Happily Ever After by Harriet Evans

Twenty-two-year-old Eleanor Bee dreams of living in London and moving in literary circles and is desperate to get a job, any job, in publishing - but quickly finds this harder than expected. Naïve, slightly fat and lacking in confidence, Elle is despondent about her prospects when she finally lands work as a secretary for Bluebird Books, an independent publisher run by the wonderfully old-school Felicity Sassoon. Thrilled to be doing what she loves, she slowly finds her feet at work but falls for the boss’s son, the charming, flashy and ultimately untrustworthy editor Rory. As Elle climbs the career ladder, leaving her mousy, socially awkward self firmly in the past and moves to New York, it becomes clear that her alcoholic mother needs her more than ever and that you can’t escape the ties that bind. I wasn’t wild about Evans’s last book and I can’t say I’m wild about this one. As a heroine, I found Elle too boring and since this book, like the one before, is about the past catching up with you no matter how far you try to run from it, I also had a sense of déjà vu. It’s a slow read and not a particularly exciting one.