Seeing Other People By Mike Gayle

[amazon_link id=”1444708627″ target=”_blank” ][/amazon_link]’Seeing Other People’ is Mike Gayle’s latest book.

Father of two Joe Clarke, is about seventy-eight per cent sure he’s just had an affair. After all that is the hopelessly attractive office intern in bed next to him, isn’t it? But then again if he did have an affair why can’t he remember anything at all about the night in question? Mortified by his mistake, Joe vows to be a better man. But when his adored wife Penny puts two and two together and leaves him, things start to take a turn for the decidedly strange. Joe is told for a fact that he didn’t have an affair after all. He just thinks he did. Which is great news . . . or at least it would be if the person who’d just delivered it wasn’t the crisp-eating, overly perfumed and mean-spirited ghost of his least favourite ex-girlfriend . .

Mike Gayle is back with another cracker of a book and just like his previous stories, it gives the male perspective of love and fidelity with unexpected twists and turns as well as an injection of his signature wit.

The story is seen from the perspective of Joe Clarke, a happily married journalist with two children who wakes up naked in a bed that isn’t his own with a pretty young intern also lying naked beside him. Distraught and guilt ridden at the thought of cheating on his wife, Joe racks his brains to see if he did indeed cheat on Penny but the night is coming up a blank. As Joe tries to move on from that night, he receives the news that his ex-girlfriend was killed in a freak tennis accident. Even though Joe doesn’t doesn’t particularly harbour warm, fuzzy feelings towards his boss and controlling ex, his presence is requested at the funeral and that’s when Joe’s life spirals even more out of his normality as he begins to see Fiona and she’s even more bitchy now that she’s dead.

The story then flows from the time leading up to that night and after as Joe battles with his guilt, Penny figures out about that illicit night and finally Fiona keeps appearing, reeking of ‘Poison’ by Dior and taunting him. Life is not easy for Joe.

Joe is an interesting character, hardworking, he idolises his children and his wife and for all his faults, can’t believe that he would throw away in one stupid mistake. But as he tries to make amends, it seems that with every step he takes, he has take another three back. Fortunately, he finds support with his new group of friends from the Divorced Fathers Club, a collection of men whose marriages didn’t work out and struggle to see their children, Joe became friends with these men after interviewing them for his newspaper and with group of chatty and vibrant characters offer him support him during the first while of being a single father.

I’ve been a fan of Mike’s books for years, he approaches love with fact and clever writing, that draws the reader in, curious to find out what will next. Whether it’s the breakdown of Joe’s once perfect marriage or the appearance of mad bitter girlfriend, there is rarely a quiet moment in this bittersweet tale. Even though the story is about infidelity and the breakdown of a marriage, there are a few lighthearted moments, that make for enjoyable reading particularly with scenes that Fiona featured in with her sharp wit and insulting mouth.

A cleverly written story from the very beginning,’Seeing Other People’ is a heartwarming and unexpected book about family, love and second chances.

You can buy [amazon_link id=”1444708627″ target=”_blank” ]Seeing Other People from Amazon [/amazon_link] and is available to buy from good bookshops.