That Part Was True

by Deborah McKinlay

[Leah]

Deborah McKinlay’s novel That Part Was True came to my attention ages ago when I spotted it on Amazon. It has a sweet, whimsical looking cover, with the Eiffel Tower in the background, and a lovely air-mail feel about it, like a lovely letter… I loved the sound of it, too, I think novels where letter-writing is a major component are dying out so it’s always refreshing when it’s the basis of a novel, so I was just a teensy bit disappointed that the entire novel wasn’t letters, but there was a nice enough handful for me to get stuck into. I do think more novels should be written in episolatory form, because it’s beautiful. Letter writing is such a dying art (I couldn’t write a sentence, never mind a letter without getting hand cramps) but such a beautiful way to get the written word across.

I was quite excited to get stuck into That Part Was True, but it wasn’t really what I was expecting. It was a really sweet read, don’t get me wrong, but very little seemed to happen. As much as I wanted to care for Eve and Jackson, their lives were just a bit too perfect, despite their protestations to the otherwise. I know Eve had some issues, but this is a lady with a massive, sweeping house, who only needs to go to her job as a volunteer as and when she chooses, and I couldn’t personally understand her discontent. Ditto with Jackson, bestselling author, who suddenly finds himself a bit stuck with his writing. I wanted to love them and fall for them, and watch their relationship develop, but it was all a bit sedentry for me. The novel didn’t really move at any kind of pace, which despite the fact I normally prefer pace-y books, this seemed to actually work for That Part Was True.

That Part Was True wasn’t the read I expected, I expected to fall in love with this novel and devour it, but it didn’t work like that, for me. I did, mind you, REALLY enjoy all the foody scenes. I’m a terrible food-eater, so fussy and awful, and I hate trying new things, so reading about food in books is the best way for me, because I can mentally drool over all the delicious foods, and the foods in That Part Was True sounded flipping delicious. The letters, too, were amazing, and I wish the entire novel had been written in letter form because it would have been even better, but I enjoyed the novel. I didn’t love it as much as I expected to, but I enjoyed the novel and it was a cracking, sweet, little read, than many people will be able to appreciate way more than me, because the prose was sometimes just a bit over my head, I prefer my writing a heck of a lot simpler!