Review - A Song of Me and You by Mike Gayle

A Song Of Me and You by Mike Gayle

Publisher: Hodder & Stoughton
Release date: 6 July 2023

Back cover blurb: Helen and Ben parted as heartbroken 18-year-olds and went their very separate ways. Twenty years later, mother-of-two-teenagers Helen is still in Manchester, a part-time primary teacher, stunned by the behaviour of her love-rat husband. In an old T shirt and scruffy jeans, she feels at the lowest point in her life. And suddenly, impossibly, Ben is standing on her doorstep. Tired maybe, lonely even, but clearly still the world-famous, LA-based multi-millionaire rockstar he has become. Can you ever go back? For Helen and Ben, so much has happened in the years between. But just to sit in the kitchen for a while and talk - that would be nice. Before the world comes crashing in.

Helen has split from her husband after discovering his cliched affair with a younger woman. She is bitter, low, and lonely. Her sense of loss is heightened as their two children prepare to go on holiday with their Father, leaving Helen alone.

When there's a knock at the door not long after their departure, Helen is expecting the kids to have forgotten something, or one of her friends (not so discreetly) checking up on her. She gets the shock of her life when she opens the door to find Ben standing there.

He looks tired, a little rough. Probably not much different to Helen herself. But he is a world famous musician, and Helen is an Manchester Mum. Their worlds now couldn't be more different.

Helen and Ben were teenage sweethearts, but they parted ways when Helen went to University. They lost touch and haven't seen each other in years. Helen went on to become a teacher, marry Adam and have two children. Ben went on a to be a global superstar with his band Bluelight.

As much as she is delighted to see him, she can't help but wonder what he is doing in the UK, when he has a permanent home in L.A. Ben says he just wants to get away for a bit, to have a little bit of 'normality', and what better way to do so than look up an old friend.

Helen is skeptical, but very pleased. Ben has come along at just the right time. But neither of them are prepared for the rollercoaster of emotions that will follow as they begin their journey getting to know one another again...

Helen I think is a character that we can all relate to in some way or another. Those moments of self doubt that we have when someone from the opposite sex shows an interest in us, particularly when we are very interested in them.

A Song of Me and You is a beautifully told tale of friendship, love, loss and everything inbetween.

A Song of Me and You is available now via Amazon online and all good book shops.

Thank You to the publishers who approved my request via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.