He wanted to find every friend who’d ever ditched her... and force them all to walk barefoot across a room full of Legos for the rest of their lives. [p. 243]
One day, Chloe Brown is almost hit by a car: she chooses to take this as a message from the universe, to the effect of 'get a life so your eulogy won't be boring." Accordingly, she moves out of the family home into a block of flats somewhere in South Nottinghamshire, where she intends to work on her 'Get a Life' list. This includes a motorbike ride, a drunken night out, meaningless sex, and 'do something bad'. She is certain that the gorgeous Redford Morgan, caretaker at the flats, can assist with at least some of these, even though he seems to have an instant aversion to her. Chloe -- who suffers from fibromyalgia, chronic fatigue and migraine, amongst other invisible disabilities -- is fascinated by Red's art, and by his tattoos and motorbike. But as she gets to know him, she realises that he has issues of his own.
I liked this a lot: Chloe is smart and determined, far from a victim despite her physical limitations, and if she hadn't already won me over by the time she rescued a cat from a tree, that would have done it. ("Well done, human! miaowed the cat. You’re a total badass!"). I found Red a fascinating romantic hero: he gets lost in the flow of his art, is triggered by memories of past emotional trauma, and is willing to admit that he's wrong. Two damaged (but indefatigable) people, learning how to fit into one another's lives and how to tell each other what hurts, physically or mentally. There are some communication issues, in both directions, but Red and Chloe overcome them.
Get a Life, Chloe Brown is also very funny -- Chloe's narrative in particular is a delight -- and I'm looking forward to reading the other two novels in the 'Brown Sisters' trilogy, each of which deals with one of Chloe's eccentric / charming sisters.
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