In Another Lifetime - Anthony Le Moignan

Sceptic: So, what are you reading?

Me: I’ve just finished a book called In Another Lifetime.

Sceptic: Yeah? What’s that all about then?

Me: It’s a love story, romantic fiction.

Sceptic: No way! I didn’t think you did romantic fiction. Who wrote it?

Me: Anthony Le Moignan.

Sceptic: Hang on a minute. Anthony? That’s a man’s name. And this is romantic fiction? 

Me: Yep.

Sceptic: But men can’t write romantic fiction.

Me: David Nicholls.

Sceptic: Yeah, okay. David Nicholls. But. C’mon. 

              What else has this guy done?

Me: Anthony wrote a book called A Long Goodbye, Amazon #1 debut. It was about early   onset Alzheimers. Very moving.  

      

Sceptic: So what’s he doing writing romantic fiction then?

Me: Ah well that’s the thing, see. He tries to fool you at the start of the book into thinking it’s chick lit almost. There’s this girl, Tabitha who lives in Cambridge. She’s in her thirties but half the time she behaves like a petulant teenager.  On more than one occasion I could have given her a sound slapping.

Sceptic: Not sold so far. Go on.

Me: She seems to have the perfect boyfriend until something happens. I’m not gonna tell you what. Then she interacts with this Australian guy online and……

Sceptic: Yeah, yeah, I can see what’s coming……….

Me: No you can’t. That’s what’s clever. Because the story then moves up a notch from standard lovey, dovey stuff. It goes into another gear with a heart wrenching, sad section.

Sceptic: Ah, what happens?

Me: I’m not telling you. Go read it.

Sceptic. And that’s it, is it? Starts off as chick lit and then goes all sad and heart wrenchey?

Me: No! Because of the sad and heart-wrenchey bit a big secret gets revealed and Tabitha goes off on a mission.

Sceptic: What? So it’s not romantic fiction any more but a spy thriller?

Me: NO! The book then changes gear again and gets the reader to think about another life situation that Tabitha has to deal with,. And I stopped wanting to slap her and wanted to give her a big hug instead because it was immense. But I’m not going to tell you what it is because it will spoil it.

Sceptic: I see. Sounds as if you’re assuming I’m going to read it. But before I do that. Is there anything else you can tell me? 

Me: Well, there’s an amazing cast of characters. There's her ex boyfriend Rick. The Australian guy, Grant. Tabitha’s Dad gets himself into this funny situation with someone in his Tai Chi class. Tabitha meets this amazing lady, Filly, who has a chauffeur called Juan who drives a Bentley, when Tab gets to Jersey. And.......

Sceptic: Jersey? What’s she doing there? What happened to Cambridge?

Me: It’s insane! I can’t tell you, but it’s good! Rich people and secrets. 

Sceptic: You mentioned an Australian guy. Where does he fit in? 

Me: He turns out to be quite important but I can’t reveal any more than that.

Sceptic: Can’t or won’t? There's a lot you're not revealing.

Me: Seriously. Check this book out. By the end of the book I was turning the pages so fast because I couldn’t wait to see what happened! It started off in an ordinary way, like just another love story, and then it exploded with these other issues for readers to think about. You might cry, though. 

Sceptic: I see. Who is  this author then? 

Me: Anthony Le Moignan. He was a croquet champion. He loves classic cars and lives on Jersey. 

Sceptic: When can I get this book?

Me: Spring 2020. Oh, and check out The Long Goodbye too. 

Sceptic: Okay. Thanks Might. ;-)

(Exit Sceptic to nearest bookshop.)

My thanks to Anthony for an advance copy of this book. And my apologies to Anthony if this wasn't quite the review he was expecting.