Before I Met You by Lisa Jewell is a novel that weaves together the stories of two women living decades apart. It delves into the life of Betty, a young woman navigating London’s vibrant jazz scene in the 1920s, and her granddaughter, Arlette, who inherits Betty’s estate years later and unravels the secrets of her grandmother’s past.
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Book Blurb
After her grandmother Arlette’s death, Betty is finally ready to begin her life. She had forfeited university, parties, boyfriends, summer jobs—all the usual preoccupations of a woman her age—in order to care for Arlette in their dilapidated, albeit charming home on the English island of Guernsey. Her will included a beneficiary unknown to Betty and her family, a woman named Clara Pickle who presumably could be found at a London address. Now, having landed on a rather shabby street corner in ’90s Soho, Betty is determined to find the mysterious Clara. She’s ready for whatever life has to throw her way. Or so she thinks…
In 1920s bohemian London, Arlette De La Mare is starting her new life in a time of postwar change. Beautiful and charismatic, she is soon drawn into the hedonistic world of the Bright Young People. But two years after her arrival in London, tragedy strikes and she flees back to her childhood home and remains there for the rest of her life.
As Betty navigates the ups and downs of city life and begins working as a nanny for a rock star tabloid magnet, her search for Clara leads her to a man—a stranger to Betty, but someone who meant the world to her grandmother. Will the secrets of Arlette’s past help Betty find her own way to happiness in the present?
About the Author
New York Times bestselling author Lisa Jewell is known for her gripping psychological thrillers and contemporary fiction novels. She has written numerous bestsellers, including The Family Upstairs, Then She Was Gone, and None of This is True.
Her best selling debut novel Ralph’s Party was a huge success and the sequel was released in 2010. Since then she’s written plenty of best sellers and several of her novels have been featured on Richard and Judy’s Book Club.
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