The Writing on the Wall

by Jenny Eclair

From acclaimed writer and comedian, Jenny Éclair, comes a hilarious and heart-breaking story about a friendship against all odds.

Summer 1975: Helena is bored out of her mind - there's absolutely nothing to do and her supposed "best friends" Gwen and Elaine are holidaying in the South of France without her. The only saving grace is that she's allowed to re-decorate her room - bring on the purple floral wallpaper.

Summer 2021: New to the north, Hermione's mum has moved her away from London and all her friends to start a new life with new boyfriend Paul, who resembles a slab of meat from the butchers. Just as well she can paint over that hideous wallpaper in her new room.

By some miracle, the girls meet. When Hermione discovers Helena's writing under the wallpaper - she's transported back to Summer 1975 and the two instantly hit it off. But after dancing to the juke box at the infamous Blue Monkey café, and meeting Helena's multiple crushes, Hermione discovers a truth about Helena's future that suggests she is in great danger...

Hermione found the writing on the wall. But can she save Helena?

Genres: Young Adult, Romance, Fiction

283 pages, Kindle Edition

Published June 23, 2022

About the author

Jenny Eclair is an English comedian, author and actor. She has appeared on numerous tv shows, most notably Grumpy Old Women, and Loose Women, performed on stage and hosted her own radio shows. She continues to tour her one woman stand up shows throughout the UK and was the first female comic to win The Edinburgh Fringe Perrier Award, in 1995.
She has written three novels, as well as contributed to many comedic anthologies.

Reviews

[readingwithlibby · Rating 3 out of 5]

I thought this book was a really sweet tale of friendship. I did find myself feeling like I wanted more. I found the overall plot a little boring, however I can see how a young teenager may adore this book!! I loved Hermione and the little snippets of referencing from the past to the future. I loved her no nonsense attitude. Overall it a was a good book!!

[Eva · Rating 1 out of 5]

This book was, if I’m honest, really bad. The plot didn’t happen until the last 50 pages of the book and it wasn’t that exciting when it did happen. Would not recommend

[Ash · Rating 2 out of 5]

I'm sorry, I just couldn't finish this book. I got to page 22 and had to put it down. It's all stream of consciousness. If was stream of consciousness and interesting, maybe I could do it. But it's not very interesting either. In 22 pages I am introduced to both main characters and there's only a few lines of dialogue and I don't really count them because they're not a conversation, they're just "and then mom said 'blah blah' and I now this is..." or something like that. 

The language is questionable. The 2021 character uses a lot of terms that will probably be outdated by next year. The older character uses lots of words and phrases that also seem far too modern for her. Overall, one will be incomprehensible soon and the other will keep being anachronistic. It also reads a little bit like a creative writing class assignment; something you have to do and want to show off with but don't really care about.

The concept is nice enough and the cover is fun, but I couldn't keep reading to find out if there was anything else to it. It reads like the very long diary entry of a very annoying child. Which in YA can be fine...maybe not this time though. I really wanted to like this, especially since there's another book I read as a kid that had a similar plot (can't remember the title anymore) and I also really like The Yellow Wallpaper. Hopefully children will still enjoy this.

[pail dano · Rating 2 out of 5]

this is the first book ive read by jenny eclair and i was not all too impressed. first of all, all the talk of zodiac signs seemed forced and i dont think ive ever met someone my age who brings them up that much. second, i 100% understand that this was set in a different time, although i really dont feel as though the slurs were needed. third, hermione was pretty likeable until the end when she outed the guy (i forget his name) to helena, all whilst seeming “woke”, this rubbed me the wrong way especially considering the fact that this was 1975, a time that was hardly accepting of the lgbtq+ community. finally, the references to recent pop culture was bad, books are meant to be timeless, so when you talk anout bts snd tiktok, it ages the book. im trying to think of the books redeeming qualities and i cant think of many, i think the plot was interesting however it just needed to be executed differently. overall, very average, wouldnt read again nor reccomend

[Jane · Rating 4 out of 5]

Enjoyable read, aimed at younger audience but as a 50+ woman who likes Jenny Eclairs other novels I thought I would read this one.
Loved the 70's details, brought back lots of memories of being that age. Interesting to see how attitudes have changed since the 1970's.
It was an enjoyable read about being a teenager and all the mixed feelings we have at that time, friendships, families, school etc.

