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Love, Love Me Do
1963. The year the Beatles first top the charts. The year Martin Luther King has a dream. The year Truman Bird moves his family from their home in Brighton to a dilapidated caravan in the Ashdown Forest - then disappears. Truman's a charmer, a chancer. He is, inevitably, a liar. He's always got away with it, too. But now he's gone a dangerous step too far and only has one day to put things right - before he loses everything. For Truman's wife, Christie, life has not turned out the way she'd imagined. How has she, that young girl of not that many years ago, ended up like this? In a caravan. With three children. And an absent husband. In this most unique, wise and addictive of British debuts, we discover that life has a habit of getting in the way of dreams - but that people find their own extraordinary ways of bouncing back.
- GenresFictionUnfinished
429 pages, Paperback
First published April 3, 2014
8 people are currently reading
245 people want to read
About the author
Mark Haysom
7 books7 followersAfter graduating from Leicester University, Mark Haysom had a thirty year career in newspapers during which he rose from trainee journalist on a local weekly to Managing Director of Mirror Group. In 2003 he moved into education as head of a large Government agency. In recent years he has served on the boards of a number of charities dedicated to overcoming poverty, disadvantage and addiction. He was awarded an Honorary Doctorate from Leicester University in 2005 and the CBE in 2008. Mark lives in Brighton with his wife, Ann. LOVE, LOVE ME DO is his first novel.
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Displaying 1 - 29 of 29 reviews
July 16, 2015
As quirky and original as 'When God Was a Rabbit'
A book about love in all its complicated forms
A gangster drama like a more thriller-esque 'Brighton Rock'
Original and stylish
It transports you straight back to the 1960s
A touching story about childhood and family
A book about second chances, purely and simply
The novel that can’t be put in a neat little box
No? How about the BORING box??
Maybe it is no surprise this book failed to impress, could any book live up to all the hype above which features on its back cover? It was just very dull, an average story, nothing new.
One of the above comments that I am particularly confused about is the first one, I can only imagine it refers to the presence of Soldier, a random amnesiac who lives in the woods. His story wasn’t totally groundbreaking either, but probably still the best highlight overall.
A book about love in all its complicated forms
A gangster drama like a more thriller-esque 'Brighton Rock'
Original and stylish
It transports you straight back to the 1960s
A touching story about childhood and family
A book about second chances, purely and simply
The novel that can’t be put in a neat little box
No? How about the BORING box??
Maybe it is no surprise this book failed to impress, could any book live up to all the hype above which features on its back cover? It was just very dull, an average story, nothing new.
One of the above comments that I am particularly confused about is the first one, I can only imagine it refers to the presence of Soldier, a random amnesiac who lives in the woods. His story wasn’t totally groundbreaking either, but probably still the best highlight overall.
March 22, 2014
Love, Love Me Do. I'll always love you. These Beatles lyrics epitomise not only the title, but how I feel about British author Mark Haysom's debut novel of second chances and trying to find your dreams in a world too full of reality.
Truman Bird is a charmer, a gambler and a fraud. In 1963 he packs his young family into the car on the premise of a summer holiday. The destination; a dilapidated caravan on the edge of Ashdown forest. Then Truman Bird disappears.
For Truman's wife Christie, life is not all she had hoped it would amount to. A young mother of three is not the career life she had envisaged at 18. How have her ambitions turned into a rejected caravan and a missing husband?
A novel in five memorable perspectives, Hayson unravels the duality of menace and tenderness and the way we build narratives for ourselves. Pure, wise and at times utterly heartbreaking, "Love, Love Me Do" is a manifestation of love in all its (not so beautiful) forms. An emotional and unforgettable debut.
Truman Bird is a charmer, a gambler and a fraud. In 1963 he packs his young family into the car on the premise of a summer holiday. The destination; a dilapidated caravan on the edge of Ashdown forest. Then Truman Bird disappears.
For Truman's wife Christie, life is not all she had hoped it would amount to. A young mother of three is not the career life she had envisaged at 18. How have her ambitions turned into a rejected caravan and a missing husband?
