The Flatshare by Beth O'Leary. “It’s weird how easily you can get to know someone from the traces they leave behind when they go.” This line from The Flatshare is ostensibly about tea. Tiffy and Leon share a flat, but, as he works nights as a palliative nurse and she works days as a book editor, it's some time before they even meet in person. Even before they do, however, they begin to know one another by "traces” left behind (like a nearly-empty mug of tea in the sink) and through post-it notes they write to each other, which are amusing and, as the novel proceeds, increasingly heart-warming. At first, The Flatshare seemed like pretty standard British chick lit. What unfolded, however, was a much richer story than I anticipated - a story about the other traces people "leave behind when they go," including scars from emotional abuse. The premise is amusing, the characters are quirky, there are lots of Britishisms, and even an awkward encounter in the bathroom that would have worked perfectly in a 1990’s Hugh Grant rom com. And it has the tied-up-with-a-bow ending. However, it's far more interesting than the average fare. I thoroughly enjoyed and appreciated it.
