Love Is A Four Letter Word Tpb

One first thing: this book should certainly NOT be judged by its cover. It's unbelievable how misleading a book-cover can be, especially in these...slippery days of thousands of chic-lit books hitting the bookstore shelves. Claire Calman's book has some chic-lit characteristics- the love affair, the good friends helping our heroine (Bella) & having endless drinks with her. The difficult family. But there the resemblances end. This book was a lovely surprise for me: I read it in one sitting, & felt weird when it ended. OK OK, I know this all sounds tacky, but I enjoyed this book, & especially the lovely, true-to-life relationship between Bella & Will. One of my favourite plays ever is "Truly madly deeply" & this book (as others have noted) reminded me of a lighter version of that play. Bella finds it hard to leave the past behind & to trust herself & her life. What came to mind as I was reading this book is the old saying that "it's hard to be sad, but it's even harder to be happy". Oh, and by the way: the book is very funny, too.

This is the one. It's the kind of book that you want to pick up night after night. It made me want to read more of her books...and got me hooked on British writers. It won't disappoint.