Crossed Wires [Paperback]

Having read Rosy Thornton's previous novels, More Than Love Letters and Hearts and Minds, I was looking forward to Crossed Wires and I wasn't disappointed. I think it's her best yet.

Single mum Mina works in an insurance call centre in the north of England. She comes into contact with Peter, a Cambridge University Geography lecturer, when he phones to report an accident - his landrover hit a tree while he was trying to avoid a cat. Peter is a single parent too, a widower who is bringing up his twin daughters alone. Peter and Mina are separated by distance and background, but despite this a relationship develops between them.

Crossed Wires is a finely-crafted novel of immense warmth. The situations are beautifully observed and the interesting, believeable and endearing characters drew me in completely. I loved the way Rosy Thornton explored all the relationships, especially Peter and Mina's, and I finished Crossed Wires with a smile on my face. Bravo.

I've read Rosy Thornton's other two previous novels and enjoyed them but Crossed Wires is my favourite. I know it may not suit some readers who are looking for 'serious issues' or a political and social commentary but I found Crossed Wires more accessible, warm and satisfying than her previous two books.

On the surface, the story is about the relationship between two people who have never met: a Cambridge don and a woman who works in a Sheffield call centre. Both are lone parents and bond, partly, through their shared concerns for their families. As ever, all the characters, major and minor, are minutely drawn and the quality of the writing is superb.

I don't think a book has to have a 'big' tub-thumping theme to make us think deeply about our lives. This exquisitely-drawn portrait of what matters to real people, has real heart, genuine warmth and great insight into human nature.

Rosy Thornton has written 4 books, and the first of her books I read was the most recent, Tapestry of Love. Having loved that, I went on and brought her other three.

This one is very different to the other two I have read so far and is more of your typical `chick lit' with a dash of real life thrown in for good measure. The book introduces us to Mina who is working at the call centre that she doesn't particularly like, but it pays the bills. Her next caller happens to be Peter who has had an accident in his car. For some reason the two of them click and they are eventually drawn into each others lives despite the geographical difference.

We get to see a bigger portion of Peter's life that we do Mina's but as the story progresses this makes sense. The two of them share common ground in that they are both single parents. The element of real life I mentioned in the story is that of the parent role of these two people. It is written really well and we get to see the trials and tribulations their kids put them through, which I am sure many parents could relate to.

Peter and Mina find themselves drawn over experience and as a reader we get to see how things pan out, and how mistakes can be made when you only have one version of events. The thing that really struck me is the fact that there is no real storyline that is the major thread of this book. I know that sounds strange, but that is what makes it so special. This is about two people facing every day things that many people will understand. We meet their children, friends and family who also made the book even better. Peter has twin girls and Mina has a daughter and they are very close in age making the subtle link and bond between Peter and Mina very real.

The children in this book, Cassie and Kim the twins and Sal, Mina's daughter, all played a part in the story in their own way. We get to see their lives and how things affect them and how this in turn affects their parents.

We also see Mina's mum and stepdad Dave as they tackle the issues surrounding Mina's younger sister Jess. On the other side of the fence we see Peter's friends and neighbours Jeremy and Martin (who I adored as characters) as well as Trish who occasionally babysits for him.

I can honestly say that I really, really enjoyed this. I was so shocked that such ordinary events could be structured into such a lovely book, as normally we have a main story to entertain us. In my opinion this just goes to show how good a writer Rosy Thornton is, a woman that can take every day, mundane stuff and turn it into a story. My only gripe was that I wanted it to last a little longer.

Don't be put off if you read the back and think it's a typical story revolving around a single parent woman who wants to be rescued. It's truly the opposite and was an absolute pleasure to read.