Book Review: The Two Lives of Lydia Bird by Josie Silver

Lydia and Freddie. Freddie and Lydia. They’ve been together for almost a decade, and Lydia thinks their love is indestructible.

But she’s wrong. Because on her 27th birthday, Freddie dies in a tragic accident.

So now it’s just Lydia, and all she wants to do is hide indoors and sob ’til her eyes fall out. But Lydia knows that Freddie would want her to live her life well. So, enlisting the help of his best friend and her sister Elle, she takes her first tentative steps into the world and starts to live – perhaps even to love – again.

Then something unbelievable happens, and Lydia gets another chance at her old life with Freddie. But what if there’s someone in her new life who wants her to stay?

Lydia Bird is about to marry Freddie Hunter, the love of her life. Things are perfect.

Then Freddie dies in a car crash that also injures their close friend, Jonah.

Lydia doesn’t know what she will do without Freddie. She’s lost.

When she’s given pills to help her sleep, she takes them with relief. Then, once asleep, Freddie is there. She discovers that when she is asleep, she can be with Freddie. She can be with the man she loves. In this world, he never died and their life carries on. She couldn’t be happier and is quick to visit Freddie whenever she can.

It’s not long however before each life affects the other. Lydia has to decide where she belongs. Does she want the life she was promised or her ‘real world’ life?

Josie Silver is fast becoming one of my favourite authors. I adored One Day in December so I was excited to start reading this novel and I jumped at the chance to be part of the blog tour.

Lydia is a normal character and I felt that how she dealt with the grief was realistic and heartbreaking. It was not hard to empathise with her.

The supporting characters are also great and it was interesting to see things from their point of view – how a death like that affects not only the spouse but the people around them.

The story is told from Lydia’s point of view. The structure is split between ‘asleep’ and ‘awake’ chapters and as they are labelled this way, it’s easy to keep up with which part of the story you’re in.

This story for me, was a cross between P.S I Love You by Cecelia Ahern and the movie, Truly Madly Deeply and how the one person who can possibly help you through the grief is the person who’s died so of course Lydia will do all she can to keep hold of Freddie.

I am not going to lie, this novel is an emotional rollercoaster. It’s not a light read and will put you through the ringer. However, it’s beautifully written and is a story dealing with grief, the loss of a loved one, love, family and most importantly, hope.

It’s a story that I didn’t want to stop reading even though it made me cry on more than one occasion.

The Two Lives of Lydia Bird is perfect for fans of Cecelia Ahern and JoJo Moyes. It looks at the subject matter from a unique point of view and it’s a premise that I think many of us would get behind if it was actually possible in real life, even if you could only visit your loved one once.

This is a charming, endearing novel. I adored it and I hope you do too.

About Josie Silver: 

Josie Silver is a writer of love stories.

Her debut novel One Day in December was a Sunday Times & NY Times bestseller and has been translated into more than twenty-five languages. Her latest novel, The Two Lives of Lydia Bird was released by Penguin on eBook on 30th January with the paperback release due in March.

Josie lives in the midlands with her husband, their sons, and an ever-changing cast of animals.

Say hi to Josie on Twitter: https://twitter.com/JosieSilver_

Click to view The Two Lives of Lydia Bird on Amazon UK.

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Laura

I’m Laura. I started Novel Kicks in 2009. I wanted a place to post my writing as well as give other writers like me the opportunity to do the same. There is also a monthly book club, a writing room which features writing prompts, book reviews, competitions, author interviews and guest posts.

I grew up by the sea (my favourite place in the world) and I currently live in Hampshire. I am married to Chris, have a cat named Buddy and I would love to be a writer. I’m trying to write the novel I’ve talked so much about writing if only I could stop pressing delete. I’ve loved writing since creative writing classes in primary school. I have always wanted to see my teacher Miss Sayers again and thank her for the encouragement. When not trying to write the novel or writing snippets of stories on anything I can get my hands on, I love reading, dancing like a loon and singing to myself very badly. My current obsession is Once Upon a Time and I would be happy to live with magic in the enchanted forest surrounded by all those wonderful stories provided that world also included Harry Potter. I love reading chick lit. contemporary fiction and novels with mystery.