Book Review: To the Moon and Back by Jill Mansell

When Ellie Kendall loses her husband Jamie in an accident she feels her world has come to an end. But life has to go on and eventually she’s ready for a new start – at work, that is. She definitely doesn’t need a new man, not while she has a certain secret visitor to keep her company…

Entrepreneur Zack McLaren seems to have it all, but the girl he can’t stop thinking about won’t give him a second glance. Why can’t she pay him the kind of attention she lavishes on Elmo, his time-share dog?

Having moved to an exclusive flat in North London, Ellie becomes friendly with neighbour Roo who’s harbouring a secret of her own. Between them, can both girls sort out their lives? Guilt is a powerful emotion.

But a lot can happen in a year in Primrose Hill…

Firstly, a confession; To the Moon and Back is the first Jill Mansell book I’ve read. I’m really not sure how Jill’s books (this is book number twenty-two) have escaped me for so long but if this one is anything to go by; I need to add the rest to my collection quick smart! I thoroughly enjoyed everything about this book and stayed up way past my bedtime so that I could finish it.

 I haven’t mentioned covers in my reviews for a while but this one really caught my attention. The colour is great and I thought the street scene depicted was really inviting. It’s refreshing to have a night scene on a book cover and I love this one with its shiny gold moon and stars – it sets the scene for the story perfectly.

There is something to appeal to readers of all ages in To the Moon and Back with a really good variety of characters. There wasn’t a single character that I didn’t like which in itself is quite unusual, although I have to say some of Roo’s antics at the start of the book had me shaking my head and wishing she’d listen to her friends more!

I thought Ellie was very well written and as the lead character I warmed to her immediately, not just because I was sympathetic to her sad situation but because I liked her outlook on life and she seemed very realistic – I loved the fact that when she was ill she asked for a can of Tizer

As the story went on, I liked the way her character developed as she moved to her new home in Primrose Hilll. Ellie’s confidence grows as she makes a friend in neighbour Roo and begins a new job. Gradually, Ellie begins to contemplate new romantic relationships and I was really rooting for her to get the outcome she wanted.

My other favourite characters were Ellie’s actor father-in-law, Tony and artist Marsha. I thought their story was wonderful and it brought a tear to my eye more than once. I also have to admit to developing a bit of a character crush on Zach – he’s such a sweetie!

 As you may have gathered, I’m a complete romantic at heart and To the Moon and Back has romance in buckets. Mansell cleverly balances threads dealing with bereavement, infidelity and guilt with themes of true love, love at first sight and love at any age. Her style is very warm and treads just the right line between sensitivity, realism and humour making this book a lovely feel-good read. For me the pace of the story was excellent and the characterisation and conversations spot on with easy and realistic dialogue – you can really tell that Jill is an experienced writer.

I love discovering a new author and there’s nothing better than when that author has lots of other books to check out. Jill has an amazing twenty one other books to her credit and I’ll definitely be loading a few onto my Kindle this weekend – let me have your recommendations in the comments box below! If like me, you haven’t read anything by Jill before I highly recommend To the Moon and Back as a very good place to start.

I’d like to thank Helena at Headline for sending me a copy of this book to review.

 5/5

You can find out more about Jill and her books at: http://www.jillmansell.co.uk/