A Hundred Pieces of Me: An emotional and heart-warming story about living for now that will stay with you forever

by Lucy Dillon

WINNER OF THE ROMANTIC NOVELISTS' ASSOCIATION CONTEMPORARY ROMANTIC NOVEL AWARD, 2015.

As heart wrenching and life-affirming as One Day or Me Before You, A HUNDRED PIECES OF ME is a story about what it means to finally live life to the full.

Letters from the only man she's ever truly loved.
A keepsake of the father she never really knew.
A blue glass vase that catches the light on a grey day.

Gina Bellamy is starting again, after a few years she'd rather forget. But the belongings she's treasured for so long don't seem to fit who she is now.

So Gina makes a resolution. She'll keep just a hundred special items - the rest can go.
But that means coming to terms with her past and learning to embrace the future, whatever it might bring . . .

'Bittersweet, lovely and ultimately redemptive; the kind of book that makes you want to live your own life better.' Jojo Moyes

'Such a brilliant book. So satisfying and clever and deeply moving. I'll be passing it on to all my friends.' Sophie Kinsella

'This vibrant and uplifting novel has not only entertained me hugely, but made me change the way I look at life.' Katie Fforde

• ISBN10: 1444727079
• ISBN13: 9781444727074
• Publish Date: 27 February 2014
• Publish Status: Active
• Publish Country: GB
• Publisher: Hodder & Stoughton
• Imprint: Hodder Paperback
• Format: Paperback (B-Format (198x129 mm))
• Pages: 544
• Language: English

Reviews

[Leah]

Lucy Dillon is one of my favourite authors, she’s one of those authors that is a proper storyteller, meaning you can quite easily get lost in one of her books, with her wonderful characters, and all the beautiful dogs you want to keep as your own. It’s been a few years since Lucy’s last release, and A Hundred Pieces of Me has been delayed a couple of times, but it pleased my greatly when a release date was finally set for the novel. February 2014. It even acquired a cover – a sure sign a book is definitely on its way into th world! A rather stunning cover, too, which rather matches my tattoo, what with the dandelion flowers blowing in the wind. I couldn’t wait to dive into it, and dive I had to as it is a mammoth 500+ page novel, but after a rocky, slow start, I began to get into the novel and I thoroughly enjoyed it.

A Hundred Pieces of Me probably isn’t my favourite of Lucy Dillon’s novels; the slow start rather lets it down a bit and it took me ages and ages to fully immerse myself in the novel, but it did eventually get to the stage where I was fully invested. Where I cared what happened to the characters, where I enjoyed reading about Gina’s job and her life. After recovering from cancer, and the breakdown of her marriage, Gina is streamlining her life. Her new flat has no room for all the stuff she’s brought from her old house, so Gina is going to pick her top 100 things, and these will be the basis for her new life. An exciting project managing the refubishment of an old house is just what Gina needs to keep herself distracted, especially when she meets the handsome Nick, but the only trouble is, he’s kinda married…

A Hundred Pieces of Me begins each chapter with two things; the first is an item from Gina’s collection, something precious to her, even if it’s something most of us wouldn’t glance twice at. The second is a flashback to a certain point in Gina’s life, slowly filling us in on everything that’s happened in her life. From meeting Kit, as a teenager, to falling in love with Kit, to the tragedy that forced them both apart, to her marriage and relationship to Stuart, to her cancer diagnosis and everything in between. I found these flashbacks quite fascinating, it helped build up a picture of Gina. I’m still not 100% sure of the books strapline which is about living for the now, but I never really saw Gina living for the now, she never did anything particularly out there, but I do like the philosophy of the strapline. I really liked getting to know the characters, I loved Gina’s best friend Naomi, who was there for her friend in thick and thin. I loved Nick, I never knew where the whole Nick story was going; he and Gina got on so well, but he was married so I thought that was like a no-go area, which disappointed me because they got on so well and I loved how Nick used Gina as his hand model.

Lucy Dillon is a fantastic storyteller. Yup, I felt the novel started slowly, but I eventually got into it and it was a fantastic story. Gina’s hiding quite a big secret, which I attempted, and failed, to guess, and the story leading up to the reveal was amazing. I fell in love with the characters, I loved the story, and more than anyone, I loved Buzz, the rescue dog Gina acquires. I also LOVED that previous Lucy Dillon characters appeared, I LOVED when authors do that. It’s always super fun to catch up. I spotted Rachel, and Lorcan, from two separate Lucy Dillon novels and I cheered when I remembered them. It’s always nice to check in and make sure their lives are going according to plan (ie. HAPPY). A Hundred of Pieces of Me will definitely get everyone talking, it’s sweet, it’s special and once you do get into it, you really get into it and I sat reading it during a horrible thunder storm, and it was a nice distraction. I’m super pleased I got the chance to read the novel, as it was quite an amazing read. I can see why it’s being touted as Lucy’s best novel yet, though I still prefer Walking Back To Happiness, but this is a fantastic novel.