- Hardcover
- Publisher: Windsor; Large type edition edition (1 Nov 2010)
- ISBN-10: 1408487446
- ISBN-13: 978-1408487440
- Average Customer Review: 4.1 out of 5 stars See all reviews (44 customer reviews)
Whatever You Love
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Product Description
Review
'Beautifully constructed and rawly emotional, this is a starkly brilliant and moving investigation of the depths of human despair.' --Financial Times
'Brilliantly defies expectations to the very last page. Unsparing, challenging and terrifically compelling.' --Daily Mail
'At once gripping and tender ... A brilliant and brutal novel that continues to unsettle long after the final page has been turned.' --Observer --This text refers to the Paperback edition.
'Brilliantly defies expectations to the very last page. Unsparing, challenging and terrifically compelling.' --Daily Mail
'At once gripping and tender ... A brilliant and brutal novel that continues to unsettle long after the final page has been turned.' --Observer --This text refers to the Paperback edition.
Book Description
An astonishing novel of love, loss, and revenge from highly acclaimed writer Louise Doughty.
--This text refers to the
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
32 of 33 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback|Amazon Vine™ Review
(What's this?)
"Whatever You Love" is the first Louise Doughty book I've read and I really enjoyed it. The novel is ostensibly about the loss of Laura's daughter, Betty, whose death we learn of in the first page of the prologue and the impact that it has on Laura's life and the people around her. After the prologue the book is structured into 4 parts which alternate between "before" and "after" the events of Betty's death and provide detailed insight into the life of Laura with a final short epilogue.
The book synopsis on the jacket focusses on the vengeance that Laura wants to take against the man who killed Betty. While this is certainly a strong element of the story, it's somewhat misleading as the story is really about the relationship between Laura and her husband David. Although the book isn't quite what the jacket blurb suggests, it is still a riveting read and I stayed up late one night to read the last 100 pages.
It's a book that made me think - why were people behaving as they were, how do people deal with grief and loss, how perspective changes how a relationship appears to be. Doughty has a lovely realistic feel to her writing; there's a line where she describes a scene where a jar of mayonnaise is thrown and smashes and Doughty writes "Why does mayonnaise go translucent when it gets warm? Am I the only one who finds that sinister?" I just loved that simple observation (and I also think it's sinister!). There are other lovely simple observations that make the characters seen more real.
I'll definitely be looking at Doughty's other books. A recommended read if you like psychological thrillers/suspense that don't follow a standard plot.
The book synopsis on the jacket focusses on the vengeance that Laura wants to take against the man who killed Betty. While this is certainly a strong element of the story, it's somewhat misleading as the story is really about the relationship between Laura and her husband David. Although the book isn't quite what the jacket blurb suggests, it is still a riveting read and I stayed up late one night to read the last 100 pages.
It's a book that made me think - why were people behaving as they were, how do people deal with grief and loss, how perspective changes how a relationship appears to be. Doughty has a lovely realistic feel to her writing; there's a line where she describes a scene where a jar of mayonnaise is thrown and smashes and Doughty writes "Why does mayonnaise go translucent when it gets warm? Am I the only one who finds that sinister?" I just loved that simple observation (and I also think it's sinister!). There are other lovely simple observations that make the characters seen more real.
I'll definitely be looking at Doughty's other books. A recommended read if you like psychological thrillers/suspense that don't follow a standard plot.
8 of 8 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
Narrated in the first person, the story opens with the death of Laura's nine year old daughter. It backtracks to Laura's relationship and subsequent marriage to David, then David's relationship with another woman. Reading this was like a punch in the stomach. The grief is so raw, the betrayal so bitter.
I'm not generally a fan of thrillers but this is so much more. Intelligent and well-written, it drags you kicking and screaming into its angry passionate heartbroken maelstrom. It would make a great TV adaptation - and I'm guessing that's why it didn't make the Orange shortlist - it does have that made-for-TV feel. Most likely it didn't come across as literary enough for the judges. All I know is I didn't want to go to bed I was so gripped by it, and it was the first thing I thought of when I woke in the morning. A fantastic read and I was on the verge of giving it five stars (I award this accolade rarely in proportion to the amount I read) but thought I would reflect on it a bit first. This was a useful check because after a week or so it had lost a lot of its effect and it didn't stay in my head. Its power is in its urgency and immediacy.
