This is the story about a boarding school girl who falls for a factory-working boy who dances, and also the teacher who helps the dancing boy improve his skills. I have always some difficulty with books that are heavy on describing physical activities - in this case, dancing: while it's not a technical description of every twist and turn, it is a very repetitive description of the feelings the dancing evoked in, not only the dancers, but also the watchers. Pages and pages of the dancer's ticks and insecurities and the watching-girl's sighs and near heart-explosions.

In contrast, the girl has a very quirky family that was a lot more interesting to me than the dancing boy or the teacher but that remains mostly as a back-story, sadly. I have to say that, while there were some funny moments and some wonderful descriptions of teenage love, large sections of the book were a bit repetitive and boring and I became eager to finish it.

I wouldn't recommend the audible version of this book - the narrators were miscast, especially Miss Crew who sounded way too old for a 41 year old, and neither made me care about the characters they portrayed. I imagine this might make a better read (rather than audio)

While I've always enjoyed Eva Rice's writing in the past, I was pretty sure I knew how this book was going to go: Marnie, the main character, was going to fall in love with Freddie and vice versa and they would follow their dreams together with the help of an adult who is oddly invested. So I must confess, I was not invested in the story in the beginning, though something unexpectedly dramatic happened early on. But then! It got more complex.

Spoiler

Freddie is gay! Marnie is a budding alcoholic! Also family secrets!

I was reminded why I love Eva Rice: the way she writes characters and their relationships with each other speaks to me. I confess, I didn't care as much about Miss Crewe, but I'd gladly read more about Marnie and her family.

Love Notes for Freddie is the first book I have read by Eva Rice although I know her debut novel The Lost Art of Keeping Secrets has a special place in many people’s hearts. This is a love story but not told in the usual manner as in the majority of chick lit books. It took me an awfully long time to get into the story possibly because I was expecting something else and I had to become accustomed to the author’s style of writing. The pace was languid and slow which at times frustrated me but coming towards the end something finally hit me and I realised what a beautiful moving piece of writing this actually is. This is a novel which I will certainly re-read in the future. It’s only now that I have finished the book and have had time to reflect on what I have read that I realise I didn’t savour everything like I should have and didn’t give it the full appreciation it undoubtedly deserves.

Love Notes for Freddie is a story of love - young love, hidden love, unrequited love and forbidden love. Set during the hot summer of 1969 and told from the alternative viewpoints of Marnie - a girl on the cusp of adulthood and change who has a unique talent for maths and her teacher Miss Crewe. Marnie is attending St. Libby’s, a private school for girls. Her love for maths is encouraged by Miss Crewe and you could see Marnie had such respect for her and wished to do anything that would please her. Miss Crewe was my favourite character as I found I identified with her the most. She keeps things hidden from the girls and never reveals her past but the reader senses she is concealing a heartache which has stayed unresolved with her for numerous years. When this is finally revealed I was left open mouthed and my sympathies for Miss Crewe just grew and grew. Just as the school is about to break up for the holidays Marnie and conspirator Rachel Porter throw caution to the wind and engage in an act that leads to their expulsion. I was angry that Rachel forced Marnie into the situation but on reflection if this event had not happened Marnie would never have encountered Freddie Friday from the shredded wheat factory. Therefore this summer of growing, change, adoration and hurt would never have taken place.

Marnie becomes obsessed with Freddie and when she discovers his secret love for dance she contacts Miss Crewe to help out. For once she herself had dreams of being a dancer but a terrible incident left her hopes in tatters. The more we read of these two women we see the love they develop for Freddie. Their love for him is different but it helps them to connect and develop a special friendship and relationship that lasts for six glorious weeks. There is more going on with Marnie than we are first led to believe, she has the incident and subsequent fall out always on her mind. Not to mention having a family who are not the most conventional. I feel Marnie was struggling and that one incident tipped her over the edge but her devotion to Freddie and the support of the wonderful Miss Crewe are what helps her through those summer weeks. They can see what she has turned to is not the answer and their guidance will help her get back on track. I wanted to hear more from Freddie, we never read a chapter from his viewpoint and we are left to piece together his family situation. Did the author think he was not as important? Rather he was employed a tool which meant Marnie and Miss Crewe began to take that next big step in their lives and emotionally confront the past head on.

