Leah
Written on Aug 30, 2009
Melissa Hill is an outstanding author. Truly one of the best chick lit/women’s fiction authors around. Her plot-twists are legenday and every time I read one of her books I promise myself I will NOT try and figure out where the plot is heading because I fail miserably every time. Not only are Melissa’s plot-twists legendary but her writing is outstanding also.
Please Forgive Me is a rather clever novel, with some oustanding twists and turns. I love it when people foreign to America write about living in America as the descriptions are always fantastic. Leonie runs away to San Francisco (California) and the descriptions are out of this world. Melissa really captures the essence of San Francisco and I’m curious to visit there one day. I’d love to see the Golden Gate bridge in person.
The plot for Please Forgive Me is tightly bound and I’d say the main plot was Leonie’s search for Nathan and Helena so she could try and re-unite the couple and to also give back the letters she finds. It throws up numerous twists and just when I thought I had it sussed Melissa went and proved me completely wrong. I’d hate her for it, but it’s what she does! The whole thing makes for an interesting read and I wasn’t disappointed with its conclusion. Another storyline is exactly why Leonie left Dublin for San Francisco. We’re given tidbits throughout the book to tide us over and the story is slowly unravelled. For me, that is what Melissa does best, revealing the plot slowly and keeping us guessing just what it was that drove Leonie to flee so far away. It was a suitably satisfying reason and I had my mouth open in shock when all was revealed. Leonie’s friend Alex has a plot for herself, which I don’t want to spoil, so I’ll just say she’s searching for someone. I did think her plot was going to be a bit darker – it seemed as if it was heading that way, but it didn’t. I liked the way Alex’s plot unfolded and everything was revealed quite quickly which surprised me. I figured there’d be another twist coming there what with the reveal being so soon!
The characters in Please Forgive Me were fantastic. Leonie was a great main character and I really liked her. She was immensely likeable and I enjoyed how easy she settled into the American lifestyle. The book was still Irish though, with Leonie’s best friend Grace being around throughout the novel as well as Adam and co. back in Ireland whom we see through the flashbacks. Alex was also a fabulous character, very American compared to Leonie’s Irishness and they complemented each other well. Their friendship came across really well and I could see why they got on so well. There were a few other characters integral to the story including Seth, Marcy, the aforementioned Adam, Andrea, Suzanne as well as Nathan and Helena who are of course completely intergral to the letters part of the story!
The writing is, as always, brilliant. Melissa really has a way with words that makes her books incredibly readable. As always with Melissa’s books it’s told in the third person. The book is told from the point of view of both Leonie and Alex as well as a few thrown in from Nathan. Nathan’s were the most intriguing as they kept referring to him being “here” and I couldn’t stop saying to myself “WHERE?”. The book is told entirely in the present, bar the flashbacks to what went on in Dublin with Leonie and Adam. Their story is, as I said, built up slowly but we’re told enough just to keep us guessing and reading. As always I was surprised with how easy Melissa juggled all of the plots in the book and kept them all up in the air at all times. The ending was fantastic and was worth all of the waiting and build-up. In one respect I was sad to finish the book but I thought Melissa tied up all of the knots perfectly. The last chapter is everything I had hoped for and more. It finishes the story perfectly. Another outstanding read from Melissa Hill.