I would definitely recommend it though. An absolute page-turner.
I'm not generally a fan of thrillers but this is so much more. Intelligent and well-written, it drags you kicking and screaming into its angry passionate heartbroken maelstrom. It would make a great TV adaptation - and I'm guessing that's why it didn't make the Orange shortlist - it does have that made-for-TV feel. Most likely it didn't come across as literary enough for the judges. All I know is I didn't want to go to bed I was so gripped by it, and it was the first thing I thought of when I woke in the morning. A fantastic read and I was on the verge of giving it five stars (I award this accolade rarely in proportion to the amount I read) but thought I would reflect on it a bit first. This was a useful check because after a week or so it had lost a lot of its effect and it didn't stay in my head. Its power is in its urgency and immediacy.
I would definitely recommend it though. An absolute page-turner.
8 of 8 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback|Amazon Vine™ Review
(What's this?)
I was quickly captivated by this book - a story of Laura and the loss of her eldest daughter Betty in a hit and run. Very much an interior monologue, it explores the feelings and emotions and numbness that she experiences as she tries to make sense of the life she has left.
The blurb though, indicates it is a story of revenge. Indeed it is, but the story convolutes into the story of her relationship with David (Betty's father / Laura's husband). This confused me a little - I felt both stories were told well but neither developed fully - I found other details clumsy and difficult to reconcile (I don't want to say what as it would spoil the plot); the end felt rushed and for me, unsatisfying.
Intelligent prose, shocking in places, with a flash forward / flash back timeline makes this a genuinely captivating read though, and one I would recommend.
The blurb though, indicates it is a story of revenge. Indeed it is, but the story convolutes into the story of her relationship with David (Betty's father / Laura's husband). This confused me a little - I felt both stories were told well but neither developed fully - I found other details clumsy and difficult to reconcile (I don't want to say what as it would spoil the plot); the end felt rushed and for me, unsatisfying.
Intelligent prose, shocking in places, with a flash forward / flash back timeline makes this a genuinely captivating read though, and one I would recommend.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
4.5 really for this tightly drawn psychological thriller
This is the kind of book that has you reading late into the night as you need to find out what will happen next. Read more
Published 7 months ago by Eileen Shaw
"Whatever You Love" Amazing !
This is the first book I've ordered to my Kindle and I have no regrets - it was brilliant. If your looking for thrilling and exciting this isn't the book for you. Read more
Published 10 months ago by Vix 78
Thought provoking...
This is one of the first books I've read on the Kindle. I was partly attracted by the low price, and partly by the reviews I had read and the blurb I had read on the back of the... Read more
Published 10 months ago by MrsMaccas11
Terific page turning from a very picky reader
Five sparkling stars for this book. Considering it was written in the first person, and thus we only got the narrators point-of-view it was an excellent page turning read. Read more
Published 10 months ago by Lovejoy
Whatever You Love
Laura, a single mother of two young children, loses her daughter Betty in a hit and run acccident. We learn this right at the beginning of the book and are brought immediately into... Read more
Published 10 months ago by Moonlit
brave and compelling
The upsetting theme of this might put some readers off but it is utterly compelling, and easy to read in a 'hard to put down' sense. I raced through it. Read more
Published 11 months ago by Victoria Blessing
Whatever you Love by Louise Doughty
This is an extraordinary book that moved me to tears in places. Any mother will share the horror of the death of a child in a random, careless accident. Read more
Published 12 months ago by Ms. Brenda Reid
A gripping story of love, loss, revenge, resentment, misunderstanding,...
This is the story of a single mother, Laura, caught up in grief, following the sudden death of one of her children, Betty, whilst trying to continue to live her life and care for... Read more
Published 12 months ago by K. Z. Sobol
I didn't really want to review this book...
I didn't want to review this book particularly, but I did want to convey a message to the author and it was impossible to do so via her website or that of the publisher. Read more
Published 12 months ago by Sara
Emotional and compelling
This book starts with the police turning up at Laura's door to tell her that her daughter Betty has died. Read more
Published 12 months ago by C. Bannister
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