Review: I Don't Want To Talk About It

I Don't Want To Talk About It by Jane Lovering
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Winter Gregory is a new author who has had a small degree of success with her first book, a quirky guide to headstones in the UK, drawing on the inscriptions to make insightful comments on life and love and human nature. Now she is in Yorkshire, trying to repeat her success with researching and writing the sequel, and also trying to get over her last boyfriend (and editor) Daniel Bekener. Whenever thoughts of Dan and their break-up threaten to overwhelm Winter she talks to her twin, Daisy, who although she lives in Australia and is Winter's opposite in most things, is still her best friend and the one she turns to. In fact that was the cause of the break up with Dan, he felt she spent way too much time talking to Daisy and forced Winter to choose between them - hence burying herself in a tiny cottage in Yorkshire.

Despite her solitary nature and antisocial occupation, Winter soon finds herself befriended by an eight year old called Scarlett, her hobbyhorse Lightbulb, her uncle Alex and grandmother Margaret Hill, who is also Winter's landlady.

Although this is an old book I will spoiler this for those who want to read the book with no expectations/ pre-conceptions.(view spoiler)[ At first I was pleasantly surprised, Jane Lovering has a 'type' of hero - usually on the gangly side - and the descriptions of Alex with his stocky build and bulging biceps was a nice change of pace. Then Dan reappeared on the scene and boom! Love triangle. There is also very much a He Said/ She Said vibe to the book as we see Dan writing to his sister and fellow editor and discussing his relationship with Winter. Dan's take on the break-up is somewhat different to Winter's and the reader is left to try and reconcile the differences. Unfortunately, I guessed the reason for the discrepancy quite early on in the book and after that the constant misdirection and deliberate vagueness just became irritating. I'll be honest and say I wanted Winter to make a new life with the delectable Alex and the frankly adorable Scarlett whereas I really didn't care for Dan at all. (hide spoiler)] This book had all Jane Lovering's trademark humour and Scarlett was brilliantly written, a little girl coping with trauma and different from her peers. I loved her and her every action appeared natural and true the way a child thinks. My low rating reflects my disappointment with Winter's eventual love interest.

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