25th anniversary edition published 28th September 2023 by Hodder Books.
From the cover of the book:
Meet Will Kelly. English teacher. Film Fan. Pot Noodle expert. Ex-boyfriend.Still in love with The One, Will is desperate to discover if there can be An-Other One. In his decrepit flat where he can't even manage to cook spaghetti hoops without setting of the communal smoke alarm, his lifeline is the telephone. Will realises that with a single call, friends can either lift him from the depths of despair or completely shatter his hopes.
There's Alice (who remembers his birthday), Simon (who doesn't), Kate (the previous tenant of his rented hovel). And of course his ex, Aggi. The inimitable Aggi. His Legendary Girlfriend.
Or is She?
***********
Reluctant English teacher, Will Kelly is facing the prospect of a depressing weekend, celebrating his 26th birthday alone in his grotty Archway flat. Worn down by pretending that he is having the time of his life among the bright lights of London, another birthday just brings back to him how pathetic his existence has become since his girlfriend Aggi unceremoniously dumped him on this day three years ago. Will has never got over splitting up from Aggi, the woman he pinned all his hopes and dreams on. No one has ever come close to knocking her off the pedestal he has placed her upon, and if he cannot have her, he can see little point in making an effort in any other part of his life.
Settling in to fester in the tiny flat with its decrepit decor, flimsy partition walls, and the smoke alarm that goes off with only the slightest provocation, Will is both buoyed up and torn down by the phone calls he receives. Calls from family go pretty much as predicted; an ill-judged sexual conquest seems worryingly obsessed with him; and his former best friend Simon crushes him with a revelation that knocks him for six. Fortunately, his only true friend Alice comes up trumps - but it is actually the voice of a total stranger, Kate who used to live in this very flat, that gives him a lifeline to cling to. Over the course of weekend, Will comes to look at Aggi in a new light... was she really as legendary as he thinks?
My Legendary Girlfriend was a smash hit when it hit the shelves 25 years ago, and in the years that have followed Mike Gayle has struck gold with his wonderful novels time and time again. To mark this publishing milestone, Hodder Books have issued an anniversary edition to take us back to where Gayle's journey began...
Imagine, if you will, a male version of Bridget Jones unable to move on from a relationship he had convinced himself would be one to last a lifetime, and throw into the mix just the right amount of Richard Curtis humour and heartbreak. Welcome to My Legendary Girlfriend, with Will Kelly stuck in a groove that he has neither the energy, nor motivation, to break himself free of. Will more or less hates everything about his life. He detests the job he feels he has been cornered into by the necessity to tackle his sizeable overdraft, and his living conditions are far from ideal. He has few friends (none in London) and his attempts to forge any sort of human connection generally fail miserably. He knows he is pitiful and lazy, which makes it worse as you follow him through the emotional turmoil of highs and lows that come as he navigates a birthday weekend alone.
Will is a frustrating hero (or is it anti-hero?). He needs a good shake, which I wanted to give him for most of this story, but somehow he works his way under your skin, despite his tendency to self-centred sarcasm, dubious daydreams, and pompous pronouncements. Underneath that over-wrought hard shell, there is still hope for Will, and in telling his story, Gayle delves into themes around being unable to move on from relationships that end in heartbreak, loneliness, depression, and being afraid to expose your feelings when you have had your guts knocked out of you by love.
With insight and poignancy, Gayle weaves the most hilarious, and heart warming journey for Will. You are with him for every affecting moment as he reflects on his memories, and makes sense of his feelings. Gayle keeps you guessing about how this tale will end with clever turns in Will's perception about the past and the present, and then conjures the perfect of endings to hit that sweet spot to perfection. I loved it.
If you have never read a Mike Gayle book, then this is the perfect place to start. You are in for a treat.
My Legendary Girlfriend is available to buy now in print, ebook and audio formats.
Thank you to Hodder Books for sending me a copy of the anniversary edition of this book in return for an honest review.
About the author:
Mike became a full-time novelist in 1997 following the publication of his Sunday Times top ten bestseller My Legendary Girlfriend, which was hailed by the Independent as 'full of belly laughs and painfully acute observations', and by The Times as 'a funny, frank account of a hopeless romantic'. Since then he has written eighteen novels, including The Man I Think I Know, selected as a World Book Night title, and Half A World Away, selected for the Richard and Judy Book Club. His books have been translated into more than thirty languages. In 2021, Mike was the recipient of the Outstanding Achievement Award from the Romantic Novelists' Association.
He lives in Birmingham with his wife, kids and greyhound.
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