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Constance
Luminous and full of longing, Constance is a novel of teenage fragility, male blindness and everyday complicity.
In the summer of 2006, a chance encounter on the London Underground finds eighteen-year-old Ali tagging along with a school friend and a mysterious girl to a club. The girl is Cece, and she seems to be everything Ali is not. For one night he is transfixed and transformed into someone who might belong. All he knows is he will remember it forever. In 2064, Ali takes his final flight out of the UK to Morocco, in a world upturned by climate collapse. He has a wife and a daughter, reasons to return. Yet Ali is willing to abandon everything to find Cece again, finally to recapture that long summer night when he was young, and to understand how the actions taken – and not taken – have changed all their lives.
In the summer of 2006, a chance encounter on the London Underground finds eighteen-year-old Ali tagging along with a school friend and a mysterious girl to a club. The girl is Cece, and she seems to be everything Ali is not. For one night he is transfixed and transformed into someone who might belong. All he knows is he will remember it forever. In 2064, Ali takes his final flight out of the UK to Morocco, in a world upturned by climate collapse. He has a wife and a daughter, reasons to return. Yet Ali is willing to abandon everything to find Cece again, finally to recapture that long summer night when he was young, and to understand how the actions taken – and not taken – have changed all their lives.
288 pages, Paperback
Published September 5, 2023
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Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews
July 9, 2023
3.5 - maybe 3.75? Might change my thoughts if it stays with me. I really enjoyed many aspects of this novel - the subject matter is what really drew me to it. I think the reason it lost a couple of stars for me is that I found the teenage loves bits a bit annoying. However (without spoiling anything!!) it does make sense at the end. Would have loved a bit more info on the future of the world but found the mystery kind of harrowing. It’s like part love, part horror, part politics so if any of those things are interesting to you definitely worth picking up.
March 17, 2025
« The softness of their two skins each made softer by the other, soft as diamonds are to each other. »
August 4, 2025
remains of the day meets climate catastrophe. I was genuinely concerned we were dealing with an earnest manic pixie dream girl here, so I'm glad our narrator was proved to be as unreliable as he is. I put this down unsure of his innocence, and unsettled.
I can't help but feel blame and guilt are at the core of this, never spoken aloud but alluded to. the elderly are blamed and sometimes killed by those angry about inheriting a ravaged earth. who is responsible? nations and the rich seem to be those who continue to dish out blame. and who hurt cece? our narrator is sure of his innocence, and even she needs to believe it so.
I can't help but feel blame and guilt are at the core of this, never spoken aloud but alluded to. the elderly are blamed and sometimes killed by those angry about inheriting a ravaged earth. who is responsible? nations and the rich seem to be those who continue to dish out blame. and who hurt cece? our narrator is sure of his innocence, and even she needs to believe it so.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
July 6, 2026
This is about Ali, and Cece. We follow a young budding love in their youth and their resulting later years. This book gives A Sense Of A Ending and Atonement vibes. It explores friendship, love and secrets. This is also tackles an unknown future. I wish there was more about the state of the world, it seemed to be just thrown into the story as a backdrop. I liked how he talked about the complexity of friendships especially in older age and how we ponder possible different decisions we could have made. All in all, I enjoyed this. I give this a 4.1/5.
October 30, 2023
I read it hungrily and thoroughly enjoyed the entirety of the book. The multitude of portrayals, themes, intricacies and time shifts was all in all enthralling. I felt the characters as I read them, that is all you can ask for as a reader.
August 3, 2023
An effervescent portrayal of a society and a man both haunted by their regrets.
May 18, 2024
Incredibly evocative of the mess between 17-22, rife with insecurity and completely irrational yearning. Not 100% sold on the chapter-jumping, felt laboured in the middle parts
March 21, 2025
When a quote goes so hard you have to write it down... love this book!
April 7, 2026
p240...
did ali just "regret" not being the one to r-pe cece? WHAT.
gross
did ali just "regret" not being the one to r-pe cece? WHAT.
gross
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
February 6, 2024
Borrowed from the library :)
I don't know why this took me 2 months to read. I really enjoyed this book for the most part. I found the writing easy but still eloquently presented. I enjoyed the characters and found the plot engaging. However I did think the middle of the novel was very slow and I struggled to pick up the book half of the time. Nevertheless it had a very beautiful ending!
I don't know why this took me 2 months to read. I really enjoyed this book for the most part. I found the writing easy but still eloquently presented. I enjoyed the characters and found the plot engaging. However I did think the middle of the novel was very slow and I struggled to pick up the book half of the time. Nevertheless it had a very beautiful ending!
Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews