Okay, so first off, I loved The Flat Share. I am obsessed with the "there was only one bed" trope of fiction, and The Flat Share takes that idea and runs with it in a direction you don't expect.⠀
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The stars have aligned (or rather, poor wages and circumstance) and with them bring Tiffy and Leon into each other's lives. Tiffy, desperate for a new place to live, accepts Leon's quite bizarre offer of a timeshare on a bed -- he works nights, she works days, they both get 12 hours in the flat each and never have to sleep in the bed at the same time. But fate will conspire to bring them together, mostly through their post-it communication all over the flat.⠀
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The Flat Share is in some parts fluffy romcom and in others completely not. Tiffy's plotline deals with leaving an abusive relationship, while Leon's with the institutionally racist police and a cruel legal system. But their separate plotlines also include eccentric authors, hunting down a long-lost lover and a lot of knitwear. ⠀
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Despite the darker sides, I did find this book beautiful and hopeful and lovely. I read it before going into surgery -- shout out to the kind nurse who let me keep my book with me until I was called to theatre! -- and found it comforting and engaging. This is a perfect over-christmas not strictly winter themed read.⠀
⠀
The stars have aligned (or rather, poor wages and circumstance) and with them bring Tiffy and Leon into each other's lives. Tiffy, desperate for a new place to live, accepts Leon's quite bizarre offer of a timeshare on a bed -- he works nights, she works days, they both get 12 hours in the flat each and never have to sleep in the bed at the same time. But fate will conspire to bring them together, mostly through their post-it communication all over the flat.⠀
⠀
The Flat Share is in some parts fluffy romcom and in others completely not. Tiffy's plotline deals with leaving an abusive relationship, while Leon's with the institutionally racist police and a cruel legal system. But their separate plotlines also include eccentric authors, hunting down a long-lost lover and a lot of knitwear. ⠀
⠀
Despite the darker sides, I did find this book beautiful and hopeful and lovely. I read it before going into surgery -- shout out to the kind nurse who let me keep my book with me until I was called to theatre! -- and found it comforting and engaging. This is a perfect over-christmas not strictly winter themed read.⠀