties and struggles with relationships after an abusive one in her teens.

When she meets Rory, she convinces herself it's love, despite his flaky behavior and general ambivalence. When he experiences a tragedy, she turns herself inside out for him–while he demands more.

This is a poignant novel about how people–and women in particular–are prone to be self-sacrificing caretakers–and manipulative people see this and take advantage of it, demanding they suppress any human needs until they reach a tipping point.

Adelaide is sweet and a little naive, you might feel frustrated with her, but what she does is so common. Her problems with relationships aren’t the most tragic in the world–but that’s also the point. Her emotions and mental health issues are real, and she is allowed to experience them, even when others are going through worse things.

I mostly loved Adelaide, even when I was frustrated with her; I hated Rory but he was familiar to me; and I loved Adelaide’s friends that held her up and kept her going. This will not be for everyone, but there was some nuance here about this particular time of life that I appreciated.

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About the Book

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Publisher’s Description

For twenty-six-year-old Adelaide Williams, an American living in dreamy London, meeting Rory Hughes was like a lightning bolt out of the blue: this charming Englishman was The One she wasn’t even looking for.

Is it enough?

Does he respond to texts? Honor his commitments? Make advance plans? Sometimes, rarely, and no, not at all. But when he shines his light on her, the world makes sense, and Adelaide is convinced that, in his heart, he’s fallen just as deeply as she has. Then, when Rory is rocked by an unexpected tragedy, Adelaide does everything in her power to hold him together–even if it means losing herself in the process.

When love asks too much of us, how do we find the strength to put ourselves first?

With unflinching honesty and heart, this relatable debut from a fresh new voice explores grief and mental health while capturing the timeless nature of what it’s like to be young and in love–with your friends, with your city, and with a person who cannot, will not, love you back.

Details
Author: Genevieve Wheeler
Genres: Contemporary Fiction, Fiction
Tags: Audiobooks, England
Publisher: Macmillan Audio
Publication Year: 2023
ASIN: B09Y46F7SH
ISBN: 9781250280848
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