All the Colours In Between by Eva Jordan #BlogTour @EvaJordanWriter @urbanepub

About this book…

It’s not a life, it’s an adventure!

Lizzie is fast approaching 50. Her once angst ridden teenage daughters, now grown and in their twenties, have flown the nest, Cassie to London and Maisy to Australia. And, although Connor, Lizzie’s sulky, surly teenage son, is now on his own tormented passage to adulthood, his quest to get there, for the most part, is a far quieter journey than that of his sisters. The hard years, Lizzie believes, are behind her. Only, things are never quite as black and white as they seem… A visit to her daughter in London leaves Lizzie troubled. And that is just the start. Add to that an unexpected visitor, a disturbing phone call, a son acting suspiciously, a run in with her ex husband plus a new man in her life who quite simply takes her breath away; Lizzie quickly realises life is something that happens while plans are being made. Gritty but tender, thought provoking but light-hearted, dark but brilliantly funny, this is a story of contemporary family life in all its 21st century glory. A story of mothers and sons, of fathers and daughters, of brothers and sisters, and friends. A tale of love and loss, of friendships and betrayals, and coming of age. Nobody said it would be easy and as Lizzie knows only too well, life is never straightforward when you see all the colours in between.

My review…

Damn you Eva Jordan! There was I all ready to go to work when I decided to just finish off All The Colours In Between as I only had 15% left to go. Big mistake!! Huge!! I was an emotional snotty mess for that last half an hour and had to dash to the bathroom to totally redo my makeup before I left the house! But thankfully everyone is full of cold at the moment so my red eyes blended in nicely with everyone else once I got to work! But those after sobs are a bitch!

I had read and loved 183 Times a Year which was Eva Jordan’s debut novel and although this book is a sequel I do think you could just about get away with reading it you haven’t read the first one. BUT…. you will probably want to read it anyway so do read them in the correct order if you can!

Now this author knows families!! She has perfectly captured the melting pot of the drama, love and laughter of the modern family plus that fierce protective shield that surrounds it. Although I adored the first book, this one really seemed to reach out further to me, possibly because it reflected a lot of what has gone on in my own family in recent times and I’m a similar age to Lizzie. I actually became part of this family myself whilst reading, involved in their highs and lows and nodding sagely as I did so, recognising those difficult areas of parenting that I have also experienced. Those funny, and sometimes poignant, observations punched me full on with their sentiments. I laughed, I cried and I got really angry too at times due to some very emotive issues raised! This is a book cleverly crafted to wring out every last drop of emotion from you as the author weaves her own magic into this tale of family life.

I am loving this whole new trend towards having older women and their lives taking centre stage in more “grown up” women’s fiction. It’s a difficult time for so many women when all those conflicting emotions start messing with your brain as you head towards menopause and when they combine with empty nest syndrome it so often heralds the start of that feeling of invisibility for many women. So for Lizzie to be seen as the sun around whom all the family “planets” revolved brought a warm glow to my heart. Ultimately this book is a rich and lustrous tapestry woven with love by its author, with her protagonist delicately poised for the next stage of her life or should I say….adventure!!

Highly recommended by me!

All The Colours In Between: The much-anticipated sequel to 183 Times A Year is available to purchase now from Amazon UK (affiliates link). Many thanks to Michelle Ryles for inviting me onto the blog tour and to Urbane publications who provided my review copy of this book.

Meet the author…

Eva is a published writer of several short stories and debut novel 183 Times A Year. Eva has always had a love of books and reading and really got the writing bug when she received a first for her dissertation, which looked at The People’s War during World War II, whilst studying for a degree in English and History. Eva lives in a small town in Cambridgeshire with partner Steve and three of our four children, who are a constant source of inspiration – they are all teenagers – need I say more! Eva’s career has been varied, including working in a Women’s Refuge and more recently at the city library. However storytelling through the art of writing is her true passion. As well as writing, Eva loves music and film, and of course to read, both fiction and non-fiction. Many writers are an inspiration, from Shakespeare, Jane Austen and Charles Dickens through to Joseph Conrad, Angela Carter, Sue Townsend, Stephen King-and recently writers like Anna McPartlin, Gillian Flynn and Louise Doughty. Eva enjoys stories that force the reader to observe the daily interactions of people with one another set against the social complexities of everyday life, be that through crime, love or comedy. It is the women in her life, including her mother, daughters and good friends that inspired Eva to write her debut novel, a modern day exploration of domestic love, hate, strength and friendship set amongst the thorny realities of today’s divided and extended families.

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