‘When Rhona's story comes to an end you will miss her. Her candid, raw, messy journey will make you laugh, cry and remember. Not a typical break-up book, it's much more profound. Nothing has turned out quite how Rhona imagined: she's been casually swapping one job for another while getting comfy in a long relationship which ends abruptly, and her efforts to adjust to that change are thrown by some unwelcome news...
Flawed, relatable Rhona Beech narrates this beautifully written, pacey satire about female friendship, heartbreak, career change, conceiving and illness, which will appeal to fans of Fleabag. Join her on a laugh (and cry) out loud search for meaning amongst the bars, offices and clinics of Glasgow.
Will her friendships survive the changes and challenges? Will SHE survive? At once funny and tender, Keep Walking, Rhona Beech is a clear-sighted look at a generation of women that was told they could have it all.’
Was it just me or did this have a touch of the Eleanor Oliphants about it? Not to the same degree but the sense of someone trying to overcome some seemingly insurmountable obstacles. Insurmountable in a relative sense because, I don’t think it’s a spoiler to suggest, there is some reference to mental instability in this book. I found it to be a book that deals with some every day but tricky issues in an every day kinda way, if that makes sense. But it’s a book of poignant satire. Rhona Beech, like us all, realises that life just never turns out the way you think it will. And poor Rhona seems to be in that curious, almost paralysed state of inaction that can occur when life throws its brickbats at us. To say she makes no effort at all to deal with her situation isn’t true but it has a kind of a half-hearted feel about it. However what Rona does have is a tight group of friends who are there for her. Friends who have their issues too, but a celebration of female friendship is a very strong theme in this book and is very uplifting.
Rhona is a very real character. I think she responds to situations in a way that a lot of us would do which makes it easy for the reader to relate to her. This suggests the author has an acute perception of how people respond to life situations and is a keen observer of life. Emotion isn’t overplayed but is there and all the more poignant in that subtlety. The humour doesn’t make fun of the gravity of certain situations. So it’s a pretty well balanced book.
The narrative is full with a prose style that flows. I found some sections quite poetic and then my research told me that the author is, in fact, a poet too. The dialogue is all relevant without any of those exchanges that do not further the story at all. The story has a contemporary feel to it and whilst it is a long time since I was a thirty something (mores the pity!) I could relate to Rhona and the whole story easily.
My thanks to Kelly Lacey and the LoveBooksTours for a gifted copy of this book and a place upon the blog tour.
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