Review: Everything is Beautiful

Title: Everything is Beautiful

Author: Eleanor Ray

Publisher: 9th February 2021 by Hachette Australia

Pages: 308 pages

How I Read It: ARC book

Genre: contemporary fiction

My Rating: 4 cups

Synopsis:

Sometimes it's impossible to part with the things we love the most...

When Amy Ashton's world came crashing down eleven years ago, she started a collection. Just a little collection, just a few keepsakes of happier times: some honeysuckle to remind herself of the boy she loved, a chipped china bird, an old terracotta pot . . . Things that others might throw away, but to Amy, represent a life that could have been.

Now her house is overflowing with the objects she loves - soon there'll be no room for Amy at all. But when a family move in next door, a chance discovery unearths a mystery long buried, and Amy's carefully curated life begins to unravel. If she can find the courage to face her past, might the future she thought she'd lost still be hers for the taking?

Perfect for fans of Eleanor Oliphant and The Keeper of Lost Things, this exquisitely told, uplifting novel shows us that however hopeless things might feel, beauty can be found in the most unexpected of places.

My Thoughts

‘He gave her a sympathetic smile and handed the bag back. ‘It’s good that you have this,’ he said, his voice gentle. ‘You need memories.’

How do people deal with a huge loss, something that really changes one irrevocably? In this moving tale, Amy shuts her home life away so that she will never be hurt again. In fact, years go by and she may go to work every other day, yet Amy’s house gets full to bursting. This is how she has learnt to cope - reminders of what once was. Heartbreaking when you stop to think about it. Will a young family that moves in next door, be the inspiration she needs to make a change?

Congratulations to Eleanor on this emotional debut in sharing her kind hearted, yet quirky protagonist. One cannot help but feel for Amy and her coping mechanism for all she has seemingly lost. The story seamlessly moves from past to present allowing the reader to learn about how Amy arrived at this point and the meaning behind some of her collectables.  There is a cast of characters that both assist and promote Amy’s behaviour. Some you will love, some you will not. The two little boys who move in next door, so filled with innocence and nonjudgement, are treasures. Some connections work better than others in my opinion, but overall there are many wonderful supporting characters. The mystery of the disappearance that leads to the onset of Amy’s behaviour runs throughout the story. The reader will make some sensible guesses, and yet ... the way it unravels at the end is well written. 

Everything is Beautiful is funny yet sad, heartbreaking yet hopeful - testament surely to well written prose. At its heart it gives the message that it is never too late, that hearts can be broken yet mend (much like the pots in Amy’s garden where pieces can be put together to make art). If Amy can learn to let go of the figurative and literal baggage that weighs her down, she may yet find a reason for living. 

‘Real life needed space to grow .... she had to let go of the broken things in her life.’

This review is based on a complimentary copy from the publisher in exchange for an honest review. The quoted material may have changed in the final release.