[Flora · Rating 2 out of 5]

Fuck this book. I've tried to write a good opening sentence but I can't.

It's VERY poorly structured and doesn't wrap up its core conflict, there is a conflict within the book that tries to assert itself as a core conflict but is both set up and resolved in the roughly the final third of the book, and then when it does resolve it tries to convince you that the main conflict is ALSO resolved but it ISN'T. The reason I say that this conflict "tries to convince you it is the main conflict" is that it is what the hook of the book is. In the blurb this is the conflict that is shouted out as being the important thing. This conflict is that one of the main characters is going to die very very soon - 2 or 3 days after the other main character finds out about this. To me, this conflict doesn't feel like the main conflict of the book, and instead feels jammed in and unnecessary. To me, the main conflict of the book is the whole time travel ordeal itself, and specifically how Hermione goes about her life after discovering this and becoming such good friends with Helena. How does she maintain this friendship? Does she reveal what is going on to Helena? (this does happen but is barely mentioned in the narration and is brushed off by Helena as a lie.) How does Helena deal with this information? Can Hermione visit present-day Helena? How would that interaction work? Can Helena visit 2021? If so, could she meet her older self? None of these questions are answered, and to me they're all far more interesting than the actual "Helena is supposed to get in a drunk driving accident but is rescued by a mobile phone" climax. Let's talk about that one quickly before I talk about the characters.

How the hell does a mobile phone work in 1975? There wouldn't be any signal! I assume it's some wibbly-wobbly timey-wimey stuff going on but thats never explained, explored or even questioned. Anyway, characters.

The two main characters don't have distinct voices. Which isn't a huge problem in the Part 1 as their stories are separated by the point of view they are told from, with Hermione speaking in first person and Helena being spoken about in third person, but then in Part 2 this changes, and both characters are speaking in first person, for no reason that I could work out. This leads to the identifiers of who is speaking being (aside from the chapter headings) what they are speaking about, rather than how they are speaking about it. I feel like I should be able to read the same event from the two main characters points of view and be able to determine which one is talking, but I don't feel like this would be possible in this book.

I do think this book has its merits though. While maybe not distinct the characters are interesting enough and Jenny Éclairs writing style is fun enough that it kept me decently engaged throughout. It made me think a lot more about my largely blanket dislike of "YA fiction" and how I feel generally that it is just a marketing tag tacked onto books that just aren't very good, where it could be actually something useful if it wasn't such a guaranteed moneymaker. But a goodreads review written at 3am is not the place to debate my views on marketing tags, greedy writers and lazy readers, so if you want to engage with that line of thought, feel free to comment and we can have a chat at a proper time, via a proper medium.

I don't like this book, and I likely wouldn't recommend it to anyone (apart from maybe a 14 year old but I don't happen to be friends with any of them). But that's life.

Stay safe folks, see you in the next naff review.

[Lucy Goodwin · Rating 3 out of 5]

I was so excited to receive this as I love JE’s books but for me this one fell short. I missed the cynicism and ‘laughing at bits I shouldnt really laugh at’ that I find in most of her books

[Ella Storey · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book had a good plot but I felt like it rambled a bit in the beginning and it was only until the middle when she finally went back in time and even then the ending was a bit rushed. Maybe it just wasn't my sort of book.

[Aubrey Keith · Rating 3 out of 5]

Definitely a book for younger readers, given how the characters talk/write, sometimes reminding me of my own cringey teenaged journal entries… Still wanted to give it a go since I’m a Jenny Eclair fan. I wish that the characters interacted more earlier. The plot becomes very Helena centered in the first half and it would’ve been nice for the book to have more of a balance between them.

[Carla · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved this. It brought back so many memories of 1975.

[Isla 4953 · Rating 1 out of 5]

I read the whole thing and regret it. The first half is rambling and complaining about friends and boys. Then it randomly introduces time travel with no explanation for it, and the plot finally happens in the last couple of chapters and is entirely predictable. The language is hard to get into and want to read and the characters are just annoying most of the time.

Did not enjoy. Wouldn't recommend.

[Michaela · Rating 2 out of 5]

Stale bread.

[Jen Burrows · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Writing on the Wall is a sweet, feel-good YA with a time-travel twist. Friendship is at the heart of this story, and Eclair really manages to capture the essence of teenage girlhood. Hermione and Helena are well-balanced protagonists and I instantly warmed to both of them: Helena's naive enthusiasm is infectious, and Hermione's the kind of best friend everyone wants.

The ending felt a little rushed, but it didn't stop this from being one of those books that left a big smile on my face.

*Thank you to Netgalley for the arc in exchange for an honest review*

[Debra · Rating 2 out of 5]

I’ve tried three times to get into this book but it’s so boring! The stream of consciousness seems more about proving that the author knows popular culture from the 1970s (my childhood era) and 2022 rather than letting us get to know Helena and Hermione. I think I’d laugh out loud if this was performed by Jenny Eclair but it doesn’t work for me as a book. This is only one of a handful of books I’ve stopped riding, ever, which tells you all you need to know.

[julie keegan · Rating 5 out of 5]

fantastic

Fantastic book, it really is so well written. I was a teenager in 1975 and it is so accurate. Teenager’s lives are so different today and it really mirrored that. Not that theirs are necessarily better their values are so different and they grow up so much quicker . The story was so sweet and told such a thoughtful and lovely tale. Thoroughly enjoyed it !

[LJ☆ · Rating 1 out of 5]

( just my opinion ) its so boring , i cant even finish the book . 22 pages in and there is this nothing really relating to the plot . One of the mist boring book i have read . P.s. i hardy give books 1 star .

[Alice Stellar · Rating 3 out of 5]

If I could, I'd give this book a 3.5.

Good story, but weirdly paced. In most time travel friendship books (yes, I'm considering that a genre), there are generally a few structural rules. And while it's always fun to come upon books that bend or challenge tropes and other genre traditions, the changes here made me think of just how helpful those rules are for books like this, in terms of readers getting the right kind of balance and payoff.

For instance, in most time travel friendship (or romance) books, chapters tend to alternate between the POV of each character. Here, though, after a few chapters with present-day heroine Hermione, we get what feels like a very long section of the book that we spend with Helena, the person who occupied the same bedroom as Hermione, in 1975.

Even more unusual, pacing-wise, is the ending. It seems a slight bit too abrupt and neatly tied up, but the strangest - and most disappointing - thing for me is that there is no epilogue. Hermione saves Helena, and then takes her leave and...nothing. No clue whatsoever about what happens to Helena or how this experience of time travel and friendship will go on to affect or impact Hermione. I was at least expecting that the writing on the wall - literally the title of the book - might have changed. If Hermione suddenly disappeared from Helena's life after her confession that she had traveled from the future and just saved her life and now had to go back, wouldn't Helena at least have written something new on the wall, a message to her friend in the future? ....Then again, in fairness, maybe Hermione never mentioned that she had the exact same bedroom, but on the other hand, Hermione did visit Helena so maybe Helena left her a message. Or what about the fact that maybe Helena would have thought about this all her life and would have started looking out for this girl who said what year she was from, maybe Googling her? Or what about them running into each other now that they're in town? Or Hermione Googling Helena to see what's become of her now that she didn't die? Or....

Well, the questions are endless and the book ultimately feels unsatisfying. It just sort of...ends. After all that.

The part focusing on Helena before the time travel incident felt long to me and also frustrating - I'm not a huge fan of fuck-up stories unless they're super interesting, but Helena mostly feels vapid.

I also got a sense, based on how much more the focus was on 1975 that this book was a bit of a nostalgia trip for its author. I'm not familiar with Jenny Eclair but I wanted to see if she'd grown up during the '70's and the dates check out. It is fun to read such vivid descriptions of places and the overall vibe - as well as minutiae like pop culture, snack names, etc., from that time. But I do wonder if she hadn't been so attached to that era, would there have been more balance in the book?

I also thought the way the girls met and instantly became best friends on this super intense level felt more like romance than friendship to me, although it was clearly specified that it wasn't. It shows how tricky it can be to describe feelings of deep friendship or affection that aren't romantic. But I often got "One Last Stop" vibes. And I kind of wished it WAS a love story! The intensity here would have made that amazing. As it was, it was hard to think of these girls who are so different bonding so quickly and profoundly.

