“Don’t forget that darkness is a force absent of love. just like black is the absence of colour. The more love you can feel, the more colour added, the more light is achieved. And ultimately, in the end, our choices seal our fate.”
Lizzie Lemalf is now officially writing full time, her first novel having been a success. Maisy and Cassie, her two teenage daughters from 183 Times a Year, the first book in the series, have grown up and flown the nest. Cassie to London where she’s recently finished university and is now working for a well-known record producer and Maisy to Australia where she and boyfriend Crazee run a tattoo shop. Their little brother Connor is now a teenager himself, though nowhere near as much trouble as his sisters ever were. With Lizzie’s mum remaining cancer free, all seems to be going well for the Lemalf family. However, when Lizzie visits Cassie in London, Cassie appears thin and withdrawn. Despite Cassie’s telling her that nothing is wrong, Lizzie can’t help but be concerned. But this is just the beginning of Lizzie’s worries as everything is about to change for the Lemalf family.
I thoroughly enjoyed Eva Jordan’s latest novel which is written in her characteristically colourful style. The story is by turns laugh-out-loud funny—she does an excellent job of depicting the speech and perspective of teenagers—and terribly sad. Above all, she captures the love of a modern-day family for one another, through the tragedies and joys of life and, of course, everything in between. There were times where I felt she could have been writing about my own family, as she did such a remarkable job of showing the emotions around life events.
The story is told from several different perspectives, including Lizzie, Connor, Cassie and, occasionally, Salocin, Lizzie’s strong and kind-hearted father. This has the effect of increasing the reader’s empathy for the different characters and their roles within the family. While there were certain characters whose experiences I could relate to more than others, by the end of the book, I felt I could understand all of their motives for acting as they did.
Having read and loved 183 Times a Year, I had high hopes for All the Colours in Between. I was not disappointed. If anything, I’d say that Eva Jordan’s second book exceeded my expectations, possibly being even funnier, more poignant and better written than her first one. The themes she explores within the novel are timeless, as well as being timely. All the Colours in Between is a beautiful novel which will stay with me for years to come.
All the Colours in Between is available from Amazon UK: https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B074Q352TS/
Amazon US: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B074Q352TS/
WH Smith: https://www.whsmith.co.uk/products/all-the-colours-in-between/9781911583288
Kendra Olson 