From Notting Hill With Love . . . Actually (The Notting Hill)

by Ali McNamara

[Leah]

Scarlett O’Brien lives her life as if she’s in one big movie production but often finds herself in trouble for indulging in such fantasies. When Scarlett is given the chance to house-sit a mansion in Notting Hill, she jumps at the chance to live out her life-long film fantasies. As she gets comfy in her Notting Hill mansion and finds herself re-creating many famous film scenes, she also realises that there may be more to life than the one she was leading prior to her house-sitting expedition. As Scarlett spends more time in Notting Hill, she finds herself strangely attracted to neighbour Sean, but what of her fiance David? Could it be that Scarlett O’Brien has inadvertently found herself in her very own romantic comedy?

When I first heard about From Notting Hill With Love… Actually, I was split in two; on the one hand, I thought it sounded fantastic and right up my street but on the other, it could so easily be a homage to all things movies but it might not have managed to pull off an actual credible plot. However, I received a proof copy and after admiring the beautiful cover I was taken in immediately. My curiosity about the book finally reached fever point and I decided to give it a read. I’m so glad I did as it’s one of my favourite books of 2010.

From Notting Hill With Love… Actually is an incredibly interesting book. It’s main focus is on the movies, absolutely, but there were plenty of other plots to keep the book moving along. For one, there’s Scarlett’s move to Notting Hill to house-sit for a month, I thought that was such an interesting way to begin the book that I was instantly intrigued and although I hadn’t planned to continue reading the book I was soon hooked. There are many other sub-plots, Scarlett’s desire to prove that it is possible to find yourself in the middle of movie scenes in real life, Scarlett’s issues with her mother, but most of all there’s Scarlett deciding if David, her fiance, is the man she wants to marry. Made even harder after Sean, her next door neighbour in Notting Hill, comes along and they become ever friendlier.

The movies, though, what can I say about the movies featured throughout the book? A book that references the creme de la creme of romance films is always going to be a hit with me. I love Notting Hill, Pretty Woman, Runaway Bride et al and I vaguely remember Love Actually although I wasn’t a huge fan of that film bar that one scene with Keira Knightley. What From Notting Hill With Love… Actually does is, it meshes all of those films together to create one big romance-film-fest. I absolutely adored all of the movie references within the book and I kept getting excited every single time I remembered a scene that was playing out from any given film throughout the book. It was completely cheesy, how the scenes played out, but it was goofy-grin cheesy; the kind of cheesy that’s acceptable and is actually really good.

The best thing about the book though is the characterisation. Scarlett is mirrored on Vivien Leigh, of whom I’ve never heard of but was in Gone With The Wind, meaning her name isn’t just irony, and I loved her immediately. She is a bit of a dreamer, don’t get me wrong, but who doesn’t want to live in a world where you want your life to be like a movie scene? Unlike her father, best friend and fiance, I found Scarlett’s movie obsession endearing. I warmed to Scarlett immediately and she’s become one of my favourite heroines ever. She is someone I would want to be friends with. I also found Sean, the neighbour in Notting Hill, very intriguing. Although he and Scarlett don’t get off to the best start, I could see there was something there, some kind of spark and I loved seeing their relationship go from strength to strength as they got to know each other better. Never in my life have I wanted two characters to get together as much as Sean and Scarlett, making it annoying that Scarlett had a fiance, David. David. I didn’t like him, he never really caught my attention and he seemed a bit too controlling for me. Whilst in Notting Hill Scarlett makes friends with Oscar and Ursula, both of whom I loved and would have liked to have seen more of!

The book is told entirely from Scarlett’s point of view and once I’d started the book I found it very difficult to put down as I just wanted to know what was going to happen next. It was infectious. The movies, the characters, the setting, it all added up to a really fantastic book. I have no qualms whatsoever saying that it is one of my favourite books of 2010 and I cannot believe that it’s only Ali McNamara’s first novel. I sincerely hope she’s on writing her second because I cannot wait for it. But do you want to know what my favourite scene was of the entire book? The ending. If you’re the type of person to skip to the ending because you’re a cheater (like me usually) and can’t wait to read all the pages to get there, I recommend you don’t do it, because you will completely ruin the best book ending I have ever come across. It is cheesy, it is romantic and it had me grinning like a complete and utter loon. I knew it was coming – or rather, I hoped it was coming, and I wasn’t disappointed at all. From Notting Hill With Love… Actually will be a huge hit with any rom-com film fan, particularly if, like Scarlett, you’re hankering after your own fairytale ending.