But once the time travel stuff kicked in, especially the conflict of it all, I found this novel hard to put down. Even though I was disappointed by how some of it was handled, it was overall an entertaining read.

[Ellen · Rating 3 out of 5]

Thank you to the publisher via NetGalley for the eARC of this book in exchange for a fair and honest review.

2.5 stars.

My initial interest in this book was piqued by the author herself being local (or formerly local?) to the area of London I live in - I was curious to see if her YA offering had any local interest, since there is such a density of secondary schools in this part of the city. It does, just a little, but most of this book is set in t’ North, where our Londoner protagonist, Hermione, is forced to move when her mother takes up with a new beau. When the new boyfriend, as an olive branch, encourages Hermione to redecorate her room, she discovers a message from a girl named Helena, to whom the room belonged in the mid-seventies.

What follows is a lengthy passage (I think it takes up roughly a third of the book?) from the perspective of said girl, Helena. Helena is a sort of Georgia Nicholson type - in fact, the resemblance is quite uncanny, so I wouldn’t be surprised to find that it’s a conscious homage to Rennison’s work. Helena’s a teenager who’s flaws manifest in predictable ways - her friends are too childish, so she treats them with disdain, abandoning them for the cool kids and the attention of a boy, any boy. Her parents are even disappointed when she lifts a box of Milk Tray from the local off license, and receives a tepid school report. So, as Helena’s segment ends the reader is left wondering how she is finally going to realise her behaviour is shallow and make amends with the people she truly loves.

Instead, we get a strange time travel narrative where Hermione goes back in time and befriends Helena, becoming the summer friend she wants, though I am not convinced that she is the friend Helena truly needs. They go on a few excursions mostly of the “Ooh wasn’t the past strange and alien” variety, with Hermione being the shining beacon of the feminist movement and sexual liberation. Helena finally gets the summer she wants with a cool friend and the conviction that she can get the guy.


However, it feels like nothing is seen through to its satisfying conclusion, as if Eclair has tried to do the working out to fashion a satisfying twist or resolution, but when it came to writing it simply couldn’t bring herself to do it, for whatever reason. The ending falls entirely flat, with us not fully understanding what Hermione learned from the experience.

This just didn’t quite do it for me. It’s not badly written and is extremely readable - I managed the lion’s share in one day. I’m just not sure this will play as well with teenagers as it will with their parents, with the nostalgia factor promising rapidly diminishing returns.

*n.b. I almost took a whole star clean off this book for use of the expression “front bottom” to describe the vulva. No fifteen year old has ever.

[Kelly Forrester · Rating 3 out of 5]

An endearing young adult novel about finding friendship in the most unlikely places.

In 1975, Helena loves boys, Marc Bolan and David Bowie. She is facing a summer alone after her friends go on holiday without her. As a treat she is allowed to redecorate her bedroom, and decides to write a message beneath her new purple wallpaper.

In 2021, Hermione has just moved with her mum to live with Paul, her mum’s new boyfriend. Bored and far away from her friends, Paul says she can decorate her room, where she finds a message from 1975..

What follows is a time-travelling adventure which sees Hermione end up in 1975. She must be there for a reason. Will she find out why she is there, and fix things before it is too late?

A relatable story about teenage girls growing up. Fancying boys, family strains and changing friendships; despite changing fashions and new technology, the perils of growing older stay fairly unaltered.

Helena is a funny and feisty character, yet naïve when it comes to to relationships with boys and issues of consent. Her going to an all girls schools means boys are alien to her.

The difference in time is clearly highlighted when Helena laughs off pervy male attention, whilst the modern Hermione fights back with anger.

Hermione is more street smart, with what seems like an older head on her shoulders. Do modern teens grow up faster than in previous generations? It does seem that way. The world is at their fingertips in an instant, and although social media can be divisive, it certainly gives young people a voice and the need to be both seen and heard.

I enjoyed this book, and found both lead girls endearing; I grew fond of them both over the course of the story.

The added element of peril truly gripped me and I was hoping for a happy ending throughout. I’d have loved to see Hermione and Helena meet again in 2021, but can understand and appreciate the ending as it stands.

An approachable and relatable young adult novel that teen girls (and maybe their mums and nans) may also appreciate and enjoy!

