I Remember You

By Harriet Evans

A Richard Curtis film in book form – the perfect book to curl up with on a long winter’s evening.

Tess Tennant is moving away from London to the sleepy picture-perfect town where she grew up, to teach at the illustrious Langford College. She finds a cottage to share with a burnt-out city lawyer called Francesca. Around the corner is her childhood best friend Adam, who she's always loved like a brother …

Rural life isn't quite how Tess remembers it. Bored, she returns to London for a big night out with Adam but it all ends in tears. Heartbroken and heartsick,Tess has to take her class on a trip to Rome to visit the classical monuments, and she's in the mood to be reckless.

Rome in May is beautiful, filled with the scent of jasmine and warm sunshine, and soon Tess is being swept off her feet by a charming stranger who takes her round the city for a magical week and she soon forgets the complicated problems waiting for her at home.

But when she does return to Langford,Tess finds a note from Adam saying he's leaving for a while. What happened between them when they were young? And what is the secret of his mysterious past?

I Remember You is about the secrets of a town past and present, about a girl who likes to daydream and whether your first love is your true love.

• Language: English
• Publisher: HarperCollins UK
• Release date: Oct 29, 2009
• ISBN: 9780007343812

Harriet Evans

Harriet Evans has sold over a million copies of her books. She is the author of twelve bestselling novels, most recently the Sunday Times Top Ten bestseller The Garden of Lost and Found, which won Good Housekeeping's Book of the Year. She used to work in publishing and now writes full time, when she is not being distracted by her children, other books, crafting projects, puzzles, gardening, and her much-loved collection of jumpsuits. She lives in Bath, Somerset.

Reviews for I Remember You

[lukerik-1 · Rating: 2 out of 5 stars]

This is a much better book than the cover would suggest and I feel a little sorry for Evans, having her work marketed in pink. I also felt a little sorry for myself, sitting on the bus with my skin head, sure that everyone had noticed I was reading a girls’ book.Evans makes a real effort to achieve a sense of realism, with characters speaking colloquially and stumbling through their heavily punctuated sentences.It is too long. There are pages of chatter between characters that just don’t contribute to the story. Parts of it are frankly boring. What this author needs is a merciless editor.Although Tess is a likable character, I found myself emotionally unmoved which was a shame. What ultimately saves the book from being bonfire material is Evans’ sense of humour; the little observations of people that had me laughing quite a few times.

[apolline_1 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Tess is heartbroken after a terrible break up, and decides to leave London to move back to the town she grew up. But after many years of exile in the big city, Langford is not quite as she remembered. Her best friend since childhood, Adam, still lives in Langford, after giving up his college education before he even started. Now he is too preoccupied with his new girlfriend to help Tess through her difficult time. Then you have the local quarrel over the water meadows, the mystery surrounding the local benefactor, Leonora Mortmain, and a trip to Rome.Have time ruined Tess and Adam’s true friendship forever, will the water meadows be saved and what happened to Leonora that made her so bitter?This was good for a chick lit book. Though it took me a little while to get enthusiastic, it did grow on me. I think it is difficult to read this type of literature without meeting any clichés, but they were not to soppy and not too many.