Talking At Night by Claire Daverley

 

Talking At Night by Claire Daverley.

Published in paperback 6th June 2024 by Michael Joseph.

From the cover of the book:

Will and Rosie meet as teenagers.

They're opposites in every way. She overthinks everything; he is her twin brother's wild and unpredictable friend. But over secret walks home and late-night phone calls, they become closer – destined to be one another's great love story.

Until, one day, tragedy strikes, and their future together is shattered.

But as the years roll on, Will and Rosie can't help but find their way back to each other. Time and again, they come close to rekindling what might have been.

What do you do when the one person you should forget is the one you just can't let go?

***********

Will and Rosie are polar opposites. He is the school's wild-boy, with a string of girl friends, and is viewed through the lens of a tangled web of rumours that may or may not be true. She is a quiet, studious girl striving for academic success, dubbed a 'Vanilla Virgin' by her best friend. They move in very different circles, and although Rosie certainly knows who Will is, she doubts very much that he is even aware of her existence.

But in a twist of fate, Will is in the same Further Maths class as Rosie's twin brother, Josh, and they have become unlikely friends. When Will offers to tutor Josh, to help him through some maths problems he is struggling with, he meets Rosie and something sparks between the bad boy and the quiet girl. Through secret walks and late night phone conversations Will and Rosie feel their connection growing into a love that could last for ever, but then tragedy strikes, and the chance of the future they could have had is shattered.

Over the years, Will and Rosie's lives touch time and time again. The promise of something good still lies between them, but the weight of things unsaid seems insurmountable. Can there be a future for a couple for whom the timing is never right, or should they just forget each other and move on with their lives?

Talking at Night is a beautifully written, and powerfully affecting debut from Claire Daverley that will cut you to the emotional quick.

Daverley's writing reminds me so much of Sally Rooney in style and intensity, and in keeping with Rooney's iconic novel Normal People, Will and Rosie's story carries with it every ounce of yearning, melancholy, and frustration that marked the tragic love story of Connell and Marianne.

Will and Rosie are a couple who belong together, and yet circumstances contrive to keep them within touching distance of the passionate romance they are surely meant to pursue,. The story weaves through trials and tribulations of the teenage years and adult life, with a full dose of tragedy and family dramas and the emotional toll on the characters, and you as the reader, is overwhelming at times. For me, this makes this a book to be sipped, rather than consumed in big gulps, and I did have to put it to one side on more than one occasion, because the story was so unbearably sad.

However, there is something addictive about the lyrical way Daverley writes about these characters, especially in how they work through the rawness of loss and heartbreak through their conversations over the years. I found myself drawn back to the novel each time I had laid it down, until I had followed every twist and turn on their poignant journey... and, despite the heart pounding experience, I am glad that I did.

This is one of those books that gets under your skin with its rhythm, which works really well with the way the theme of music is used in the story. So, pun intended, if you enjoy your heart strings getting a serious strumming from a plaintive tune, then this will definitely be for you. Rest assured that there is an uplifting lilt in the final chords, but make sure you keep the tissues handy, because you will need them.

Talking at Night is available to buy now in hardcover, paperback, ebook and audio formats.

Thank you to Michael Joseph for sending me a copy of this book in return for an honest review.

About the author:

Claire Daverley was born in 1991 and has been writing stories ever since she was six years old, inspired by art and film and her many trips to the library. After graduating with a degree in Fine Art from The University of Oxford, she began a career in publishing, writing about books by day but penning her own by night, on trains, and in the light of the early mornings. She has spent most of her life in Hertfordshire, but now lives in Scotland with her husband and spaniel.

Her debut novel, Talking at Night, has sold in twenty-two languages to date.