A novel in five memorable perspectives, Hayson unravels the duality of menace and tenderness and the way we build narratives for ourselves. Pure, wise and at times utterly heartbreaking, "Love, Love Me Do" is a manifestation of love in all its (not so beautiful) forms. An emotional and unforgettable debut.
February 16, 2015
The book is based on a character named Truman who unexpectedly and abruptly led his wife Christie and their three children into Ashdown Forest for a “family vacation.” Realising how strange it is to vacate in an isolated white caravan in the middle of the woods, Christie becomes unsettled at the fact that this is not a “vacation” for Truman must be hiding a secret.
The storyline is heartbreaking at times, especially when we view it in the perspective of an innocent child who is affected by these deceits.
The storyline is heartbreaking at times, especially when we view it in the perspective of an innocent child who is affected by these deceits.
September 8, 2015
Attracted by the sparkly cover and poppy title, I picked this book up, expecting a frothy, nostalgic romp through the 1960s.
But the publisher’s strapline provides a better guide to the absorbing story inside: Five unforgettable characters searching for a second chance.
It explores issues of loyalty, abandonment and post-war trauma. Told from five viewpoints over the course of one day - at times tense, at times gentle – it is a thriller reminiscent of Brighton Rock. I will definitely buy Mark Haysom’s next novel, a sequel.
But the publisher’s strapline provides a better guide to the absorbing story inside: Five unforgettable characters searching for a second chance.
It explores issues of loyalty, abandonment and post-war trauma. Told from five viewpoints over the course of one day - at times tense, at times gentle – it is a thriller reminiscent of Brighton Rock. I will definitely buy Mark Haysom’s next novel, a sequel.
April 3, 2014
This is a rich, dark, funny, textured evocation of the 1960s – and quite unlike anything you will have read before. With memorable characters - for good or bad, Strachan will stay with me for some time - it is fast-paced and at times deeply moving, it deserves to win many readers. His first book? It’s hard to believe.
September 11, 2014
Enjoyed this book from the very beginning. Could visualise and relate to all the characters and their motivations. An easy and compulsive read.
March 21, 2015
Good vibes of the 1960s. Nice to read a book where my hometown is featured, too!
Good characters and a page-turner :)
Good characters and a page-turner :)
December 16, 2016
Rather sad story about families, their childhoods and expectations of what love means to different people.
July 6, 2017
I came for the title, I stayed for the characters.
Love, Love Me Do is a novel which will make you angry, annoyed, frustrated and a whole lot sorry for the people it's about. It's a story about what really happens when you grow up, about forgotten dreams, about giving up and settling down. It's a novel which makes you hate the fact that it's not even that uncommon a story; it's full of endings which could very well be yours or mine.
But under all this normality, it has a bittersweet tone: you can get by with what life gives to you, and there is a chance of moving on and having something better in the end. Maybe it's not what you dreamed of, maybe it doesn't even seem that comforting at the moment, but it's better anyway.
Lovable holiday reading. Hard to put down once started, I almost was late from work one morning because I was too captured to stop reading.
Love, Love Me Do is a novel which will make you angry, annoyed, frustrated and a whole lot sorry for the people it's about. It's a story about what really happens when you grow up, about forgotten dreams, about giving up and settling down. It's a novel which makes you hate the fact that it's not even that uncommon a story; it's full of endings which could very well be yours or mine.
But under all this normality, it has a bittersweet tone: you can get by with what life gives to you, and there is a chance of moving on and having something better in the end. Maybe it's not what you dreamed of, maybe it doesn't even seem that comforting at the moment, but it's better anyway.
Lovable holiday reading. Hard to put down once started, I almost was late from work one morning because I was too captured to stop reading.
December 23, 2019
This novel had the feel of a less frantic and violent Guy Richie film. There was an interesting twisty journey to the surprising finale (surprising for me as it didn’t go down as I expected). There was an interesting cast of characters we flit between, some truly despicable baddies, innocents caught up in the chaos and the mysterious Soldier. I also enjoyed the almost real time telling of the plot. This book felt fresh and enjoyable. I appreciate the endings for each character (I would have been very cross if there was no outcome for Soldier).
