The Authenticity Project: The feel-good novel you need right now

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The two of them had, so the rumors went, traded insults (and, the implication was, women) over the years.

What led me to seek out this novel was probably a recommendation in connection with another book I enjoyed, but what it was escapes me. Reading the book was like hanging out with a rowdy, affectionate bunch of friends where you don't want the party to stop.

Monica stretched out on the sofa in her apartment above the cafe, a large glass of sauvignon blanc in one hand and the abandoned exercise book in the other.

Good things about the book were that it was easy, quick to read, the author showed us well how what we see is often different from the true, and how we define ourselves with one or two things we put most focus on, when in reality we are more then that. Then, as soon as he was gone, about ten minutes later, she doubled back so that she could read the words on the gravestone.I think most of us at the core are decent human beings who enjoy helping others and I loved seeing that play out in this book with all of these strangers coming together and looking out for one another. We follow the story of all those who find his book and the relationships they have with each other because of the book. He’s read both Julian’s and Monica’s ‘truths’ and decides to help Monica from his tropical hideaway. It all had the feel of a Sophie Kinsella novel, with imperfect characters on a road to understanding their truer selves.

My less successful artist friends constantly turned up unannounced for dinner, along with the latest of my artist's models. This was a personal story, for author Claire Pooley, so she had a few of the characters in the book, (Alice, Hazard, and Julian-see the acknowledgements page) face the challenges that she faced, and come out ahead! I guess this is chick-lit, so I looked at the only other such book I reviewed, nearly 14 years ago, Kinsella’s Can You Keep a Secret?Little do they realise that such small acts of honesty hold the power to impact all those who discover the notebook and change their lives completely. Grateful for once for the slow-moving traffic, Monica tried to work out which of the houses was Julian's. Monica scanned the tables as she walked through the cafe, pausing to pick up a large crumb of red velvet cake from table twelve.