Book Review: 'Happily Ever After' by Harriet Evans
Harriet Evans has established herself as a leading author of women's literature. The British writer has already published several books that touch upon the themes of the modern woman's struggle with relationships and love. While this genre is certainly covered by many other authors, Evans is without doubt original and refreshing with her formula-free tales. In Happily Ever After Evans brings us a new story about the perils of being young and searching for a happy ending.
The story is familiar. A 22-year-old named Eleanor Bee has decided that her life is to be a famous writer in London. Unlike her contemporaries she does not believe in happy endings after becoming jaded from the divorce of her parents. As far as Eleanor is concerned the only happy endings possible exist in fairytales. Eleanor sounds like a sensible girl who definitely knows what she wants in life. As our heroine sets out to make her future dreams a reality in the present she moves to London and finds work at Bluebird Books publishing. Her new job brings her the kind of contemporary urban life in London that she desired. And so starts the road to adulthood that includes the typical tales of woe and worry that many 20-somethings must deal with.
Suddenly 10 years have gone by and Eleanor at 32 faces midlife looming around the corner. She looks at how much her life has unfolded so differently than she imagined. It all happened when she fell in love out of the blue in her younger years. Falling in love and realizing how little you know about life makes you worry how unprepared you are for what follows next. The sad thing is that life is a series of events that are tied to the past. Evans makes it clear that as much as Eleanor tries to escape the past it just won't let her get away. This is a common theme explored in so many fiction and nonfiction works but in Eleanor there are some lessons only Evans can tell us. This is a charming book and certainly proves that Evans has much more literary tales still in her to entertain us with.