Jonathan Harvey

Liverpool 1985 Kathleen, Adam and Jocelyn are three teenage friends who bond over an unconventional nativity play. They all have ambitions, they all have dreams. Adam wants to be a writer, Jocelyn wants to sing and Kathleen - well, she wants to be an embalmer. London 2015 Kathleen is a borderline alcoholic, Adam is holding on to a shocking secret and Jocelyn is dead. Where did it all go wrong? How did having the world at their feet turn into having the weight of it on their shoulders? Filled with Jonathan Harvey's trademark wit, warmth and outrageous humour, The History of Us is a novel about friendship and secrets, the choices we make and the consequences we face.

The History of Us

Jawahir M

I've seen the adjective "delightful" and references to "humor" in this book. I must have been reading a different book because there wasn't anything delightful in this story.

This story is quite sad, the world imagined in it is vain, sordid, and cruel. The characters are all people I wish to never befriend and are shallow and unlikable that I couldn't relate to them at all. The setting was really superb and the author definitely utilized his personal experiences when making references to British pop culture to really hone in that 80s-90s era.

The last quarter of the book was difficult to pace through mainly because the main mystery has been unraveled and it got tedious reading on and on about the ramblings of these characters.

Do I recommend? It really depends on your subjective taste as a reader. I reckon fans of Jojo Moyes will like books like this one.

The History of Us

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