My Oxford Year by Julia Whelan

My Oxford Year

by Julia Whelan

She could never have guessed what the year would hold…

‘A pure delight . . . will stay with you long after you’re done’ TAYLOR JENKINS REID

Gazing up at the dreaming spires of Oxford, American student Ella Duran can’t believe it: she has finally arrived at Oxford University.

A new life starts, and not even Ella’s handsome lecturer Jamie Davenport can distract her from her classes. But, as the term goes on, Ella can’t deny the growing attraction between them – an attraction that soon turns to love.

And when Ella learns of Jamie’s life-changing secret, their relationship becomes deeper than Ella could have ever anticipated.

As Ella’s Oxford year draws to a close, she must decide whether the dreams she arrived with are the same ones with which she will leave…

Reviewed by kimbacaffeinate on

4 of 5 stars

Share
I laughed, swooned, smashed things, cried and adored this complicated story about life and the curveballs it throws you when you least expect it.

“The hardest thing is love, with no expiration date, no qualifiers, no safety net. Love that demands acceptance of all things I cannot change. Love that doesn’t follow a plan.”– My Year at Oxford

When the mood strikes, I enjoy women’s fiction. While this has a romantic element and a coming of age new adult feel that fans of Me Before You and The Fault of Our Stars will enjoy, it also focuses on a young woman who is driven in her pursuit of education and career. She has a plan and love isn’t in the equation but sometimes life happens and it makes you reevaluate everything.

Whelan pulled me in with these complex, flawed characters and talks of poets, politics and family. Spending a year abroad at college spoke to my younger-self. Ok, who am I kidding. I would pack my bags to spend a year at Oxford at fifty. The books, the streets, the pubs…the HISTORY! Oh my!

I could talk about the friends, the romantic arrangement and the secrets or perhaps the pubs, countryside and life lessons, but this book like I suppose Oxford is best experienced first hand. So instead I will encourage you to grab your headphones, a box of truffles and a glass of wine. Then lose yourself in this story. It is one that will stay with you. As someone who listens and reads over two hundred books a year, I love when that happens.

Normally I get nervous when an author chooses to narrator, but Whelan is already an established narrator and a favorite. So naturally she nailed the characters, emotions and tone of the story. I recommend listening. This review was originally posted at Caffeinated Reviewer

Last modified on

Reading updates

  • Started reading
  • 9 October, 2019: Finished reading
  • 9 October, 2019: Reviewed