This was such a glorious read that I didn't want it to be finished. In fact if Lisa Jewell could just carry on the story for me I'd be very happy to just sit and read about these characters all day long! I Found You is a story of love, jealousy, hurt, anger' in fact almost every human emotion is embedded within its pages.
I was wishing and hoping that Alice and Frank would get together from the moment she saw him on the beach, they were such wonderful characters. I identified with Alice as the woman surrounded by the chaos of a demanding family, but with a heart full to the brim of compassion and love - she was delightful. But then of course how could I see her as anything but delightful when I'd read how she came to be lumbered with three dogs!
Actually, sorry, I should just apologise now for what is probably going to be the over-use of words like 'delightful' and 'wonderful' - it just imbued me with a feeling of, well delightfulness, sorry, I can't think of another way to put it! Anyway, I digress...
Frank as the mysterious stranger was equally as delightful. I was willing him to have a good story, that he wouldn't be someone that (both Alice and) I didn't feel he could ever be. The mystery of Frank's background and his story are entwined with the mystery of Lily's husband, Carl's, disappearance. Could this man that has disappeared be Frank? It was this mystery and the tension that built up around it, that made it almost impossible for me to put this book down.
I was captivated by Kirsty and her brother Gray, when they were introduced in Part Two, both filled with the unidentifiable 'something' which only the young have. Is it the promise of what they could be? I don't know. Certainly Kirsty is at that age where she is being transformed from a child into a young woman before the eyes of her brother, and I like how this evoked a hitherto unknown and unseen need for him to protect her, to make sure that no harm came to her. That sense of sibling love is explored in such a way that I was praying for only good things to happen to the two of them; I wanted them both to be safe and to be happy.
And then there comes Mark with all of his testosterone filled lust and sense of unrest. I shared Gray's misgivings about him, and I have to say felt wary of this beautiful boy as soon as "he walked on, a small smile pulling at the corners of his mouth as though enjoying a private joke with himself." It's not a controversial sentence but it filled with me a sense of nervousness all the same; I was willing him to keep away from them both. I didn't want him to sully this usual, normal family holiday of days-out and the repetitions of family traditions which made up their holidays to Rabbit Cottage. It just didn't seem fair that he had to play a part in it - and yes, of course I know that is silly and it's the whole point of the novel, but I just wanted another story for them okay?! It's irrational I know!
I really loved this book. I have read a few of Lisa Jewell's novels before, but I don't think any of them have ever held me in its trance as much as I Found You did. I loved Kirsty, Gray and their dad, Anthony. I loved Alice and Frank. I cared about them, obviously a bit too invested maybe, but I did.
I Found You is a great read. I can see it, quite rightly and deservedly, in many a suitcase this summer.
Fantastic.
