Losing the Light: A Novel

Written by Andrea Dunlop

Narrated by Cassandra Campbell

A smart, obsessive debut novel about a young woman studying abroad who becomes caught up in a seductive French world–and a complex web of love and lust.

When thirty-year-old Brooke Thompson unexpectedly runs into a man from her past, she’s plunged headlong into memories she’s long tried to forget about the year she spent in France following a disastrous affair with a professor.

As a newly arrived exchange student in the picturesque city of Nantes, young Brooke develops a deep and complicated friendship with Sophie, a fellow American and stunning blonde, whose golden girl façade hides a precarious emotional fragility. Sophie and Brooke soon become inseparable and find themselves intoxicated by their new surroundings–and each other.

But their lives are forever changed when they meet a sly, stylish French student, Veronique, and her impossibly sexy older cousin, Alex. The cousins draw Sophie and Brooke into an irresistible world of art, money, decadence, and ultimately, a disastrous love triangle that consumes them both. And of the two of them, only one will make it home.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Brilliance Audio
• Release date: Feb 23, 2016
• ISBN: 9781511322065

Andrea Dunlop

Andrea Dunlop is the author of We Came Here to Forget, She Regrets Nothing, Losing the Light, and Broken Bay. She lives with her husband in Seattle, Washington, where she works as a social media consultant.

Reviews for Losing the Light

[majesdane-1 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

I admit it: I went into this thinking it was yet another book inspired by a certain real life Italian crime. I mean, that's definitely the vibe the blurb gives off. However, this wasn't that kind of book; it was a little disappointing to discover that, but that's my fault, not the author's, so.

I've been trying to think of what this book reminds me of and I just can't place it. But it has a familiarity to it -- like Megan Abbott, but obsessive co-dependence without the darkness. There is a thick undercurrent of subtext between Brooke and Sophie (Sophie is emotionally devoted to Brooke, while Brooke idolizes Sophie and has a clear sexual attraction to her) but we never see it come to fruition. I'm not sure why, I'm not sure if it works. I love to see books about too-intense-friendships where the lines are blurred between love/hate and romantic love/friendship love, but it just felt like this book never quite delivered.

This book has moments of greatness and other times it felt like it was just going through the motions. I wanted the author to dig deeper into Brooke and Sophie's psyche, but we never got that. The story has a dream-like quality; Brooke and Sophie get sucked into a world that just isn't theirs, but it's one they desperately want to be a part of. There's an intense longing to be someone "new", but, with Brooke, she struggles with her conflicting desire to return to reality.

Really, this whole story is about idealization, and realizing that nothing is really as perfect and shiny as it seems from the outside looking in.

(And, as I write this, I realize this book reminds me of Summer Sisters, especially the ending.)

[patsaintsfan · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

We all have experienced finding a debut author who has surpassed our expectations. A rare find it is when we finish a novel, and sit a moment, reflect, and send a little prayer upward asking that the author "hurry up with their next book". Ms. Dunlop has done this to me with Losing the Light. This is not my typical read, and to be honest, I cannot even recall how or when I added this to my "to-read" list. I'm thankful something made me add it. Her writing is lovely. She has written such an emotional novel. Not emotional for me, BUT she created characters who are wonderful examples of living "in emotion". These two best friends, Brooke and Sophie, who are in one of the most romantic countries in the world (or so I've been told), France. They have deep internal emotions, express their thoughts and feelings emotionally, react emotionally. They are the epitome of young women looking for love, adventure, friendship, and "the meaning of life". This is quite the accomplishment for a debut novel.

[joeyee-4 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

I really enjoyed reading this book. I think it is perfect for a book club; it even comes with questions and topics for discussion at the end of the book. From the beginning, readers can predict how everything will turn out. More than ninety percents of the book is a flashback of that one year when Brooke was studying aboard in France, which makes the writing style very interesting.

My only complain is all the French phases. Most of the conversations in the book are spoken in French except the conversations between Brooke and Sophie. Thus, everything is already been translated from French to English, then why all the random French words/phases. Some of them are easy like oui or bonjour. Other not so much, because of that I felt like I was missing some of the context. However I did learn two French words: foufoune and la bite.

I hope there will be a second book. Since this book is only written from Brooke’s memory/point of view, I would like to know what Sophie was going through and thinking at the time. Maybe even a different timeline: after France/Sophie’s death or after meeting with Alex again in the States, like Something Borrowed and Something Blue by Emily Giffin.

4 out of 5 stars

Received a free copy from BookSparks in exchange for an honest review.