Marnie’s family were interesting to say the least. She has a twin Caspar and I wouldn’t have known this only for it is stated at the beginning, they don’t seem to have that much of a connection. Instead Caspar seems very off the rails and a law onto himself, he loves taking photos of the family in mid argument. Jukey the matriarch of the family is quite flighty and I felt she needed to be there more for Marnie. As for step father Howard they all seemed to live in a state of perpetual fear of him hoping they wouldn’t say or do something which would cause him upset. In the later stages of the novel a new storyline developed about the family, one which I wish had been explained or talked about more. It was interesting and added a whole other dimension to the book and would certainly have made me view characters in a whole new light. In Love Notes for Freddie Eva Rice has written a beautiful book that raises many issues and would be perfect for a book club. I feel it was more of a grown up read for me and that could have been what put me off initially but I am so glad I gave this book the chance it deserved. I loved the emotions and issues it raised and think many readers this summer would feel the same as they sit next to a poolside this summer.

In all three of Eva Rice's novels I have read there is a female whose name begins with M with a drinking problem. Marina, Matilda and now Marnie.
Funny coincidence, but I think this illustrates a little bit of why I was disappointed by this novel. I read and loved the Lost Art of Keeping Secrets (so much that I then re-read it aloud to my sisters' rapt attention who themselves went on to re-read it for their own pleasure. It became a bit of a family fave.). I then read The Misinterpretation of Tara Jupp (this time it was the first time that was read aloud to my sisters as we all couldn't wait for this new novel, my own reading of it came later). I was a bit disappointed by that one. There was still that lovely vintage-y feel that makes you nostalgic for a time you never lived in and Eva Rice does an excellent job of skating around the edge of the romances in her book which makes them terribly thrilling and somehow seem very profound. Her supporting cast of characters are also invariably brilliant. However, it wasn't as... sparkling as the first and I think that was partially due to the fact I couldn't really connect to the main character and a little bit because although facts-wise this was a totally different novel it felt thematically quite similar to the first (Although I will say that on my re-read I did enjoy it a whole lot more).
This new book I did not really enjoy. It felt like another Bildungsroman, but with less likeable characters and less glamour.
I still love her writing style (she can really make the most unlikely situations seem terribly enchanting and special) but I seem to be connecting less and less with the character behind her first-person female protagonists.

Summer 1969 and repressed Marnie comes from a bohemian family and she decides to have a little rebellion from her boarding school life. Drinking for the first time she goes into town and sees Freddie, a trainee electrician and talented dancer. Marnie falls in love immediately but the repercussions of her rebellion hit hard, she is expelled and her ambitions may well be thwarted. However she introduces Freddie to her former Maths teacher, Miss Crewe, a talented dancer whose career was cut short by injury.
I hadn't read any of Eva Rice's books before but know that she has a loyal following so I picked this book up with interest. The novel is hard to categorise, the awful cover of this edition seems to place it very much in the 'holiday chick-lit' category which would do the book a disservice. The cover of the audio/hardback is much classier and implies that this is a book of substance. It's not a story to change the world but it is written well, telling the story of three should trying to find themselves as the world changes around them. I would call this 'literature-light', it passes the time, there is a strong plot and it is emotional - it will delight the market but I feel it could have been more.

In all three of Eva Rice's novels I have read there is a female whose name begins with M with a drinking problem. Marina, Matilda and now Marnie.
Funny coincidence, but I think this illustrates a little bit of why I was disappointed by this novel. I read and loved the Lost Art of Keeping Secrets (so much that I then re-read it aloud to my sisters' rapt attention who themselves went on to re-read it for their own pleasure. It became a bit of a family fave.). I then read The Misinterpretation of Tara Jupp (this time it was the first time that was read aloud to my sisters as we all couldn't wait for this new novel, my own reading of it came later). I was a bit disappointed by that one. There was still that lovely vintage-y feel that makes you nostalgic for a time you never lived in and Eva Rice does an excellent job of skating around the edge of the romances in her book which makes them terribly thrilling and somehow seem very profound. Her supporting cast of characters are also invariably brilliant. However, it wasn't as... sparkling as the first and I think that was partially due to the fact I couldn't really connect to the main character and a little bit because although facts-wise this was a totally different novel it felt thematically quite similar to the first (Although I will say that on my re-read I did enjoy it a whole lot more).
This new book I did not really enjoy. It felt like another Bildungsroman, but with less likeable characters and less glamour.
I still love her writing style (she can really make the most unlikely situations seem terribly enchanting and special) but I seem to be connecting less and less with the character behind her first-person female protagonists.

Not as good as I thought it would be.

I read this having forgotten that I'd read it before, which is generally not a great sign. But once I'd got into it I really enjoyed it. I love the way that Eva Rice writes about relationships and youth and the passing of time.

3 1/2. I didn't love it nearly as much as The Lost Art of Keeping Secrets, but it was still a fast, enjoying read. I quite liked the characters and I so enjoy the way that Rice weaves real bits and characters from the era into her stories.