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Valentina S E Lynes 9780993307089 Books

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Valentina S E Lynes 9780993307089 Books

This is a book that I'll be remembering for a while. The story begins being told from the viewpoint of Shona, a local newspaper journalist in Glasgow. She meets the charming Mikey through a friend and the two hit it off immediately. At first, her hopes are dashed when she learns he has a girlfriend, but then they break off & things are up and running. They move in together and Shona soon unexpectedly get pregnant. She quits her job, Mikey gets a good engineering job working offshore 2 week out of 4 and they buy a charming little fairy tale cottage in a forest in Aberdeen on the North Sea Coast. Shona has to leave her friends, family and the city life she is used to in Glasgow for the slower-paced Aberdeen, but initially she doesn't mind - she has Mikey & they are head over heels in love. She has Isla, who is now 4 months old. And she has the beautiful cottage on a large piece of forest land, with the nearest neighbor 1/2 mile away. All is perfect until Mikey leaves for his first 2-week rotation at sea. Shona is shocked & devastated when it dawns on her that Mikey will be gone for 2 weeks and she will be alone with a 4 month old baby and no friends, no family, no neighbors. Just alone. She decides to check out local nurseries with the idea of getting out a little bit to do some exploring, maybe make some friends & look into what types of jobs might be available for her. This is when she meets Valentina, who is also checking out the same nursery. Larger than life, outspoken, hippie-dressing, friendly, funny, Australian Valentina. I liked Shona - she came from a working class family but found her career through determination and hard work. She was funny, brave, smart, level-headed & loyal; she was fun-loving & down to earth. On the other hand, I didn't like Valentina from the get-go. I found her abrasive, pushy, overly friendly & self-absorbed, but Shona, in her loneliness & isolation, saw her as witty, fun & the friend she had been looking for. Valentina also had a 4 month old, a son named Zac. They begin spending a lot of time together on Valentina's days off from her job as a yoga coach. This time is usually spent at Shona's cottage - Valentina is entranced by the cottage - eating Shona's food, so I added "freeloader" to the list of things I didn't like about Valentina. Valentina is unhappy & dissatisfied in her marriage to Red, whom she describes at a lazy, unambitious pothead who works at a vintage record store. The story moves on at a good pace, narrated by Shona, with more & more little red flags going up all the time, until pretty much all is revealed. The book switches halfway through & is then narrated by Valentina. It's interesting & enlightening to read her spin & interpretation of the events already described by Shona. To say any more would lead to spoilers, and this is a story you definitely want to read yourself & watch everything go south, step by step. I understand this is the author's first book, but it is very polished and well written. The characters are so well-developed that I could picture them & understand exactly where they were coming from, even while loathing them. I also found the descriptions of the different areas, customs & slang of Scotland fascinating. This was a book I literally had a hard time putting down. I was staying up late because it is one of those "just one more chapter, then I'm going to bed. Well, okay one more & that's it. Gotta see what happens next, so one more ..." Well, you get it. But it really is that engrossing. I hope S. E. Lynes continues writing, as I'd love to read more from this author.


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Valentina S E Lynes 9780993307089 Books Reviews

