Since You've Been Gone

by Anouska Knight

[Leah]

When I was offered the chance to review Anouska Knight’s debut novel Since You’ve Been Gone, I said yes with no hesitation. Anouska won ITV’s Lorraine’s search for the next big contemporary fiction (AKA Chick Lit) author, and so I had very high hopes for her novel, especially as the judges for the competition were Jackie Collins and Victoria Fox, two of the bigger Chick Lit names, two authors that know what it is to be a writer and have immense talent, so whomever they’d picked to win absolutely had to be worth a read, and boy was it worth a read!

Since You’ve Been Gone is a really great novel, one I thoroughly enjoyed. I did, I admit, find some of the writing to be a bit bitty, and Holly seemed to go off sometimes and start talking about things without giving them context, something that left me immeasurably confused until I figured out what was going on – for example, in the first few pages Holly’s wondering where Charlie has gone and it reads as if he’s just lost/busy and will be home immediately, but because of the way it’s written you’ve got no idea Charlie actually isn’t alive, and before you have time to contemplate that, Holly’s then wondering where Dave is and my head was just spinning as I tried to place Charlie and Dave with no context at all and it only became clear when a) we learned Dave was Holly’s dog and b) she told us Charlie had died. It may have just been me not paying enough attention, but it was massively confusing for a moment there.

Apart from the confusion, I soon found myself lost in the novel, in a good way. I was absorbed by Holly’s work at Cake (GREAT name for a company – seriously, why do authors use silly plays on names when the name of the product works so well and is so to the point!) being a big cake fan myself, especially of designer cakes. I liked reading about Holly’s big house that I imagined as massive and full of rooms that were only half-done, but most of all I really enjoyed Ciaran Argyll. I wasn’t sure at first, writing him off as a typical playboy chasing a bit of skirt, but I actually really warmed to him and I liked how he and Holly hit it off, and how it wasn’t all immediately hopping into bed with each other. The tension between the two was palpable from page one, but I liked how they built up to their relationship. I liked seeing how Holly felt she wasn’t really Ciaran’s type or belonged in Ciaran’s world and how Ciaran had to show her she was and did.

I’d definitely recommend Since You’ve Been Gone, Jenny Colgan is right this is a warm novel. It’s filled with some really great characters, I especially liked Fergal and because whenever he talked he did so in a Scottish accent I could immediately imagine him in real life and he was so fun. I did find Holly’s partner at Cake to be a bit of a mystery. I’m sorry to say this, but I thought Jesse was gay and I still can’t get my head around the fact he wasn’t. That was just weird, I was so convinced and it sort of shook me when he wasn’t. It’d probably have helped if I had a description for him, something I never saw in the book, at least then I could have replaced that with the image I already had of him. Woops-a-daisy. So, yes, definitely a novel to have a read of because it was most enjoyable with some fabulous characters and a sweet, warm plot. I’ll definitely be keeping one eye out for another Anouska Knight book as she is a great writer!