Review: Ivy and Abe

Ivy and Abe by Elizabeth Enfield
 
Genre: Literary Fiction/Romance
Page Length: 368 Pages
Publication Date: 28 June 2018 (Paperback)
Publisher: Michael Joseph
Source: ARC via NetGalley
 
Stars:  5 out of 5
 
Link: AMAZON (UK)

 
ABOUT IVY AND ABE:
 
Two people. One love story. A million possibilities.

 They're soulmates.
Ivy and Abe were inseparable as children until an accident tore them apart. Several decades later, when both are in their seventies, a chance encounter reunites them. But time is not on their side.
 
What if they'd met in a different time and place?
 
In another life, Ivy and Abe meet in their forties, when both are married already. Unable to resist the attraction between them, they embark on a passionate affair.
 
In yet another, they marry young, with a bright future ahead of them - only for a dark shadow to threaten their happiness.
 
Throughout various incarnations of their lives, they come together and go their separate ways, fall in and out of love, make or break promises.
 
In every universe, Ivy and Abe are meant to meet. But are they meant to be?

My Review:

IVY AND ABE was my next book to read.  I try to read books in order of publication date - as it happens the e-book was published in February and the publication date of 28 June 2018 is actually the date for the paperbook.
 
I remember seeing a quote declaring IVY AND ABE was "THE romance of the year”. But when the epigraph mentions Stephen Hawkins, and a quote from It’s a Wonderful life, and the first chapter opens in 2026 - woah, what is going on?!  I went back to the book blurb - got it. Let’s begin...
 
An amazing and heartfelt story of the lives and lives of Abe and Ivy. I was fully engaged from the get-go and as the first section ended I was holding back the tears. Not only was the story an emotional rollercoaster, it included a multitude of stories from travelling in the UK and around the world which sparked my own wanderlust. And with the different eras it offers both a historical and a contemporary story.
 
With books like this, the substance of the story and the quality of the writing has to outweigh the novelty of the premise, which is why The Time Traveler's Wife holds the bar so high. I'm glad to report that this book does both and is an incredible read.
 
A timely reminder of love in all its glory.
And I have to agree - it is the romance of the year!
 
VERY HIGHLY RECOMMENDED.
 
Thank you so much the publisher and NetGalley for providing me with a complimentary electronic copy in return for an honest review.