Review of PAPERBACK book Together by Julie Cohen #Brainfluffbookreview #Togetherbookreview

One of my students kindly lent me this book – thank you, Rose! She thought I might enjoy it as I’d enthused about JoJo Moyes writing…

This is not a great love story. This is a story about great love.
On a morning that seems just like any other, Robbie wakes in his bed, his wife Emily asleep beside him, as always. He rises and dresses, makes his coffee, feeds his dogs, just as he usually does. But then he leaves Emily a letter and does something that will break her heart. As the years go back all the way to 1962, Robbie’s actions become clearer as we discover the story of a couple with a terrible secret – one they will do absolutely anything to protect.

That blurb is a really good summing up of the story – kudos to the publisher for getting it spot on – so many blurbs don’t. The book is told from two viewpoints – Robbie, whose pov features mostly at the beginning of the book, before Emily takes over the narration. So in order for this one to work, I had to really care for both of the main protagonists – and I did. Robbie is in the most horrible dilemma at the start and takes a hard decision without any compromise. But as the book continues, I realised that was how he lived his life – once he decided what was best for him and the ones he loved, he was prepared to go to any lengths to ensure it would happen.

Emily is equally determined to follow her heart. They both pay a very high price for that decision, but as the narrative timeline gradually works backwards throughout the book, I also become aware that they aren’t the only ones who get hurt. Others are also caught up in their unwillingness to live apart.

By the end of the story, I had a lump in my throat and also felt very emotionally torn – because this is essentially a story about a great love between two fundamentally good people who are not prepared to do the right thing and let each other go. Though I was very interested to see there were lines that Cohen wasn’t prepared to cross – the storyline concerning their son was interesting, because in some ways I felt the author slightly ducked the issue surrounding that one.

I’m aware this is a book I’ll remember for a long time… That many people will be shaken at the depiction of two people, whose passion for each other took them places where, perhaps, they shouldn’t have gone. Very highly recommended for fans of Me Before You.
10/10