When Olivia Berrington gets the call to tell her that her best friend from college has been killed in a car crash in New York, her life is turned upside down. Her relationship with Sally was an exhilarating roller coaster, until a shocking betrayal drove them apart. But if Sally really had turned her back, why is her little girl named after Olivia?
As questions mount about the fatal accident, Olivia is forced to go back and unravel their tangled history. But as Sally’s secrets start to spill out, Olivia’s left asking herself if the past is best kept buried.
I dated a bit that year, but it was halfhearted. The real romantic punctuation came from my time with James. His visits got more frequent as the year rolled on, and any remaining awkwardness trickled away. It was still a pose on my part, but like I said, I was craven.
It wasn’t just me who was excited when a visit was imminent. “I love James,” Sally would say, and I would try and be pleased that my two favorite people liked each other so much. It seemed petty to not be happy about it, but I couldn’t help but resent the way she’d never give us any time alone. I knew that if I asked there’d be all manner of trouble, and even the act of asking seemed to contradict my breezy assurances that we were no more than friends.
She hardly ever invited Shaun on our nights out with James, even though it seemed obvious to make it a foursome. Instead we’d be a sharp- cornered little trio, jumping on a virtual trampoline, competing to see how high the fun could take us. One time we somehow ended up in a house club, full of bare- chested ravers sweating all over us and blowing whistles in our faces. It was the last place I wanted to be. Sally disappeared off somewhere, and after an hour me and James started to get worried. I finally tracked her down in a corner by the loos, snogging someone I could barely see,
beyond knowing for absolute certain that he wasn’t Shaun. I waited until I started to feel like a Peeping Tom, then gave up. When she got back I managed to make myself heard over the bass line.
“What were you doing?”
She looked at me, blank- faced, and then danced a little bit harder. Once we got home, I tried again. We were in the kitchen alone, waiting for James to sort out the music.
“Who was that guy?” I said, trying to stop myself from sounding disapproving. I didn’t think Shaun was the love of her life, but nor did I think he deserved her cheating on him. He’d wanted to come out with us, but she’d claimed it was a girl’s night. She’d told us conspiratorially, said how much she was looking forward to us being the three musketeers, and I’d swallowed my irritation at the way she acted like she’d been
there from the beginning.
“What guy?”
“The one you were snogging.”
“I dunno what you’re talking about,” she said, pouring boiling water into our mugs, her eyes refusing to meet mine.
“You so do!” I said, trying to keep it light.
“Why are you saying that?” she said, blue eyes flashing ice.
“I saw you.”
“Shut up, Livvy,” she hissed, spotting James coming back into the room. “Hello, You,” she said, honeyed. “Cup of tea, or shall we go for one last cheeky vodka? You know it
makes sense.”
Drawing literary inspiration from Melissa Bank’s warm-hearted insights into contemporary life in The Girl’s Guide to Hunting and Fishing, and from Daphne Du Maurier’s passionate, classic melodrama Rebecca, Moran’s The Last Time I Saw You offers a gripping plot, deepened by a heartfelt, relatable examination of friendship and love.
Praise for Eleanor Moran
“Gripping, emotional – looks at how losing a friend can be worse than losing a lover.” –Daisy Goodwin, author of My Last Duchess
“Eleanor Moran is a stunningly good writer. Her prose is a joy to read, it wraps you up and draws you in and you daren’t take your eyes off the page for fear of being wretched out of her gripping narrative.” –Santa Montefiore, author of The House by the Sea
“Such a funny writer … more like that American snappy fast humor of Bridesmaids, of Tina Fey … really great dialogue.” – Alex Heminsley, BBC Radio 2
Purchase The Last Time I Saw You from:
The Last Time I Saw You came out of two experiences – a hypnotic, seductive friendship I had at university which exploded in my mid twenties. It took me a long time to process the viciousness of the ‘break up’ and I wanted to write about the ambiguity and treachery of female friendship gone wrong. I also wanted to write about the ‘haunting’ that can take place in relationships we have in our thirties and forties. Livvy’s sister tells her “men move on, they can’t stand the silence” and I think it’s true. I wanted to write about that.
Do you have a favorite character from the book? One who was a pleasure to right? Difficult?
I love all my characters! I fell in love with William, despite him being such a stuffed shirt. I sort of have to when I write a love interest. I loved the complexity of Sally, and I loved her, despite her selfishness and how bad she was for Livvy. She is mercurial and a trickster, and in drama those characters are vital. She can do unexpected, wild things. Livvy has a lot of me in her, as all my heroines do.
If you could give just one piece of advice to fellow writers what would it be?
Gosh, I wouldn’t presume to advise other writers at my stage, but to newbies I would say… Do you know, I don’t know! Understand the market, but don’t be handcuffed by it, as you need to find your own voice.
Who are your favorite authors? Who has inspired your writing?
I adore Rebecca. Daphne Du Maurier found something universal, and then wrote a deeply specific story. Beautiful Ruins. Loved that. The Fault In Our Stars. The Help. Heartburn. The Time Traveler’s Wife. For me it’s the books about rounded, flawed characters doing their very best in believable ways. If you look at my website – eleanormoran.co.uk – I wrote about my 10 favorite love stories. And romantic films.
What’s next? Are you working on your next book?
I am hard at work on book 5. It’s about a young female psychotherapist who is forced to confront her past.
Places to find Eleanor Moran:
The complicated female friendship is what intrigues me.
ReplyDeleteThanks :)
You're so right Mona. That part intrigue me too. Thanks for stopping by. Good luck!
DeleteThe mystery really intrigues me.
ReplyDelete