Synopsis:
Not all farewells are forever . . .
Evie Sutherland throws herself into everything. Like many on Scotland’s picturesque Orkney Islands, she works several jobs: managing her family’s shop, researching genealogy for tourists, and writing historical romance novels. Evie aces most challenges, except love. With a childhood diagnosis of Crohn’s disease and a disastrous dating history, Evie has convinced herself that guys won’t date the “sick girl” and the blame falls on the shoulders of her first love, a famous boy from London who spent his summers on her island.
To the outside world, Nikolai Balfour lives a charmed life. Starring in a popular British TV series as a teen, young Nick stole fans’ hearts. That was a lifetime ago, & the years since have been filled with “Didn’t you used to be . . .” moments, career wrong-turns, and empty relationships. Finding success behind the cameras, Nick is still racked with regret and guilt over how things ended with the Orcadian girl he loved but left behind.
A television series filming in Orkney blows Nick back into Evie’s quiet life, forcing them to face their heartbreaking past and revisit old secrets that should never have been kept.
Unfolding in alternating past and present timelines, A Smile in a Whisper is a tale of first love, second chances, and the enduring summer memories that shape us.
Review:
Author Jacquelyn Middleton worked in television broadcasting before deciding to pursue a career as a writer. She began as a freelance writer of health and lifestyle articles, and won several national awards. Her work was published in USA Today, National Geographic Travel, Reader’s Digest, and other periodicals. But eventually, she overcame her “fear, self-doubt, time” constraints, and began penning her first novel, an experience she recalls as “challenging and nerve-wracking but fun. So much fun! Seriously, why didn’t I try this sooner? Writing novels, creating worlds and characters, exploring emotions and why people act the way they do is the best job ever.” Her first published effort, London Belongs to Me, debuted in 2016. It was followed in 2017 by London, Can You Wait? which won several prestigious awards, as did 2019’s Until the Last Star Fades. Say Hello, Kiss Good-Bye, and The Certainty of Chance were also successful, and her latest novel, A Smile in a Whisper was a Publishers Weekly Booklife Editor’s Pick and earned a starred review from BlueInk Review.
Middleton describes her books as “character and relationship-driven stories about people dealing with the triumphs and disasters we all experience,” as well as “love stories for hopeful romantics.” But she emphasizes that they are not “rom-coms,” because in her writing she does not shy away from the fact that “life is messy, relationships are messy” and she is not “afraid to go there . . .” She is particularly proud of being an own voices author. She is transparent about her lifelong struggle with anxiety, panic attacks, and depression. She strives to “realistically and empathetically” depict mental health issues. “I’m pleased to have this platform to inform people about this misunderstood affliction,” with the goal of entertaining readers while obliterating the stigma and misperceptions about the issues.
In A Smile in a Whisper, Middleton whisks readers off to the beautiful Orkney Islands of Scotland where Evie Sutherland lives on the Mainland in the little village of Kirkwall. The story begins eighteen years ago when Evie is just thirteen years old, swooning with her best girlfriends, Sunita and Fiona, over Nikolai “Nick” Balfour, the sixteen-year-old star of the television drama Dalston Grove. Evie, who loves to write, has been fantasizing about a romance with Nick and penning short stories about their possible adventures. Evie is ecstatic when she learns that Nick’s paternal grandmother lives in Orkney at Balfour Castle, her family home. Is there a possibility she could actually meet the boy to whom she is so hopelessly attracted? Indeed, Evie and Nick are thrust together when his mother, a successful actress in her own right, insists that Nick attend the same music camp Evie has participated in since she was eight years old. Nick confesses that he can neither sing nor play the guitar, and his mother is punishing him for having ditched the private voice lessons she arranged for him. Evie is shocked to learn that Nick and her older brother, Sam, have been acquainted for two years, a detail Sam never disclosed to both shield Nick’s privacy and evade having to respond to Evie’s inevitable probing for details about what Nick is really like.
Middleton details the teenagers’ burgeoning relationship with tenderness and obvious affection for her characters. Evie quickly learns that Nick is not the character he plays on television and about the behind-the-camera machinations that made him a star. For instance, Nick confesses that the questionnaires published in the fan magazines recounting all the things he likes and dislikes are completed not by him, but by his public relations staff. And his much-publicized romance with a young actress is nothing more than a publicity stunt. The two become friends, but Nick has commitments that take him back to London while Evie remains in Orkney. Still, he returns to the village with his family, especially for holidays, and they gradually grow closer.
