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The Other Half of Augusta Hope: The best-selling, heart-warming debut novel shortlisted for the Costa First Novel Award

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Thanks is extended to HarperCollins Publishers Australia for providing me with a copy of The Other Half of Augusta Hope for review. No need to write about the story, others will tell that. But know that you will fall in love with Augusta, and you’ll feel better for having met her. It is cleverly written, full of literary references (which I loved) but not always easy to get along with – although that wasn't a negative for me. I liked the spikiness of it and felt it reflected Augusta's personality in a way.

Augusta Hope has always been different. Different from her Mum and Dad and different from her twin sister,her neighbours and friends. She enjoys words and Burundi and she doesn't like the small town she lives in finding it very parochial. I found it both a mesmerisingly beautiful portrait of a young woman discovering what home means to her, and a poignant depiction of how our actions can touch other people's lives in ways we could never have anticipated. Augusta and Parfait are wonderful characters; I was willing them on to find the happiness and peace they both deserved' Sarah Haywood, author of The Cactus blogtour Adventure Ancient Egypt Art History Australia Book Blogger Bookliterati Book Recommendation Book review Christmas Contemporary Fiction Crime Del Rey Doubleday Emmeline Kirby and Gregory Longdon Mystery Fantasy Festive Reads Florence Folklore Harper Collins Historical Fiction History Independently Published Italy Karen Swan Literary Fiction Magic Mantle Books Melville House Murder Mystery Myth Orenda Books Pan Macmillan Penguin Random House Psychological thriller Romance Secrets Simon and Schuster Supernatural Suspense thriller Venice Women's Fiction Zaffre Books Book title Search for: Search Search Recent Comments What a wonderful book! I love Augusta - her passion for reading the dictionary, her quirkiness and her journey to find the life she is supposed to have. Parfait's story taught me a lot about Burundi and the intersection of two quite different lives was very well done. Julia's story is heart wrenching and one can feel the pain of the whole family. There is another point of view within this story, that of Parfait, who lives in Burundi, Augusta’s favourite country. Parfait and Augusta don’t know each other until almost at the end of the story, but we follow Parfait’s life alongside Augusta’s. Parfait’s story is punctuated with tragedy though, whereas Augusta’s culminates in it, yet as the two of them get older, there almost seems to be some cosmic connection between them. When they do finally meet, their friendship seems pre-ordained; it was an interesting exploration on coincidence and destiny.

Summary

This is a beautiful and clever story of life, loss and 'duende'. The story moves between Augusta and Parfait, two vivid characters who despite living a world apart, are in many ways so alike. Their lives weave in and around each others and the reader assumes that one day they will meet and their worlds will collide together.

Interwoven with this is the story of Augusta and her family living in suburban Britain. The familiar sights and smells of this neighbourhood are very easy to relate to for anyone in the UK and the sometimes mundane nature of that is something that Augusta starts to rally against from a young age. Her twin sister Julia is more easy-going and wants to please her parents. Despite this, there is a deep bond they share. Julia and Augusta are the Hope twins - bought up in an ordinary place by ordinary parents who are of their time. The threads of this book weave in and out of time, place and experience. Its about family of whatever type and learning from others. Parfait Nduwimana was one of nine children. He was born in Burundi and lived through the horrors of civil war. He decides that he cannot go on living in the country, especially after his sisters have been brutalised by the soldiers who frequently come to his village to plunder. He sets off across Africa with his youngest brother, Zion, determined to get to Spain. The quirky style of writing took a bit of getting used to but right from the start I found it an interesting read. The story is run in parallel between Augusta who lives in Britain but finds it hard to fit in with most people, including most of her own family. Augusta is very bright but often says and does things that would be considered socially unacceptable and which make her parents uncomfortable. She is a twin and adores her sister Julia, who is much more of a conformist. The other story is about Parfait who comes from Burundi and has had a very tragic life. Augusta loves to travel and when holidaying in Spain vows to return. Parfait longs to escape the tyranny of Burundi and also wants to head for Spain. The story mainly focuses on Augusta with glimpses in Parfait’s life. They come from different worlds but they have such a lot in common you knew they were bound to meet at some point.Parfait leaves war-ravaged Burundi in the midst of civil war, and so their stories start to intertwine in the most unexpected ways. The Other Half Of Augusta Hope reminded me of a whirlpool with two powerful stories chasing each other, getting ever closer. There is violence and destruction in the vortex but also beauty and hope. I wasn't sure what to make of this book when I first started it but I'm so glad I preserved! It's about two beautiful and sad tales, one set in the UK and one set in Burundi. About love, loss, fitting in and the connections we make. Has a beautiful poetic way with words. When an unspeakable tragedy upends everything in Augusta's life, she's propelled headfirst into the unknown. She's determined to find where she belongs - but what if her true home, and heart, are half a world away?

At first, I wasn’t quite sure what to think of The Other Half of Augusta Hope because Augusta is really rather odd. The way that she thinks is seen as odd by everyone around her, her mother seems not to know what to do with her and her father is embarrassed by her. We follow the story of Augusta Hope, one half of a set of twins: Julia and Augusta - two girls born on either side of midnight July 31st, meaning on was born in July and the other in August. Parfait is the same age as Augusta, but lives in a completely different world: war-torn Burundi. Having seen many of his family killed in the bloody civil war, he decides to leave, aged 14, taking his younger brother with him.I really enjoyed this unusual story of love, friendship, family and words. As a linguist, I completely understood Augusta's obsession with words and language. I loved her interest in the world, wanting to find out and explore, see the world beyond her boundaries.

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