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In a Thousand Different Ways: the gripping, unforgettable new novel from the Sunday Times number 1 bestselling author

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She does manage to live a life of her own, with the urging of her older brother, and moves away from the toxic environment that is her childhood home. Tell me about your new novel, In a Thousand Different Ways. What was the inspiration and how did it evolve? If you asked me to describe this book in a colour, I would call it the blue of a mist - pretty to look at but not very discernable. If you asked me how I felt reading it, I'd say it tugged at my heartstrings but it also left me a bit confused - what was the point? Is it a sort of bildungsroman? Just a story of a woman with Synesthesia? If you asked me whether I would recommend the book to others, I'd say it depends on whether you would like to spend an evening reading about a woman, her struggles with her undiagnosed condition, beautiful relationship with her older brother, complicated relationship with her mother and a romance that just didn't seem right.

This isn't a light read, rather one that makes you sit and reflect upon it as you go through it. Alice develops the ability to see people's emotions as auras and how this interacts between different people. She struggles with her mother, who is later diagnosed as bipolar, and younger brother, but is supported by her older brother. The story follows Alice through her life and the detrimental effect that her ability has on her interactions with others. I didn’t find those aspects challenging to write. I feel very comfortable writing about people’s foibles – I love to go into the dense dark spaces of the mind and see the world from my character’s eyes. The more nuanced they are, the better. Why do you think you are drawn to writing about loss?

Featured Reviews

Synaesthesia is an interesting condition and it has worked well as a plot device in a few books that I’ve read in recent years, but hanging the entire story on synaesthesia is not really a runner. It becomes very repetitive - there are only so many ways of describing how colours appear - the red mists, the murky browns, the swirling purples. Less “a thousand different ways” and more a case of, well, just a few really. Normally it can take me maybe a week to two weeks to read a book, but not Cecelia's latest offering. I have only read one of her other books but like I said something about this drew me in. Wither that was the cover, the description or simply because its Cecelia.

But it took me a while to get Cecelia Ahern´s sophisticated story. First, I was thinking "what on earth is she talking about?" It wasn´t till I was 50-60% through the novel when it hit me! Then I was obsessed with this specific characteristic and was eager to find out how Alice will OWN her LIFE. I know the adage it is not the destination but the journey that matters, but Alice's journey is more of the same. It felt a bit like a mega serial (soap opera) with an extraordinary person since the mini-events happened to be nothing life changing or from a novel form story line altering. I did admire the author's conviction to see the world in it's colors and some of it's passages around light and prism to demonstrate maturity. Some parts like wearing a shield or her sales roles through aura mirroring seemed a bit stretched. The last part of her family was in super fast forward mode like done around the publishing deadline. Beautifully executed. I cannot recommend this enough and the audiobook is out of this world. Try it! I loved everything and I highly recommend this for your reading or listening list right now. Cecilia Ahearn is a genius and has pulled out an absolute corker for us all. I still have Alice’s Dublin accent in my head reminding me of the year I lived there. Did I mention he Narrator? I am actually going to look for other audiobooks she has worked on. Five huge stars! The book is set in Dublin to being with then moves to Doha, Liverpool and finally London. Alice, at the age of eight, is given a gift that makes her unique, special but also controls her life in so many ways. She sees colours around people. Through there is only three chapters of book, it makes sense why its just three with just chapter titles not chapters. Trust me keep going its so worth it, we see Alice as she's rejected by her mum and younger brother. Her older brother and saviour, Hugh, is always there for her protecting her every step of the way. You can't help but hope she flourishes and succeeds in everything she does. In someway she does but through a wonderful journey of discovery, finding yourself and maybe find true love along the way. Alice realised at 8 years of age that she could see the colours of people's moods swirling around them, changing with their thoughts and desires; manifesting their actions. Bewildered by her curse (or is it a gift?), it causes her to be distracted, distant, and different, as others' auras reach out and attempt to affect and influence her too. She must even deflect people's happiness because, 'you shouldn't steal someone else's happiness. You have to make your own.' Alice needs to find a way to live with herself and live her life, in spite of the colourful insights she sees, 'wondering why it is that I see every part of everyone and most of them never see me at all.' This book is her journey: hiding, deflecting and manipulating and finally accepting: her differences become her strength.Trust me when I say this is a book that is an absolute must read of 2023! Thank you so much for the publisher and NetGalley for giving me advance access to one of the most beautiful, moving books I've ever read. I hope this one wins some awards that's for sure. Such a beautiful, tender and moving story’ Sinead Moriarty, bestselling author of Yours, Mine, Ours This is my first book of Cecelia Ahern. An unusual story, very well written, and I look forward to reading more of her books. There are some big leaps forward in time, but for the most part I didn't felt that I needed to know the detail of what had happened in the intervening years. It's only towards the end, when suddenly there are children and grandchildren, that it feels too rushed. The character development is excellent, especially Alice who is a fantastic character – strong & develops with experiences. There is a lot of complexity in the characterisation, and it is very nuanced. The relationship between Alice & Andy while unusual in parts, I felt had its rough edges in terms of portrayal. I did like the part where Alice mentions understanding his soul without her powers. The early parts of the book progress as a string of incidents, while later the story takes time leaps. I found many sections to be slow, and it could have been shorter. The last portion spans many years in Alice’s life, but I liked that approach as I think the author probably felt there was not much new material which could be introduced. The end summary on Alice navigating her relationships & life’s experiences through colours was beautiful.

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