I have no idea which lovely publicist at Orion sent me a surprise copy of Our Life In A Day by Jamie Fewery, but I would like to extend my grateful thanks to them as its arrival was most welcome.

Our Life In A Day was published by Orion in ebook on 27th December 2018 and is available for purchase and paperback pre-order (April 2019) through these links.

Our Life In A Day

The rules are simple. Choose the most significant moments from your relationship – one for each hour in the day.

You’d probably pick when you first met, right?
And the instant you knew for sure it was love?
Maybe even the time you watched the sunrise after your first night together?

But what about the car journey to the holiday where everything started to go wrong? Or your first proper fight?

Or that time you lied about where you’d been?

It’s a once in a lifetime chance to learn the truth.

But if you had to be completely honest with the one you love, would you still play?

For Esme and Tom, the game is about to begin. And once they start, there’s no going back . . .

My Review of Our Life In A Day

When Tom’s best friend Annabel pushes him into chatting to Esme at a fancy dress party the consequences will reverberate throughout the next decade.

This is going to be one of those reviews that is difficult to write without including spoilers so I’ll state unequivocally that I absolutely adored Our Life In A Day and cannot recommend it highly enough.

There are so many aspects that make Our Life In A Day a poignant, touching and emotional read. The themes Jamie Fewery includes are devastatingly effectively portrayed so that the reader has complete understanding of how and why Tom and Esme behave as they do. I don’t think it is revealing too much to say the concept of depression gives an unexpected gravitas to the narrative that is compelling and affecting. I loved the fact that, with honesty as a major theme to the novel, when they meet neither Esma nor Tom is in fancy dress like everyone else. This is a portent of the way in which identity and truth will resonate throughout their relationship.

I thought the plot was a wonderful concept. Esme’s 10th anniversary game is the foundation of all the action in a manner that is authentic and also somewhat terrifying because I wasn’t sure throughout what the outcome of the game might be. The denouement to Our Life In A Day left me tearful and emotionally drained.

The balance of focus between Esme and Tom is delicately wrought giving each an importance and status in the story. The fact that there is only a small cast of supporting characters adds to the intensity and emotion and at times I could hardly bring myself to read on, whilst simultaneously not wanting to stop. It was Tom in particular who touched me. On occasion I wanted to shake him and remonstrate with him and yet I still wanted to hold him close and comfort him too. People close to me have experienced similar demons and the way in which Jamie Fewery depicts Tom’s struggles is incredibly accurate and impactful.

To try to explain Our Life In A Day further might risk spoiling the read for others. I think Jamie Fewery has written an important narrative because he has woven in aspects that are enormous problems and issues for both society and individuals. That said, Our Life In A Day is neither moralising nor didactic. It is instead a wonderful, heart breaking, and emotional depiction of love and life. I absolutely adored it.

About Jamie Fewery

Jamie Fewery is an author, journalist and copywriter. He has written for the Daily Telegraph, Five Dials and Wired, and works for a London-based marketing and creative agency. He lives in Berkhamsted, Hertfordshire with his wife and son. Our Life in a Day is his first novel. You can follow Jamie on Twitter @jamiefewery and Instagram @jamiefeweryauthor.