June 12, 2018
3.5 stars. An enticing page-turner describing the various types of love found when a family goes on holiday in a caravan. The characters were realistic and interesting.
May read another of Haysom's novels again.
May read another of Haysom's novels again.
May 14, 2022
If the story had been about soldier or strachan rather than that twat Truman, it may have been more interesting. It wasn’t entertaining to read and the lack of true retribution made it feel pointless to read.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
August 22, 2023
I wanted to read until the end because I wanted to see what would happen to each of the characters. The ending was a bit disappointing but all in all a good read.
November 20, 2014
Een moeder met drie kinderen moet noodgedwongen in een camper bivakkeren, terwijl vader en zoon samen op een reddingsmissie zijn om financiële schulden recht te trekken. Aan de ene kant worden ze bespioneerd door een getraumatiseerde oorlogsveteraan die alles waarneemt, maar aan de andere kant zit de beruchte deurwaarder Strachan achter de pater familias aan. Voor alle karakters vormt het ongeluk van deze familie een aanzet om na te denken over de liefde in al zijn verschillende verschijningsvormen. Zij zijn allen gedesillusioneerd door verkeerde verwachtingen en slechte levenskeuzes.
De opzet is simpel maar doeltreffend: vijf hoofdpersonages worden op één specifieke dag in 1963 gevolgd. Omdat het zich grotendeels op één dag afspeelt, zit er een continue bewustzijn van het verstrijken van de tijd bij lezer en karakters. Wat ook tot uiting komt in de korte hoofdstukjes die vrijwel altijd naar spannende cliffhangers leiden. Deze stijl levert een prettige vaart op waardoor het leest als een spannende thriller in plaats van het melodrama dat het stiekem is.
Helaas blijft de psychologische ontwikkeling van de personages aan de oppervlakte bungelen. Zo blijft vader Truman verbazen met overdreven slechte kanten die door een clichématig rechtlijnige deurwaarder als Strachan blootgelegd worden. De getraumatiseerde Soldier heeft ook eigenlijk geen belangrijke functie in het verhaal. Uiteindelijk was de roman sterker geweest als het ook psychologische gelaagde karakters had in plaats van het blijven steken bij amusante archetypen.
De opzet is simpel maar doeltreffend: vijf hoofdpersonages worden op één specifieke dag in 1963 gevolgd. Omdat het zich grotendeels op één dag afspeelt, zit er een continue bewustzijn van het verstrijken van de tijd bij lezer en karakters. Wat ook tot uiting komt in de korte hoofdstukjes die vrijwel altijd naar spannende cliffhangers leiden. Deze stijl levert een prettige vaart op waardoor het leest als een spannende thriller in plaats van het melodrama dat het stiekem is.
Helaas blijft de psychologische ontwikkeling van de personages aan de oppervlakte bungelen. Zo blijft vader Truman verbazen met overdreven slechte kanten die door een clichématig rechtlijnige deurwaarder als Strachan blootgelegd worden. De getraumatiseerde Soldier heeft ook eigenlijk geen belangrijke functie in het verhaal. Uiteindelijk was de roman sterker geweest als het ook psychologische gelaagde karakters had in plaats van het blijven steken bij amusante archetypen.
July 19, 2015
A big question about the end...
I did thoroughly enjoy this book, finding it easy to read with an interesting plot. Though it started off a little slow I wanted to know more about the characters and what would happen from the middle to the end of the book.
The ending... I would just like to know if anyone else is a little confused? When Soldier's parents show him the photograph album about the holiday in the caravan in the woods when he was eight with the woman in the white cardigan etc... Did the plot with Baxter and Christie even happen or was it imagined by Soldier? Did Soldier choose to reside in the woods as he felt a connection to it from childhood that he had forgotten and then a woman in a white cardigan happened to be on holiday there?
Correct me if I am being stupid and missing the point but surely other people are wondering this?
I really enjoyed the book before getting hung up on the ending!
