Description
Description
A grown-up love story told through ten years in the life of one woman as she finds a perfect partner, builds a longed-for family and career, and works desperately to be all things to all people without losing herself. When she first meets divorced dad Adam, Coralie is new to London and feeling adrift. But Adam is sexy, witty, generous and devoted, and the existence of his charming four-year-old daughter only adds to Coralie's thrill as the couple falls in love. Gradually, alongside Adam, Coralie builds the life she's longed for, including two babies, a wonderful stepchild, a continuing career and a warm, safe home. Ten years on, however, something important is missing. Or maybe, having gained everything she dreamed of, Coralie has lost something else she once had: herself. "Mother, writer, worker, sister, friend, citizen, daughter, wife. If she could be one, perhaps she could manage. Trying to be all, she found she was none." When she hits her breaking point, the results will surprise them all. Set against an eventful decade in the UK that included the soap opera of five Prime Ministers, plus Brexit and Covid, Consider Yourself Kissed puts the subjects of love and family on a grand stage, showing how the intimate dramas in our homes inescapably compete for energy and attention with the shared public dramas of our times. Effortlessly balancing humour with heart, sweetness with bite, and the public with the personal, Jessica Stanley offers an honest, entertaining portrayal of the sacrifices women make for their families, and demonstrates the true, grown-up meaning of "happily ever after."
About the Author
About the Author
Jessica Stanley grew up in Australia before moving to the United Kingdom in 2011. She worked in advertising before publishing fiction, and lives in London with her husband and their three children.
Critical Reviews
Critical Reviews
"Like One Day and Normal People, leaves you feeling bereft at the final page." --The Times (London) "The kind of book that, for a certain kind of reader, will immediately become a treasure...This is a book about making a better world, globally and domestically - and whether, perhaps, those two might amount to the same thing....a very human novel. And a very good one."--The Guardian
"Fresh and original...Coralie is one of the most painfully relatable literary heroines I've encountered in ages... a brilliant book that hits all the right notes: a bit sad, a lot moving and very funny in places. A wholehearted recommend." --Good Housekeeping (UK) "Droll, smart and cheekily literary... This is, at its core, a love story, but it is also much more than that. It's a thoughtful and evocative portrait of the ups and downs of a romantic partnership over time... It is also, thank heavens, extremely funny." --The Saturday Paper
"A tender and realistic cataloging of a relationship as its shifts, changes, and grows over time." -Kirkus "Charming and intelligent ... Readers will root for Stanley's endearing heroine." --Publishers Weekly "The relationships and writing are so bracingly, deliciously fresh that I wish there were a fresher word than fresh. And that the book were 1000 pages longer." -Catherine Newman "A beautiful, harrowing, wild ride through everyday life, Consider Yourself Kissed is a love song to women everywhere." -Annabel Monaghan "A love story like no other: charming, warm, heartfelt and funny but with a truly razor-like authenticity. I absolutely loved every moment and didn't want it to end!" -Liane Moriarty "Deeply appealing... At once a smart literary love story and an absorbing family drama." -Meg Wolitzer "One of the most delightful and relatable books I've read about modern womanhood, the evolution of love, and the way we show up in the world." -Ashley Audrain "Jessica Stanley's principal subject is romance, which she renders--in all its mess and glory--masterfully. But the real delight in Consider Yourself Kissed is how the novel confidently thinks about love more broadly." -Rumaan Alam
"Fresh and original...Coralie is one of the most painfully relatable literary heroines I've encountered in ages... a brilliant book that hits all the right notes: a bit sad, a lot moving and very funny in places. A wholehearted recommend." --Good Housekeeping (UK) "Droll, smart and cheekily literary... This is, at its core, a love story, but it is also much more than that. It's a thoughtful and evocative portrait of the ups and downs of a romantic partnership over time... It is also, thank heavens, extremely funny." --The Saturday Paper
"A tender and realistic cataloging of a relationship as its shifts, changes, and grows over time." -Kirkus "Charming and intelligent ... Readers will root for Stanley's endearing heroine." --Publishers Weekly "The relationships and writing are so bracingly, deliciously fresh that I wish there were a fresher word than fresh. And that the book were 1000 pages longer." -Catherine Newman "A beautiful, harrowing, wild ride through everyday life, Consider Yourself Kissed is a love song to women everywhere." -Annabel Monaghan "A love story like no other: charming, warm, heartfelt and funny but with a truly razor-like authenticity. I absolutely loved every moment and didn't want it to end!" -Liane Moriarty "Deeply appealing... At once a smart literary love story and an absorbing family drama." -Meg Wolitzer "One of the most delightful and relatable books I've read about modern womanhood, the evolution of love, and the way we show up in the world." -Ashley Audrain "Jessica Stanley's principal subject is romance, which she renders--in all its mess and glory--masterfully. But the real delight in Consider Yourself Kissed is how the novel confidently thinks about love more broadly." -Rumaan Alam
Publishing Information
Publishing Information
Publisher:
Riverhead Books
Pub date:
2025-05-27
Length:
336 pages
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