Nick discloses painful details about his tumultuous family life and the pressure his mother, in particular, puts on him to succeed in the entertainment industry. He has harbored a secret that could derail his career since he was ten years old: he suffers from debilitating panic attacks. In fact, he suffers one in Evie’s presence, and she helps him through it. He explains that “nobody wants to book a kid with mental issues” for a job in film or television, and his mother cares more about his career than his mental health, insisting the diagnosis of panic disorder is erroneous and refusing to permit Nick to seek necessary therapy. Nick finds himself drawn to Evie because he senses that she sees and appreciates him, as opposed to the role he plays on television. “Sometimes all you needed was someone who would listen, who wouldn’t judge when you were hurting. Someone who knew the pain and loneliness of carrying a heavy secret.” Nick senses that “a newfound trust has been forged, a special intimacy . . . ” But even with Nick’s vulnerability on display, however, Evie cannot bring herself to share with Nick that she has Crohn’s disease, an inflammatory bowel disease. The severity and symptoms vary widely among patients, but include abdominal pain, fatigue, weight loss, and embarrassing, “panicked sprints to the loo, not to mention the occasional accident.”
Gradually, their relationship blossoms into a full-blown romance. After seven years playing the same role in a successful television series, the show is canceled, and Nick finds it difficult to transition into adult roles. At the age of twenty, he searches for a “comeback,” intent on not being a “has-been.” Evie’s time in London proves to be an attempt to be someone and something she is not comfortable being, and she returns to Orkney for good. Her condition worsens, but Nick is unaware because their relationship abruptly ends, leaving her devastated.
In an alternating present-day narrative, Evie helps her mother run Marwick’s, the cafe and shop her mother’s family has owned for generations that Evie will someday inherit and continue operating. Evie handles catering, as well as her own genealogy clients, and continues to pursue her writing. She is still single, and her dating history has been problematic, in large part due to Crohn’s disease. Evie has experienced a series of romantic disappointments because when she has grown close enough to men to share the details of her condition with them, they have been repulsed. “No one wants to date the sick girl,” she complains to Sunita, who now enjoys a successful career in London as an entertainment reporter for The National Mail. Evie is contemplating accepting a dinner invitation from Caleb, the new head teacher at Kirkwell Grammar School, even though she does not feel a spark with him. Evie confesses that she is lonely and living in a small village means that she meets few eligible men. And even though her Crohn’s disease is well-controlled, she still perceives it to be a barrier to a fulfilling relationship.
When Evie’s parents go away on a long-needed vacation, Marwick’s is fully entrusted to her. And she negotiates a lucrative catering contract that will generate enough income to make desperately needed repairs to the store and keep it afloat. She will spend the summer providing catering services to a production company filming a television series. What she does not realize when she enters into the agreement is that Nick is the executive producer, and he will be on set daily. She only learns this when a calamity befalls Marwick’s during the annual St. Magnus Festival parade. Suddenly, Nick is right in front of her “and thirteen years of bitter hurt surge forward, pushing play on her long-held vow to stay strong if they ever spoke again.” But Evie is determined to maintain her professionalism and forge ahead. Sunita decides to take a leave and remain for the summer, serving as Evie’s assistant. The catering venture is not without a few catastrophes, but mostly successful. Her interactions with Nick? Not as pleasant. But Evie cannot deny that she still has “conflicted, messy, unrequited feelings” for Nick. Does he feel the same way? Evie has no idea that Nick actually agreed to serve as executive producer specifically because he hoped being near her would provide a way for them to be friends again. He is wracked with guilt about the way their relationship ended, recognizing that his actions were “stupid and unforgivable.” Does Evie have the capacity to absolve him?
Middleton employs the alternating narratives to great effect, examining her characters’ lives and relationships, and heightening suspense. As the timelines shift, Evie and Nick’s youthful connection deepens and they appear to be on their way to a bright future, while in the present day, they must carry out their professional obligations despite their discomfort around each other. As the executive producer, Nick is Evie’s boss, and she has to succeed because Marwick’s is not just her birthright. It is also her future. But she knows that she must sort out her complicated feelings for Nick once and for all — her pain about the demise of their relationship, and her lingering and undeniable attraction to him. She credibly questions how she can still have feelings for a man who treated her so abominably but acknowledges that she does. By the time Nick and Evie come together again, Nick has also matured and learned a great deal about himself and what kind of life he wants. He has endured his parents’ divorce, learning to manage his panic disorder, a failed marriage, a sex scandal, and career ups and downs. At the ages of thirty-one and thirty-four, respectively, Evie and Nick have cemented their self-concepts and grown comfortable in their own skins. Can their lives mesh back together in a way that will be fulfilling and happy for both of them, devoid of secrets and mistrust?
Middleton believably and realistically explores her characters’ struggles, endearing them to readers. She does, as promised, credibly explore the “messy” aspects of their relationship, first as it grows beyond the unrealistic fantasies of an adolescent girl and a successful, but troubled boy, deepening and eventually fracturing. In the present day, she illustrates the impact their relationship had on both of them through the years and the difficulties both experienced as they tried to fully move past it and forge new relationships with other partners. There are no villains in Middleton’s story. Rather, it is an emotionally rich, relatable tale of two people who do their best to manage obstacles and find happiness. And it is a clever story, as well, with surprising plot twists that provide meaning, context, and resolution.
A Smile in a Whisper is a charmingly delightful story about love found, love lost, and overcoming challenges. It is also a meditation on forgiveness, self-esteem, and the degree to which we seek acceptance and validation from others.
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