Like I Can Love
Kim Lock
Fairlie gets a phone call that changes her future and her past. Her best friend Jenna has just killed herself, despite everything in her life appearing perfect. In the pages that follow, questions of family and love are explored as fluid concepts that everyone sees differently.
The blurb of the book suggests that “a letter. In Jenna’s handwriting. Along with a key.” is the most important driving force behind the novel. In fact though there is so much more to the story. The interactions of the characters and the flipping time periods do a much better job of exploring the story.
There are so many layers of story here. It’s almost impossible to explore the character development without giving something key away. The way the novel is set up, things are revealed tantelisingly until you don’t realise what is happening, then BAM. It gets you with all those clues you should have seen.
I felt myself inside Fairlie’s flat, but struggled to see the inside of Jenna’s house. I wonder whether this was deliberate by the author – Jenna’s hidden life, and Fairlie’s rather messy one. The vineyards was beautiful and I could relate that to my own experiences of wineries and their beautiful scenery.
I’ve never thought of someone having a phobia about death before. It makes the end even more ironic, or perhaps melodramatic, or perhaps just leaves the reader to think more deeply about the story. Nothing is sacred.
At times this novel dragged, so I can’t give it 5 stars. A well-deserved 4 stars from me.