I did thoroughly enjoy this book, finding it easy to read with an interesting plot. Though it started off a little slow I wanted to know more about the characters and what would happen from the middle to the end of the book.
The ending... I would just like to know if anyone else is a little confused? When Soldier's parents show him the photograph album about the holiday in the caravan in the woods when he was eight with the woman in the white cardigan etc... Did the plot with Baxter and Christie even happen or was it imagined by Soldier? Did Soldier choose to reside in the woods as he felt a connection to it from childhood that he had forgotten and then a woman in a white cardigan happened to be on holiday there?
Correct me if I am being stupid and missing the point but surely other people are wondering this?
I really enjoyed the book before getting hung up on the ending!
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
January 28, 2016
1963. The year the Beatles first top the charts. The year Martin Luther King has a dream. The year Truman Bird moves his wife and three children from their home in Brighton to a dilapidated caravan in the Ashdown Forest - then disappears.
Truman's a charmer, a chancer, a liar. He's lied to his wife, Christie, to his mother and to his two lovers. None of them know about each other. Now Strachan is after Truman and Strachan has a reputation of being the meanest, most violent man in Brighton. Truman owes Strachan's boss money that he can't repay. In the family's absence, the heavies move in a take everything in their home and trash Baxter's toys.
Baxter befriends a broken man in the forest and it is the broken man who saves him.
Life has a habit of getting in the way of dreams. This is a touching, sad, and very British debut novel and I can't wait to read the sequel.
Truman's a charmer, a chancer, a liar. He's lied to his wife, Christie, to his mother and to his two lovers. None of them know about each other. Now Strachan is after Truman and Strachan has a reputation of being the meanest, most violent man in Brighton. Truman owes Strachan's boss money that he can't repay. In the family's absence, the heavies move in a take everything in their home and trash Baxter's toys.
Baxter befriends a broken man in the forest and it is the broken man who saves him.
Life has a habit of getting in the way of dreams. This is a touching, sad, and very British debut novel and I can't wait to read the sequel.
February 21, 2016
Reminiscent in places of Rachel Joyce's 'Perfect', this novel is set over one day and the increasingly disastrous events in the life of Truman Bird as he tries to escape from a growing problem of his own making. You won't feel in the slightest bit sorry for him, however, though you may feel concern or compassion for many of the other characters in this story.Easy to read, quite enjoyed it.
April 3, 2014
Wow! Get it, read it. You won’t be disappointed. Fabulous characters (I was with Christie every step of the way!) fabulous scenes (like the one in a pub car park that is heart breaking and funny at the same time) and fabulously written.
April 1, 2016
Review for love me love me do
I chose four stars because I enjoyed reading this book it he!d my interest and the characters were interesting but was left wondering what had happened to soldier before to make him lose his memory
I chose four stars because I enjoyed reading this book it he!d my interest and the characters were interesting but was left wondering what had happened to soldier before to make him lose his memory
October 17, 2016
Couldn't get off the ground with this one as the blurb just didn't seem to match the book. I was hoping to be thrown into a period of time with loads of insight and cultural references, but that's not what was going on in the first few chapters.
May 21, 2014
A great story , endearing characters , well written , very nostalgic.
Loved it !
Loved it !
May 19, 2014
Brilliant. Great characters make it compulsive reading.
June 13, 2015
An easy and entertaining read with some clever writing and interesting characters but a book I'll quickly forget.
September 9, 2015
Hmmmm, I won't say this is not a good, readable book. But it wasn't my cup of tea.
February 19, 2016
Loved it.
March 1, 2016
Disappointing ending.
Each individual character grabs your attention so much, that it leaves you wanting to know more about what happened to them
Each individual character grabs your attention so much, that it leaves you wanting to know more about what happened to them
Read
July 7, 2016 The beginning is so slow and does not make me want to read more. I might try and pick this book up again later on but right now it is going in the did-not-finish pile.
June 28, 2015
Nice, quick, page turner. Nothing to write home about but fairly enjoyable
August 21, 2016
An easy to read quirky book. Will have to hunt out the sequel.
Displaying 1 - 29 of 29 reviews