Lives Like Mine

Eva Verde

• Publisher: Simon & Schuster UK
• Year: 2021
• Topic: Literature
• Print ISBN:
  9781398502857
• Subtopic: Literature General
• eBook ISBN:
  9781398502840
• Index: Literature

‘Londoner Eva Verde’s Lives Like Mine explores the theme of a school-run affair and the complications and joys it brings to a dual-heritage mother struggling with her intolerant in-laws’ Independent

'A bitter sweet story of longing and self-discovery, of deceit and regret.  Visceral, authentic and funny, Eva’s prose reads like something between a conversation and a confession.  An exciting new voice and a joy to read' Kit de Waal

‘Eva's writing breaks new ground in a confident and original voice, with a sharp eye for detail, wonderful characterisation and some seriously badass humour’ Yvvette Edwards, author of the Man Booker Prize longlisted novel, A Cupboard Full of Coats

‘Lives Like Mine is an assured debut from a writer who’s going to go far' Red Online

'Londoner Eva Verde's breathtaking novel' New!

Mother.
                To three small children, their heritage dual like hers.
 
Daughter.
                To a mother who immigrated to make a better life but has been rejected by her chosen country.
 
Wife.
                To a man who loves her but who will not defend her to his intolerant family.
 
Woman…
                Whose roles now define her and trap her in a life she no longer recognises…
 
 
Meet Monica, the flawed heroine at the heart of LIVES LIKE MINE.
 
With her three children in school, Monica finds herself wondering if this is all there is. Despite all the effort and the smiles, in the mirror she sees a woman hollowed out from putting everyone else first, tolerating her in-laws’ intolerance, and wondering if she has a right to complain when she’s living the life that she has created for herself.
 
Then along comes Joe, a catalyst for change in the guise of a flirtatious parent on the school run. Though the sudden spark of their affair is hedonistic and oh so cathartic, Joe soon offers a friendship that shows Monica how to resurrect and honour the parts of her identity that she has long suppressed. He is able to do for Monica what Dan has never managed to, enabling her both to face up to a past of guilty secrets and family estrangements, and to redefine her future.
 

Table of contents

• Cover
• Title Page
• Dedication
• Chapter 1: Love, Honour, Obey (and Conform)
• Chapter 2: Trip
• Chapter 3: Guests
• Chapter 4: Friends – Not the TV Show
• Chapter 5: Birth Days
• Chapter 6: Half Term
• Chapter 7: Blisters
• Chapter 8: Reparations
• Chapter 9: Return of the Mon
• Chapter 10: Earnest Domesticities
• Chapter 11: YOLO
• Chapter 12: Forwards
• Chapter 13: Meet the Fuckers
• Chapter 14: Getaway
• Chapter 15: Back
• Chapter 16: Bridges
• Chapter 17: Parents
• Chapter 18: Goodnight and Thank You
• Chapter 19: Revelations
• Chapter 20: No More Drama
• Chapter 21: The Impossible Dream
• Chapter 22: Up, Up and Away
• Chapter 23: Penny Dreadful
• Chapter 24: Old Tricks
• Chapter 25: Time’s Up
• Chapter 26: Shitstorm Apocalypse
• Chapter 27: Scorned by Proxy
• Chapter 28: The Already Shifted
• Chapter 29: Giving Peas a Chance
• Acknowledgements
• Copyright