All About Us

by Tom Ellen

This book is almost like a modern day version of Charles Dickens’ A Christmas Carol. Don’t let that put you off this book, because this book is funny, romantic, heart warming and magical. Plus there are no visits from the ghosts of past, present and future.

I really enjoyed reading this book, I felt as though I connected with what Ben the main and character was going through. I got drawn in to his journey of discovery, when he magically goes back in time to relive parts of his life. Only to find out that in reliving some of these events not everything was quite as he remembered.

Ben isn’t in a good place, his career as a writer just hasn’t turned out how he’d expected it to. He also feels as though his marriage is going from bad to worse, so much so he’s starting to wonder if he chose the right woman.

It’s Christmas eve and Ben’s wife Daphne is getting ready to go to her annual works Christmas party. As she’s about to leave she ask’s Ben if he’s sure that he doesn’t want to go with her. He reiterates that he doesn’t want to go, and that while she’s out he’ll put up all of the decorations so the house is ready for the next day. Before her family descended on them as they were hosting Christmas.

However Ben ends up phoning his best mate and they spend the evening in the pub. At one point during the evening when Ben is left alone while his best friend goes to the bar. A scruffy old man comes up to Ben trying to sell him a watch. In the end the old man gives him a watch saying it’s any early Christmas present. Ben put on the watch and comments about it not even working.

After leaving the pub and a little worse for wear, Ben goes up into the loft to get the Christmas decorations. While he’s looking for them he knocks over a box and things fall out all over the place. When he looks at the items he sees that they are keepsakes starting from the first night he and Daphne met to other memorable and important events in their lives together. He’s surprised that Daphne had kept what she had as he didn’t know she was sentimental like that.

Ben obviously falls asleep in the loft, but when he wakes up the next morning he finds himself back in his bedroom at university. When he gets up he looks in the mirror and sees that he looks just like he did in the past, the only thing that he has with him from the present is the broken watch on his wrist.

This is the beginning of Ben’s Journey of discovery. Will he still think he chose the wrong woman to be his wife? While he relives certain parts of his past he notices things that he never noticed first time round. Then when he lives what his future could turn out like is it how he thought it would be? Had he chosen the right woman from the start?

With some humour, heartache and magic along the way. This is a really good modern day book.

Pages: 400, Publication Date: 15 October 2020, My Rating: