Things I Wish I'd Known

by Linda Green

Claire Cooper had a teen idol back in the 80s. Except her teen idol was a bit different to everyone else's. Because he stepped out of the poster on her bedroom wall straight into her life. She thought it was going to be forever. She was wrong.

When Claire discovers the '20 Years From Now' list she wrote as a teenager, she realises how far removed her life is from the one she'd imagined. Divorced, stuck in a dead-end job and dating a man who is desperate to settle down to a future she doesn't want, she decides it's time to put her life back on track. But what really happened between Claire and her teen idol all those years ago? And is meeting him again the way to make her dreams come true...or will it end up being a terrible mistake?

Genres: Chick Lit, Fiction, Womens Fiction, Romance

484 pages, Kindle Edition

First published February 1, 2010

About the author

I was born in North London in 1970 and brought up in Hertfordshire. I wrote my first novella, the Time Machine, aged eight, shortly after which I declared that my ambition was to have a novel published (I could have been easy on myself and just said ‘to write a novel’ but no, I had to consign myself to years of torture and rejections). I was frequently asked to copy out my stories for the classroom wall (probably because my handwriting was so awful no one could read my first draft), and received lots of encouragement from my teachers Mr Roberts, Mrs Chandler (who added yet more pressure by writing in my autograph book when I left primary school that she looked forward to reading my first published novel!) and Mr Bird.

My first publication came when I was thirteen and my Ode to Gary Mabbutt won second prize in the Tottenham Weekly Herald ‘My Favourite Player’ competition. At fifteen I won the Junior Spurs Football Reporter of the Year Competition and got to report on a first division football match from the press box at White Hart Lane (I got lots of funny looks and none of the journalists spoke to me.)

At sixteen I embarked on ‘A’ levels and a journalism course at De Havilland College, Hertfordshire, and my college magazine interview about football hooliganism with local MP and football club chairman David Evans made a double page spread in Shoot! magazine (they never paid me) and back page headlines in several national newspapers (only a nice man at the Daily Star bothered to check the story with me).

I joined my local newspaper, the Enfield Gazette, as a trainee reporter at eighteen. During a ten year career in regional journalism I worked as a reporter on the Birmingham Daily News, news editor on the Birmingham Metro News and Chief Feature Writer on the Coventry Evening Telegraph, winning Highly Commended in the Feature Writer of the Year category of the 1997 Press Gazette Regional Press Awards.

I loved working on regional newspapers but by 1998 my features were getting too long and the urge to write a novel had become too great so I left my staff job to write my first novel and work as a freelance journalist. I have written for The Guardian, The Independent on Sunday, The Times Educational Supplement, The Big Issue, Wanderlust and Community Care Magazine. I’ve also had a short story published in Best magazine

I found the writing and working from home a very solitary process so also worked as co-ordinator of the Birmingham Bureau of Children’s Express, a national charity which runs a learning through journalism programme for young people and taught journalism to schoolchildren for the National Academy of Writing. After I moved north in 2001 I qualified as an adult education tutor and taught creative writing classes to students aged between 18 and 82 for the Workers Educational Association across Calderdale, West Yorkshire.

After more than a hundred rejections from agents for my first novel (and more rewrites than I care to remember) I finally got an agent but still couldn’t get a publisher. I started work on my second novel I DID A BAD THING in 2003, finished the first draft and gave birth to my son Rohan in 2004, rewrote the novel and got a new agent in 2005, obtained a two-book deal with Headline Review in 2006.

I Did a Bad Thing was published in paperback in October 2007, made the top thirty official fiction bestsellers list (and number 3 in Tesco!) and has so far sold more than 77,000 copies. 10 Reasons Not to Fall in Love was published in paperback in March 2009, reached no 22 in the official fiction bestseller charts (and no 4 in Tesco) and has so far sold more than 80,000 copies. Both novels were also long-listed for the RNA Romantic Novel of the Year Award.

Following the success of my first two novels I got another two-book deal from Headline Review, with Things I Wish I'd Known being the first of these. I am currently working on my fourth novel.

I enjoy travelling.

Reviews

[Laura S · Rating 4 out of 5]

I first I was quite sceptical about the book, the obsessive football parts and I did get rather confused at first to the structure of the book with the parts flicking between Claire at different ages. But then again that might of been me not paying attention to the dates in the book :L
The book gets better as you get further into it, I really enjoyed the last hundred or so pages and it made me feel like I was not just reading any old chick flick.
However the whole part with Andy made me feel a bit sick and as a character I wanted to beat him up but also shake Claire and go WTH are you thinking!!! But that is me getting to much into the book probably!
I would not say it was a really funny book but there were parts I really found funny, but then again I have a strange sense of Humour an therefore enjoyed the Wizard of oz reference! I like books that give you a different look on the world, this book was one of them showing that your dreams don't always go the way you plan but they also change, the book showed the impact of celebrities and how adoration and idolisation goes too far. It also showed me the other side to some criminals and that stealing a live turkey is very sinful!
Overall though this book I am giving 4 stars because it left me with a smile on my face at the end :)

[Jay Phillips · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book was abandoned on our staff room table with a sign "free books, please take one," so I didn't expect much! For the first half of the book, I was forcing myself to read, but by the end of the book it was a real page-turner. The story revolves around Claire, and twenty years later she discovers a dream list she wrote when she was 15 years old, and of course, her life hasn't exactly panned out well. For a start she's not married to footballer Andy Pailes!

The book has a dual voice, 15 year old Claire, and currently Claire, and the way they are intertwined leaves lots of cliff-hangers, the best ones, towards the end of the book!

Somehow I wish every 15 year old could read a book like this. 500 pages might be a bit of a stretch for them, and they may get a little ah em "sex education", but they may also see "crushes" in perspective. But then again, I think the younger generation are a bit more savvy than Claire.

It was a good read, and a nice way to fill the gaps over two days, but sadly it wont be joining Wuthering Heights and The Handmaid's Tale on my shelf, but I will put it back on the staff room table for someone else to enjoy.

[Leah · Rating 4 out of 5]

Back when she was a teenager, Claire Cooper thought she had her life mapped out: she’d have a fantastic job as a corporate lawyer, she’d still be best friends with Frankie and, most importantly, she’d be married to Andy Pailes. But life never quite works out as you imagine it and finds herself stuck in a dead-end job with a failed marriage behind her and currently dating Mark, an ambulance-chasing lawyer. Claire’s life is turned upside down when she finds the Dream List she wrote aged 15 mapping out the life she thought she’d have. But where did it all go wrong and what exactly happened to Claire’s idol Andy Pailes?

I first heard of Linda Green last year when I managed to pick up 10 Reasons Not To Fall In Love for a euro and after reading it I felt it was one of the best euros I had ever ever spent because I absolutely loved the book. Linda managed to write a really warm and enjoyable book that also had a bit of a dark side and I thought it was just brilliant. I was so thrilled to see her next book Things I Wish I’d Known on Amazon for a May 2010 release and I also managed to get hold of a copy of her debut, too, which I still have to read. So imagine my delight when I come home one day to find an early proof copy of Things I Wish I’d Known ready for me to read and I started it straight away!

Much like her previous offering, Things I Wish I’d Known, at first, seems like a relatively light read but it soon becomes clear that, like 10 Reasons Not To Fall In Love, there is a dark edge to the book that gets revealed in stages as the book progresses. It was a very clever idea from Linda because it kept me reading. We weren’t left totally in the dark over everything that happened during Claire’s teenage years but nor did it all come out at once. There’s only 16 chapters in total in the book and these all cover Claire’s life as it is now in the present with Mark, her job and what not. We then have another 16 chapters (without chapter headings and with only dates from the 80s distinguishing them from each other) between each present chapter recounting all of the things that happened when Claire was a teenager.

I think I probably preferred unravelling Claire’s teenage years than I did learning about her present life. (I like a mystery, what can I say). When we first meet teenage Claire, she’s about to go to United’s training ground with best friend Frankie to see her idol Andy Pailes. Not only does Claire really like Andy but Frankie loves Matt Goodyear – United’s superstar of the moment. So many an afternoon is spent on the training pitch as both Claire and Frankie try to get their idols to notice them. Claire does manage to eventually talk to Andy and finds that he’s even more charming than she was expecting him to be and finds herself falling deeper and deeper for her hero. Just how far is Claire willing to go to try and get Andy for herself and is that even a realistic possibility? I thought the tale of Claire’s love for Andy was both disturbing yet also believeable – who hasn’t loved someone who appears to be unattainable? – and although I wanted to give Claire a good shake most of the time I could see just how obsessed she appeared to be with Andy.

As we learn all about Claire’s teenage years, we also learn about her life as it is now. In particular I loved her job – having to defend repeat criminal offenders. It’s not exactly the job she’d dreamed of but I could see how much it meant to try and help her clients. I actually also loved Claire’s relationship with boyfriend Mark – he seemed really sweet and I liked them together. The Dream List Claire created becomes a big part of her adult life once she finds it and reads it and I could see how difficult it was to see that she hadn’t fulfilled her teenage hopes and dreams and the journey she goes on is an interesting one. Another huge favourite part of mine from Claire’s adult life is her re-meeting of Frankie, her former best friend. I really loved Frankie in both her adult and teenage life.

While I loved all of the characters, the only one I didn’t manage to like at all was Andy Pailes. It seemed fairly obvious to everyone just how much Claire idolised him and he was either too stupid to notice or he did notice and didn’t appear too bothered. There was a rather large – and shocking – twist towards the end of the book and I was gobsmacked at what happened and did not see it coming. That is definitely down to how good Linda Green is at writing her books as for me to not guess a plot twist is a rare occurrence. Linda really is a talented writer and so far, of her three books, I’ve loved two of them and look forward to finally getting around to reading her debut. My only problem with Things I Wish I’d Known was the entire goings on between Claire and Andy. Both adult and teenage I found it hard to swallow. The teenage part more than anything but what Claire’s contemplates as an adult, particularly after we the reader learns everything, is just hard to understand and get my head around. I can certainly understand why Claire loved and admired Andy as a teenager and I can probably understand how it effected her but I still couldn’t understand the hold Andy appeared to have.

Overall though I did really enjoy Things I Wish I’d Known and I loved that it was jam-packed with 80s nostalgia (even if I’m a little young to know of any of it – I was born in the 90s). Plenty of readers who grew up in the 80s will be able to relate to this book hugely and I absolutely recommend picking it up as it is a fab read. Linda Green is certainly an author to watch and although she’s a relatively new published chick lit author she’s going places and ranks high up on my author watch list that’s for sure.

[Karen Marquick · Rating 4 out of 5]

Really enjoyable

A really enjoyable read. The characters were likeable and relatable. I liked the way this book went back to the past to tell the story, then back to present time. It was easy to read and the end was lovely.

[Renita D'Silva · Rating 3 out of 5]

Fast paced and unputdownable

[Rea Cobb · Rating 3 out of 5]

Linda Green's new book Things I wished I'd Known has recently been released in paperback. I brought my copy from Whsmiths and it was on offer for half price so decided to give it a try as I have not read one of her books before and I am finding I am continually trying out new authors.


Claire is the main character in this book. She is a likeable character who is in her late thirties and has found her life has been jolted somewhat when she comes across a list she had wrote back in her teens with her best friend Frankie. The list the girls decided to make was about what they thought they would be doing in 20years time. When Claire comes across the list, her troubled past is thrown back in her face and she realises how different her life has become from what she expected it to be. She was convinced she would be married to her teenage idol, Andy Pailes, United football player.
Now is the time for Claire to decide what she is going to do with her life as options of new employment, and a chance to take her current relationship further arises.

The way in which the book is written is each chapter in the book changes to past and then to present. We get to see Claire in her day to day life as a teenager as we are introduced to her best friend Frankie who Claire goes to watch football with so she can see the man she is convinced she loves, Andy Pailes. Did Claire capture Andy's eye?


Back in the present we see Claire in a relationship with the lovely Mark who would like for them to take their relationship to the next level and move in together but Claire is not sure if it is what she wants or if she is ready for this after she comes across the list. Problem is Mark also finds the list and feels this is what is holding their relationship back so he manages to get Andy Pailes address and suggests Claire goes to see him so she can finally move on with her life may it be with him or Andy.


I found the way the book was wrote was quite hard to get into at the start of the book with the story keep jumping back and forward in Claire's life. I didn't truly get into the flow of the book and start to enjoy it until I got about half way through which is when the story seemed to pick up its pace.


I warmed to all of the characters other than Andy who is the one who caused the troubled past for Claire. The Character Frankie was one of my favourites in this book. We see her in the teenage years with Claire and she also makes a reappearance later in the book when Claire's past comes up. She had changed so much from her teenage years and was nothing like you expected her to turn out like. She seemed like a friend every girl would want.


After reading this book it has made me want to try another of her books as although it was a slow start once you wee half way through the story seemed to envelope you and make you want to read more. I would advise anyone who is going to read this book to bare with the structure of the book as by the time you get to chapter 6 you seem to get used to jumping back and forward in Claire's life.

