The Ends of the Earth: 2022’s most unforgettable love story

I was in two minds about this book. It originally caught my eye because of the cover and it sounded like an interesting read, mainly because it was set around Ealing, which is where I used to live and my family still do, so close to home. I’ve definitely been in and out of Ealing Broadway station a lot over the years! It started off well as we slowly got to know Mary, who sits in Ealing Broadway station every evening with a sign, waiting for the mysterious Jim to come back home. I did feel sorry for Mary, she seemed like a nice character, but very lonely, and a bit delusional. I mean why would you sit in a station every night waiting for an ex-boyfriend to reappear when it was clearly obvious he’d decided, for whatever reasons, that their relationship was over and disappeared. The story flipped back and forth to when they met, to the present day, and in the end involved people that Mary worked with on a helpline, who found out exactly who she was waiting for and went on a quest to ‘find’ Jim for her. It was quite sad really, but in the end lots of things were sorted out and Mary started to get her life back again, along with new friends who’d helped her out. So whilst I did enjoy it at the beginning, I also lost a bit of interest in the middle when I felt it dragged a bit, and I did skim read a bit to get to the end and find out what actually happened

This is a novel which will swallow you up, heart and soul, and leave you feeling just a little bit wiser. Mary O'Connor doesn't expect much from life but what she wants most of all is to find her first love who disappeared seven years ago. Each evening she heads to Ealing Broadway Station to stand among the day's travellers with a sign bearing the words 'Come Home Jim'. Her life is on hold. Will finding out the truth finally bring closure for Mary? I read .. a LOT, but I'm not sure I've ever come across a novel quite like this before. It is a gentle, tender and touching tale which easily got under my skin. As the story unfolds, told both in the present and the past, I got pulled further into Mary's life and her pain was palpable. Getting to know about her daily routine, living situation and her friends felt like a privilege and a pleasure. The author has produced a beautifully planned, intriguing novel with a very different ending to the one most readers would expect and it is an impressive, heartwarming tale which made me really care about the outcome. It's been a real delight to read and, as such, scores a perfect five stars.

Captivating, beautifully written regarding real life issues, heart wrenching. I loved it!