Thursday, May 19, 2016

Beverly by @FionaPearse


Genre: Women's Fiction/Coming of Age

Description:
Beverly sidesteps the need to interact with co-workers by working from home. When she must venture outside, she wears earphones so no one will bother her. Social niceties are designated to her best friend and flatmate, Ella.

Beverly would be jealous of Ella's gregarious charm and high-life, if she didn't have the security of her long-term boyfriend, Roland, who spared Beverly from the dating scene and gave her a future. Beverly won't speak for herself because she has a stutter. This is how she carefully arranges her life, until Roland breaks up with her...to date Ella.”

Author:
An Irish software developer, this is Fiona Pearse's second novel. Her first, Orla's Code, was a Books and Pals Readers' Choice Award nominee. For more, check out Pearse's website.

Appraisal:
This is the story of two roommates. Ella, the social butterfly and Beverly, the wallflower-by-choice. Beverly tries to avoid too much interaction with people due to her stutter, not only in social situations, but also in her work life. She's arranged to work from home to avoid interaction with co-workers. While Beverly's stutter at times makes her dialogue harder than usual to read, it also keeps her difficulties front and center in the reader's mind.

How Beverly is pushed to deal better with her stuttering problem is central to the story. But there are also a few good themes running throughout including some points made about setting boundaries between friends and the nature of friendship.

Buy now from:      Kindle US      Kindle UK

FYI:
Some adult language and situations.
Uses UK spelling and word usage. None of this should cause problems although I was momentarily confused when I realized that a “pot plant” was a plant in a pot. Not … you know.

Format/Typo Issues:
No significant issues.

Rating: **** Four Stars

Reviewed by: BigAl

Approximate word count: 50-55,000 words

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