In my opinion the chapters which go back in time to 1985, Claire's teenage years were the best parts of the book as it was not predictable and kept you wanting more, were as her present day chapters seem to drag on and start to bore you I found myself in a few places skipping a paragraph as it was so dull. The present part of her life improved when Frankie re-entered her life. I personally didn't see the need for the amount of information given to the cases in which Claire worked I didn't feel this was necessary for the book .

I am looking forward to trying one of her other books which I have found out are:-
I Did a Bad Thing (2007)
10 Reasons Not to Fall in Love (2009)

And I will be looking out for her new book next year which is to be titled
And Then it Happened.

[Rose · Rating 3 out of 5]

I read this book a long time ago, but I remember enjoying it.

[Lisa · Rating 2 out of 5]

Not a very believable storyline, more like a teenagers fantasy.

[georgie_porgie · Rating 3 out of 5]

I was expecting more of a chick-flick than a mid-life-crisis read but enjoyed it nonetheless. Claire was a surprising character: in her teens she seemed much more sure of herself, and then flashing forward, she was simultaneously envious and ashamed of her younger self.

Personally I was a bit frustrated that, after questioning all her life decisions for months and months, bringing Andy and Frankie back into her life, and going for a job interview and considering breaking up with her - admittedly incredibly sweet but even more dull - boyfriend, she decides actually that her life is fine as it is. She pushes Andy back out of the life, turns down the job, and stays with the boring partner. I don't think that she should have left Mark for Andy, it's just that she didn't realize that there was a third option: dump both of them and move on! Even if she didn't go for this option, it would've been nice to have it acknowledged.

The author did such a good job of making the reader dislike both Andy and Mark (Andy later on in the book through flashbacks to Claire's teenage years, and Mark through the first three quarters of the book during Claire's doubts) that when Claire did a 180 and decided she was crazy for meeting Andy for cozy little dates in country pubs (why???!) behind Mark's back, I no longer wanted Mark and Claire to end up together anyway.

Firstly, Claire was awful to him for shutting him out and ridiculous for wanting to rearrange her whole life because of what her 16-year-old self had declared OVER 20 YEARS AGO. And secondly, because I didn't feel any warmth towards Mark. The only sweet thing about him was that he was so desperate not to lose Claire that he joined in all those adventure sports, and volunteered for people who couldn't afford legal help. Throw in that he gave bone marrow to Emily despite being terrified of hospitals, you can see that Claire's list uprooted Mark's life a lot more than hers. An amusing story overall, I especially enjoyed the flashbacks, but Claire's inability to see what she already had has officially turned me over to Team Mark.

The writing was good, not especially advanced, but creative enough. I enjoyed the variety of side characters although I would've liked them to have more influence on Claire's crisis. Could have been more intertwined, but overall a good read.

[Nicki · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really quite enjoyed this book. The author did a great job with 80’s teen Claire and current day Claire. I’ve never been into football, but I could so relate to her schoolgirl crush. I had a million of them, and I grew up around the same time, so this was very relatable to me. So sue me, those chapters sucked me so far back into my past mindset I failed to see Andy as a b***££d all along. How is staggering to me too. A 22 year old with a 15/16 year old. The warning bells failed to sound until the sex stuff. Maybe a fault is that Andy seemed too nice up until that point. It kind of jarred me to have such an abrupt change in personality. Obviously I’m as naive as Claire was!
Other fault is that I felt like Claire was settling with Mark. He was a lovely guy, but I felt like something wasn’t quite there with him. I think her life with Mark would be fine, but I think the still yearning for Andy exposed something lacking. Not from Andy himself. That would clearly have been a disaster.
I feel like Claire did not have a good handle on who she actually is and what she wanted, though she tried so hard to make good choices and clearly was still carrying trauma from what Andy did and then the bad treatment from her classmates and her attempted suicide. I really felt for Claire. I think it’s been a while since a chick lit heroine felt so real to me.

[Faye Sirs · Rating 4 out of 5]

Most of us had an idol growing up, but would our perception of them and the reality be the same?

Claire is a teenager obsessed with a football player, but when she meets him, things don't turn out the way she planned. Fast forward 20+ years later and Claire is a lawyer living with her boyfriend, dreaming of the life she once wanted. When she finds a note from her teenage self, it sets her on a path of discovery, and she soon meets with her ex-best friend and her old idol himself.

Overall, the book had great pacing. A good mix between the here and now and the past. Although the teenage Claire frustrated me, I found myself wanting the adult Claire to be happy, and the ending was just what I'd hoped for.

[Apoorva Nair · Rating 3 out of 5]

I guess I am disappointed because everyone in the book were so ordinary. They were all normal people, living normal lives, with a small aspirations and big dreams. It really was like any other person's life. It had moments of highs and lows, teenage day dreams, reality, all thrown in together. In a way, it was perfectly able to show what it wanted to. I am disappointed though, simple because this wasn't what I had expected or wanted from the book. This was not what I thought the plot would be like. I wanted a means to escape my ordinary life and being thrust into the life of someone equally ordinary didn't make me feel joy I suppose.

[sally whitfield · Rating 5 out of 5]

A moving story

When I started this I wasn't sure if it was for me, but as I got drawn into the story of Claire, Andy in the 80's it brought so many memories for me as I was the same age roughly then. Very nostalgic, the story in the present 2007 was really moving and loved all the characters especially Mark the boyfriend. Have read a couple of Linda's other books so knew this would be a good read. I found this book very enjoyable and I think if you were a teenager in the 80s then this would be a treat to read.

[Pauline Hammond · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another sound read by Linda Green

You can't really go wrong with a book by Linda Green, but I have to say that I didn't enjoy this as much as the other ones I've read. I became a little confused during the reflection period where I was not entirely certain that these things had actually happened to Claire. A little predictable in some sections of the book, but overall a worthwhile read

[Wendy · Rating 3 out of 5]

Sorry to say I gave up on this fairly early on as it just didn’t grab me. The initial part with her present life seemed ok but I’d got onto the teenage years where she was reminiscing and that’s where I got a little bored. The writing style and characterisation seemed very good but I just couldn’t identify with the character so it didn’t keep my interest. I suspect I’m not really in the right demographic for this one. This just wasn’t for me.

[Marlene Bate · Rating 3 out of 5]

Mildly entertaining

Teenage crushes captured well, but Mark, who we barely get to know, seems to be the only truly likeable character.
Claire, I found, was an unlikeable and unsympathetic character (wishing people dead in terrorist bombings- comes on!)
Poorly developed subplots (her parents, Frankie etc)
Passed an afternoon but the reviews wildly overrated this book.

[MRS J A MORGAN · Rating 5 out of 5]

This author is now one of my favourites. She has the ability to take me back to my teenage years. She described exactly how I felt when I was in love with someone famous and was determined to marry him. It never happened and I didn't make the mess of my life like the girl in the story, but what memories it brought back. Superb writing.

[Ann · Rating 4 out of 5]

Lengthy at times but kept me reading. Because of the alternative times the chapters were told in, the dream sequences were hard to realise in the audio book. Most of the time I thought there was another time jump. Maybe they are in italic in the print version?

So... heartwarming, a bit predictable story.... But really why was there every a question with such a perfect man at your side?

[Lindsey Pasturel · Rating 3 out of 5]

I enjoyed the style of the book being in both the past and the present. The past story was intriguing and the present was the feels part of the story. Predictable happy ever after though. Touched in some difficult subject fairly well.
A good read but not most amazing book you’ll ever read.

[Dawn Box · Rating 5 out of 5]

Couldn't put it down

Kept me enthralled all they way through. You never know where the story is going next
Now going onto my next book by Linda

[Kelly Bond · Rating 4 out of 5]

It was not the sort of book I usually read and was not what i expected but I enjoyed it once it got going and would reccommend it to anyone who fancies a break from crime and murder

[Irene · Rating 3 out of 5]

It was OK.... A bit long and drawn out in parts.

[michelle rees · Rating 4 out of 5]

Loved it

Read it in a few days it's a great easy read with characters that are easily to identify with! Loved it

[Clare Halligan · Rating 3 out of 5]

Nice read

[J Heyes · Rating 4 out of 5]

Beautifully written

A dream story that will keep you enthralled until the last page. An absolute charming tale of desire and consequences.

[HZM Thompson · Rating 5 out of 5]

Page turningly Good

Loved the characterisations plus the way it flicked between the present and past was seamless. Great author, love everything I’ve read.

[SUSAN REDDIN · Rating 5 out of 5]

Good book

Really good read. You wanted her to make the right choice. So had to read right to the end. Great author.

[douglas Campbell · Rating 5 out of 5]

First Linda green I've read

Thought provoking insight of adolescent life.I look forward to more of her work.I would recommend this book unreservedly.thank you again.

[Mrs Doris Easton · Rating 3 out of 5]

Was an okay book, not in my opinion one of Linda Greens best.
Found the story, of Claire's obsession with Andy a bit over the top, and not a big fan, of continually back tracking.

[charlie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good read

Kept me intrigued to the end a good book you can't put down with a happy ending worth a read