Review: When Alice Met Danny by TA Williams

Title: When Alice Met Danny

Author: TA Williams

Publishers: Carina UK

Date of Publication: June 2nd, 2014

Pages: 254

Rating: 5/5

My Review:

This is a brilliant story that travels the whole gamut of emotions, from the devastation of redundancy, the nervous anticipation and expectations of a fresh start, the dramas of life, love, romance and death encapsulated in a delightful to escape into story.

After working for the same company for seventeen years, career girl Alice Grant has a life changing wake up call when she’s unexpectedly made redundant. Her boss suggests this is a chance for change and she decides to make the most of it, moving from London to start her life anew in Devon. Discussions with one of her co-workers, Danny Kemp, results in her looking at property auctions and her purchasing a home there and him agreeing to rent her London home. When she finds out just why the house had no one else bidding for it even though it was a cheap buy she’s going to have her work cut out for her! That’s when she starts meeting lots of other Dannys – a baby, a neighbour, lord of the manor, and even a labrador – black, of course! Whenever she’s introduced to another male they almost all seem to be a Dan, Danny or Daniel!

As usual when reading a novel by this author, I found it easy to visualise the scenarios, delighted in the exploring the countryside he obviously loves and meeting the characters so effectively portrayed. There are many different threads running through this story, interwoven by a skilled craftsmen to make a beautiful tapestry of life with all its dark and light moments on display for everyone to experience. It isn’t just the story of Alice, the secondary characters with whom she relates and interacts are also fundamentally important and snapshots of their life journeys also brilliantly portrayed.

There are laugh out loud moments and others where events can bring you to tears, an emotive journey it was my pleasure to journey alongside as I read this novel. I have no hesitation in highly recommending this – and all the other books I’ve read by this author and I’ll certainly remain on the look out for more by him in future. Like his other books, I expect this will stay in my memory, to be revisited and reread many times.

Synopsis:

What’s in a name?

Devastated after losing her job, eternal pragmatist Alice leaves London for a new start in Devon. It’s there that she meets Danny.

Then she meets another Danny.

And then she meets Daniel – Danny to his friends…

In fact, there seems to be a Danny at every turn! Her neighbour’s a Danny; there’s little baby Danny; there’s a vicar, a windsurfer, even a dog called Danny! And whether it’s laughter, comfort, a flutter of romance or a walk along the beach, they each bring something special to Alice’s new life.

You might say it’s a coincidence. Alice certainly would… at first! But when she suddenly risks losing not just one Danny, but all of them, she begins to wonder: might there be more in a name than she ever guessed?

This book is available from a variety of sources including

amazon.co.uk amazon.com barnes and noble

Other posts concerning this author or his novels on my blog include:

Guest Post: Snows, Skis and the English Language by TA Williams

What Happens at Christmas