Review--ROOMMATES WANTED

Review For:
Roommates Wanted, by Lisa Jewell
ISBN: 9780061137471, Publisher: Harper Collins

To sum up in one word what I thought of Roommates Wanted, by Lisa Jewell- WOW! Lisa Jewell is the author of six novels, five of them bestsellers, and grew up in north London, where she still resides with her husband and two daughters.
Toby Dobbs, after receiving an old Victorian from his father, and being left by his wife three weeks later, decides to place an ad for roommates. Fifteen years later, although never alone, he finds himself with a full house and still lonely. After a chance meeting with the woman across the street, Leah Pilgrim, Toby finds himself wanting to be more than a brooding poet; he wants to live. Together, they work on fixing the misfit slackers problems and aid them in growing up, so he, too, can do the same.
However, this daunting task proves to be no easy feat. Con, still just a boy himself, finds he is falling in love with a co-worker who is vastly ill, and making it difficult to fulfill his plans to save enough money for pilot school. Melinda, Con’s mother, is bound and determined to remain with her son at all costs, in an attempt to make up for deserting him as a child. Ruby, who was never forced in to the workforce, continues to live off of her many men while dreaming of becoming a singer/songwriter. And Joanne, who changes in to a different person everyday, is as secretive as she is elusive.
Roommates Wanted is a true icon in this genre! It stands apart from everything else. It will take you on a ride filled with love, grief, and humor like nothing you’ve read. Lisa Jewell’s clever and witty dialog will, at times, literally, having you laughing out loud. Don’t read this in a library. The characters are charming and believable, even when you want to slap them senseless. You almost forget they’re not real. The plot flowed exceedingly well and, even with all the characters, it was not hard to follow in any form. The back stories, plot, characters, dialog; it all wraps itself together in a package you won’t soon forget. And, in a way, makes a very sound argument between the fantasy of youth, and the practicality of adulthood. It is a book mixed with real life and dreams that mix so smoothly together you can’t put it down. This should, most definitely, be made into a movie. Right on, Lisa Jewell! Or, rather, write on!

Kelly Moran,
Author and Reviewer