[Ema · Rating 5 out of 5]

I always have a soft spot for a YA genre at the bottom of my heart😝😝. Jenny Eclair really made my day. Yes, she's funny as acclaimed. A fifteen years old, Hermione, and her mother, Tessa just moved from London to North London to stay with Paul, Tessa's boyfriend. Paul is like her mother's knight in shining armor and some kind of her father isn't which is sober and rich. So, beggars can't be choosers. Endless summer for Hermoine. Luckily, she got her own bedroom and redecorated it. While scraping the wallpaper, she found some writing in blue biro on the wall. The writing is dated 26th July 1975 by Helena Treace which means she was the same age and sleeping in the same bedroom, almost half a century ago.

By some miracle, the girls meet and hang out together. The 1970s sure had quite a range of unique fashion statements, parties, and music. According to a 'palm reader' Helena might be in great danger. Not every tragedy can be avoided. There must be something that Hermione can do to change the course of fate as long as she keeps close to Helena.

Thanks to @definitelybooks #pansing for the review copy. Opinions are my own 💙

*Available at all major bookstores in Singapore and Malaysia and their online stores.

📚

#donereading #thewritingonthewall by #jennyeclair #emabaca #pansing #letsgetreading
#igreads #igbooks #goodreads
#bookstagram #malaysiamembaca

[Helen Priest · Rating 4 out of 5]

I got the audible version and went through it over a couple of days.

Jenny Eclair did the narration and I much preferred the 1975 narration and that part of the story, and that was good because I think that was where most of the story was set, I genuinely got confused at one point thinking I'd imagined the first modern day section.

I was born in the 70s so there were a few things I was aware of and that helped enjoy both time periods I think.

I enjoyed the plot and the time travel element, but I wish that there was more of it and the impact of it and then ending left me wanting more, in a way that it felt like the ending had been quite rushed. I was expecting there to be a meet up in the later timeline, or some impact of what had happened in the past.

I've only read one other Jenny Eclair book and it was it was very emotional, I didn't get that with this but it could be that this was YA, so aimed at a totally different audience. I hadn't realised how much she had written and will definitely look out for more from her as I do enjoy her writing and humour.

[Susan Hayworth · Rating 3 out of 5]

I do occasionally like to pick up a young adult fiction. I often find these cathartic after reading in depth novels. Sometimes the YA stuff is just as confrontational as adult fiction but I never felt this would end badly. This was a lovely story although the time travel aspect (although pivotal to the story) seemed almost unremarkable which would really not be the case. Hermione surely would freak out a lot more. I enjoyed seeing the relationship grow between these two girls from two different eras. Because I am ages with Eclair I enjoyed the 1970s aspect of the story very much. I do wonder though about how much a teenage reader would get out of this. I felt we needed to know a bit more about Hermione. I really wanted her to meet up with old Helena in present time. I was also very keen for her to find the gold necklace that she pawned and maybe even see her repair the relationship with her father a bit. A nice quick read.

[Lara A · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5 rounded up to 4 stars.

I love Jenny Eclair and think she's a massively underrated author, Listening In is a masterpiece, but this didn't quite hit the spot for me. The premise of time travel during teenage years is a promising one and Eclair clearly liked writing about the differences between 70s and 00s teens.

Which is probably the main problem, as there is so much of Helena in the 1970s everyday life, it takes rather a while for the actual plot to appear. No time travel takes place until at over 100 pages have passed! I wouldn't mind this so much if the ending didn't feel so rushed, possibly because the author didn't fancy tying up the obvious loose ends. To use a vintage reference, this book feels like eating a packet of Rolos and someone taking the last one. It's good, but ultimately slightly unsatisfying.

[amber · Rating 3 out of 5]

2.5 stars

Completely my fault but I did not realise this was YA 😆 had it on my shelves for a few years and the back of the book always intrigued me, and I totally thought it was an adult fiction novel. Hence I was a little bored because the story and writing was extremely simplistic but I took it at face value and rated it accordingly, not going to criticise it too much. Especially bc YA books haven’t hit with me this year so this was a decent read all things considered

I do feel sooo much more could’ve been done with the time travel plot, would’ve been so fun for Helena to travel into 2021 with Hermione!!

Overall a cute read for younger readers :)

[Helen Tamblyn-Saville · