All You Need Is Love - Carole Matthews

...going. This particular choice was All you Need is Love by Carole Matthews. I have read some of Matthews before and they have been hit and miss as to whether I have enjoyed them.

Sally Freeman is a single parent living with her ten year old son Charlie in a high rise block of flats in Liverpool. Sally hates her life that is going nowhere with no prospects unless she is able to do something about them.
Sally has recently split ...
...book quite interesting and clear all the way through.
I realised straight away that there was going to be a lot going in this book, as there was no way we would be able to go through a whole novel about a housing estate. We quickly learn that Sally is about to have her life turned upside down in the form of a man when she attends a computer course on the estate in one of the old vacant houses.

When Spencer comes into Sally’s ... more

On my recent trip to the library I didn’t have a lot of time to choose any books with my toddler in tow, so I went to some authors I could remember on the spot and grabbed a couple of books to keep me going. This particular choice was All you Need is Love by Carole Matthews. I have read some of Matthews before and they have been hit and miss as to whether I have enjoyed them.

Sally Freeman is a single parent living with her ten year old son Charlie in a high rise block of flats in Liverpool. Sally hates her life that is going nowhere with no prospects unless she is able to do something about them.
Sally has recently split from her long term boyfriend Johnny that also lives on the same estate. Charlie adores Johnny despite him not being his Dad, but he has been more of a father figure to him than his own Dad ever was. Even though Sally still adores Johnny, she knows he doesn’t want the same things from life that Sally does and she won’t be held back for love.

The book is told in the first person view when it comes to Sally, but in third person when we learn the lives of everyone else. I thought this was going to be confusing to start with but it was surprisingly easy to follow which made the book quite interesting and clear all the way through.
I realised straight away that there was going to be a lot going in this book, as there was no way we would be able to go through a whole novel about a housing estate. We quickly learn that Sally is about to have her life turned upside down in the form of a man when she attends a computer course on the estate in one of the old vacant houses.

When Spencer comes into Sally’s life, things will never be the same for her. Why does a rich posh man want to spend so much time with Sally when she has no money and lives in a grotty flat? Nevertheless Spencer does want to spend time with Sally and soon they are an item much to the disgust of Charlie and Johnny.
I was taken off the track slightly at this point in the book as I thought Spencer was going to turn out to be a mean character or that Sally was going to see Spencer as a meal ticket. Neither happened though, and I learnt that Sally really does have humble values and her son Charlie will always comes first regardless of whether that means Sally will live her whole life on the estate with no money.

The main focus of the book brings everyone together when Sally gets a grant to improve the grounds on the estate. A regeneration project to improve gardens and buildings sees Sally rallying the community that before wouldn’t have even spoken to each other, gives the book a whole new focus and direction.
I thought this was taking a tangent too far and it wouldn’t fit but to be honest it flowed really well and was easy to read through.
A lot of events happened in a short amount of time after this point in the book and we read about love, grief happiness and sadness. I have to admit I thought I knew what the ending was going to be but there were doubts about it right up until almost the last page until I was proved right. I liked this suspense as Matthews managed to keep me on my toes until the last page rather than drawing out the ending over the last twenty of so pages that really are unnecessary.
All in all this is a feel good novel about a community that is brought together with the focus being Sally and her up and down life in the centre of it.
Despite a lot happening all at once, I really enjoyed this book and even though some aspects were a bit farfetched, it worked as a light read, easy to pick up whenever needed.

ISBN: 978-0755345770
Published: 2009
Price: £4.79 (Amazon)

 

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