'A cat. A flat. And a couple who think it's over'.
I remember Mike Gayle from his agony uncle days at Bliss magazine, which is why I originally started reading his books.
'His 'N' Hers' tells the story of the relationship between two people called Jim and Alison. Jim and Alison met at university. They were together for years, purchased a flat together, got married and had a cat. Then they, very suddenly, got divorced, divided up their stuff and moved on with their lives. At the point at which the novel begins both Jim and Alison have new partners [Alison is about to get re-married] and both seem to be doing fine. That is until their cat [who has been living with Alison] dies. Alison contacts Jim to let him know what has happened and they meet for the first time in three years. This, naturally, makes them both reminisce about their past and what exactly went wrong with them. Can their relationship be repaired? And, more importantly, do they want it to be?
When this novel begins it is set in 2003 but it then moves back to 1989 and takes the reader through the whole of Jim and Alison's relationship until they break up and divide up their lives in 1999. Mike Gayle does this very well. He is aware of the fashions and music of the times and you really feel like you can see Jim and Alison growing from their eighteen year old selves into adults.
Even though I knew it was going to happen Jim and Alison splitting up still came as a shock to me because I really didn't think that their relationship had reached a point where they needed to split up. In hindsight, I think that maybe that is the point that Mike Gayle is trying to make, sometimes people do make huge mistakes because they let the little things build up until they get out of control.
My main complaint about this and other Mike Gayle novels is that I never find his characters very lovable. I suppose this is because he makes them very lifelike and lifelike characters would tend to have more flaws than less lifelike ones! I got very cross with Jim in particular at several points in this book, he is such a wimp!
'His 'n' Hers' was Mike Gayle's fifth novel [he's written three more since], and I think it's his best. Mike Gayle's writing is very easy to read whilst not being a total insult to the old brain cells!
'His 'N' Hers' is funny and sad and really keeps you hanging onto the last page. I felt like I'd been through everything that Jim and Alison had experienced together and was really rooting for them to get back together at the end.
The RRP for this book is £6.99, but my copy is, once again a 50p charity shop find.
Published by Hodder and Stoughton, 2004. 352 pages.
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Advantages: Its a great, easy read, that I found hard to put down Disadvantages: You'll be finished it before the bus reaches the hotel from the airport
simon_hinds 16.08.2006 (16.08.2006)
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful
Review of His 'n Hers - Mike Gayle
Advantages: Its a great, easy read, that I found hard to put down Disadvantages: You'll be finished it before the bus reaches the hotel from the airport
simon_hinds 16.08.2006 (16.08.2006)
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Read review
Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful
Review of His 'n Hers - Mike Gayle
Jul 7th, 2008
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