A book with a number in the title

A book with a number in the title

Title: One Plus One
Author: Jojo Moyes
Publication date: 2014

Last year, I read Liane Moriarty's The Husband's Secret and quickly followed it up with her Big Little Lies. I loved both. Jojo Moyes' writing reminds me a bit of Moriarty's in that I am completely consumed by the story and adore the characters (well, except those that I deplore).

It's no wonder then that I found myself reading a second Moyes' book, in fact her latest release, just a few weeks after finishing Me Before You. Again, I was drawn into this book and its charming characters much as I was drawn into the other books noted in this post.

One Plus One is a story about family. And, in this case, demonstrates that it doesn't take a blood relationship to make a family.

When we meet Jess Thomas she is a single mother to a teenage son, Nicky, and a 10-year-old daughter Tanzie. Jess is not a complainer but it is quickly evident that she's doing everything she can to just hold it together. While her husband, who moved to his mother's home a few hours away during a bout of depression two years earlier, is "getting back on his feet", she is working two job as a house cleaner and as a waitress in the local pub.

Imagine Jess' surprise when she answers a phone call to find one of her daughter's teachers explaining that Tanzie is a math prodigy. He wants Tanzie to attend a nearby private school but that costs money Jess doesn't have.

Through an unusual set of circumstances, the Thomases find themselves on a journey to Scotland so Tanzie can turn her skill in "maths" (note the Britishism) into prize money for her new school. Their chauffer for the trip is one of Jess' cleaning clients, a wealthy businessman who is trying to escape from his own life.

The story that unfolds is best left to Moyes to tell but is certainly worth reading.

I'll certainly read more of Jojo Moyes' writing. I just hope that the next book of hers I read doesn't have the formulaic rich man rescued by the down-on-her-luck local girl. My only criticism of this book is that it seems to follow the same set up as Me Before You.

Four stars (I should probably give it three stars but I really enjoyed it this much so the hell with it.)

Next challenge: A book based entirely on its cover -- time for my book club's next pick.