I’ve booked to attend ‘An Evening with Lindsey Kelk, Paige Toon and Lucy Diamond’ next month at Waterstones. I can’t wait to hear Paige Toon discussing If You Could Go Anywhere … although I’ll probably be so awestruck my listening skills will be severely impaired. 🙂
If You Could Go Anywhere by Paige Toon is published by Simon & Schuster UK (16th May 2019) in digital, paperback and audiobook formats.
Book Review
My favourite Paige Toon story for the past few years has been The Longest Holiday. Then along comes If You Could Go Anywhere and rocked my world (pun intended!).
Angie is one of the best female lead characters I’ve come across. Always putting others first without an agenda, truly loved and respected by the community and visitors where she lives in Coober Pedy, she’s a character who draws you in from the beginning (a first person narrative works really well with this story) and is totally relatable. She’s sacrificed so much to give selflessly that you can’t help but hope that in Italy she will experience lots of fun and laughter – which she does and so much more.
Alessandro was an enigma to me for much of the story and is the opposite to Angie. Dark and brooding, always on the edge and keeping people at a distance. Yet he’s always there to guide Angie despite the fact that he’s sometimes reluctant to do so. I took this at face value! I had no idea of the connection between something else either …
Paige Toon’s writing makes you feel as if you’re alongside Angie as she explores the city. It brought back so many memories for me. Quite a lot of time is spent in Serafina’s, the restaurant owned by Angie’s dad Giulio. Restaurant staff Cristina and Stefano add colour to the story (and Angie works her magic on Cristina too). I loved Angie’s developing relationship with Giulio and her extended family.
There are many levels to this story. From the light-hearted to such emotional pain that you wonder how there will ever be light in the darkness again. Paige Toon writes about emotional trauma with realism and sensitivity. I became so involved that my heart broke into tiny pieces. I also think this story will help others with conflicting feelings that come with the responsibilities as a carer in both life and death, maybe helping them to feel not so alone.
Paige Toon grew up between England, Australia and America and has been writing books set in sun-drenched locations around the world since 2007. She has written twelve women’s fiction novels, a three-part spin-off series for young adults and a collection of short stories. Her novels have sold 1.5 million copies worldwide.
Connect with Paige Toon