This book is phenominal, hard to put down because the reader is dying to find out what happens next. There's hints right from the beginning, so you kind of know ahead of time what might happen and that's where the physiological twists enter and develop, because you never really know what a person is capable of under the right circumstances.
A friend suggested I get this book, and I was not disappointed. I was aware of the author's background as a writing teacher and thought I'd read the book to study her craft. That notion lasted for only a few minutes as I was immediately drawn into this story with three well-drawn characters and a twisting plot. I forgot about reading for craft. What intrigued me was the author's skill with the revolving relationships between the three the love, the lies, the menace. I was hooked from the beginning and kept on reading until the surprising end.
Quick fun beach/airplane read, entirely derivative of Gone Girl, The Pilot's Wife, and every other love triangle gone awry in the history of literature. I did not find anything remotely "haunting" or particularly "intelligent" about it, and there is NO twist at the end - it unfolds exactly as you predict 10 pages in. But as Carl Jung said, there are only a few stories to tell, so I can't blame Lynes for her lack of originality; the human condition itself is fairly staid & predictable. This novella does explore a topic near & dear to many married couple's hearts - how to combine the love, comfort & security of a stable relationship with a livable degree of independence, freedom, and fun. This is The Holy Grail of ALL relationships, and just like the fabled original, it is a myth. So there is no earth-shattering surprise that this little experiment in having an "open relationship" fares no better in fiction than it typically does in what passes for "real life." I don't know a cure for the mind-numbing boredom of stable long-term relationships; and clearly, neither does this author. Monogamy, like democracy, is the worst form of union -- except for every other kind ;)
VALENTINA is a page-turner that will grab your attention and not let go. It's hard to believe it's the author's first published book since she writes like a seasoned pro. A strong, well-paced plot and interesting, well-written characters make this a pleasure to read! It's hard to find good books that deal with the themes of female friendship, the challenges of a new marriage and the isolation and exhaustion that comes with a new baby. S.E. Lynes is an attentive writer who treats her minor characters with as much nuance and depth as her major ones. There is an especially touching moment when Shona sees how hard her mother works and how much she has sacrificed for her children.
It's refreshing to read a book that focuses on women (and conversations two friends might really have) as opposed to a male writer's view of how women relate to each other. As others have said, this is a must read. Read it now and tell your friends. You'll be doing them a favor.
This is a book that I'll be remembering for a while. The story begins being told from the viewpoint of Shona, a local newspaper journalist in Glasgow. She meets the charming Mikey through a friend and the two hit it off immediately. At first, her hopes are dashed when she learns he has a girlfriend, but then they break off & things are up and running. They move in together and Shona soon unexpectedly get pregnant. She quits her job, Mikey gets a good engineering job working offshore 2 week out of 4 and they buy a charming little fairy tale cottage in a forest in Aberdeen on the North Sea Coast. Shona has to leave her friends, family and the city life she is used to in Glasgow for the slower-paced Aberdeen, but initially she doesn't mind - she has Mikey & they are head over heels in love. She has Isla, who is now 4 months old. And she has the beautiful cottage on a large piece of forest land, with the nearest neighbor 1/2 mile away. All is perfect until Mikey leaves for his first 2-week rotation at sea. Shona is shocked & devastated when it dawns on her that Mikey will be gone for 2 weeks and she will be alone with a 4 month old baby and no friends, no family, no neighbors. Just alone. She decides to check out local nurseries with the idea of getting out a little bit to do some exploring, maybe make some friends & look into what types of jobs might be available for her. This is when she meets Valentina, who is also checking out the same nursery. Larger than life, outspoken, hippie-dressing, friendly, funny, Australian Valentina. I liked Shona - she came from a working class family but found her career through determination and hard work. She was funny, brave, smart, level-headed & loyal; she was fun-loving & down to earth. On the other hand, I didn't like Valentina from the get-go. I found her abrasive, pushy, overly friendly & self-absorbed, but Shona, in her loneliness & isolation, saw her as witty, fun & the friend she had been looking for. Valentina also had a 4 month old, a son named Zac. They begin spending a lot of time together on Valentina's days off from her job as a yoga coach. This time is usually spent at Shona's cottage - Valentina is entranced by the cottage - eating Shona's food, so I added "freeloader" to the list of things I didn't like about Valentina. Valentina is unhappy & dissatisfied in her marriage to Red, whom she describes at a lazy, unambitious pothead who works at a vintage record store. The story moves on at a good pace, narrated by Shona, with more & more little red flags going up all the time, until pretty much all is revealed. The book switches halfway through & is then narrated by Valentina. It's interesting & enlightening to read her spin & interpretation of the events already described by Shona. To say any more would lead to spoilers, and this is a story you definitely want to read yourself & watch everything go south, step by step. I understand this is the author's first book, but it is very polished and well written. The characters are so well-developed that I could picture them & understand exactly where they were coming from, even while loathing them. I also found the descriptions of the different areas, customs & slang of Scotland fascinating. This was a book I literally had a hard time putting down. I was staying up late because it is one of those "just one more chapter, then I'm going to bed. Well, okay one more & that's it. Gotta see what happens next, so one more ..." Well, you get it. But it really is that engrossing. I hope S. E. Lynes continues writing, as I'd love to read more from this author.