A lively rom-com about two Brits--born on the same day, in the
same hospital--who meet after 30 years and are forced to reconsider their lives
and shared history.
Sophie Cousens's first novel, This Time Next Year,
is a clever, offbeat romantic comedy about two young Brits whose lives play out
in vastly different ways.
Minnie Cooper--whose mother, Connie, had the audacity to name
her daughter after the car--always had a challenging life. On the day of
Minnie's birth, New Year's 1990, her mother had her heart set on naming her
Quinn. However, when Connie's roommate in the maternity ward, Tara Hamilton,
gave birth a minute before Connie, Tara stole the name, bestowing
"Quinn" upon her own baby, a son. Connie is forced to go with her
second choice--a watershed moment in the lives of the two newborns and their
emotionally wounded mothers.
Minnie grows up taunted by peers and comes to believe nothing good ever happens on New Year's. This self-fulfilling prophecy, further propagated by her mother, plays out in extraordinary ways on New Year's 2020, which also happens to be Minnie's 30th birthday. When Minnie's beau drags her to a party thrown by one of his coworkers, Minnie loses her coat, gets vomited upon and then is locked in a bathroom overnight. Ugh! On New Year's Day, Minnie is finally freed from the loo by none other than Quinn Hamilton. The Quinn--born on the same day, a minute before Minnie, at the same hospital 30 years before.
Cousens's colorful, quirky cast becomes
embroiled in big, memorable scenes that capture and unravel the histories of
both Minnie and Quinn. Rom-com readers will revel in Cousens's wry, lively
story, which probes themes of self-discovery, acceptance and forgiveness, and
the abiding nature of friendship.
This Time Next Year: A Novel by Sophie Cousens
Putnam, $16.00 Paperback, 9780593191200, 352 pages
Publication Date: December
1, 2020
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NOTE: This review is a
reprint and is being posted with the permission of Shelf Awareness. To read this review on Shelf Awareness: Reader's Edition (December
8, 2020), link HERE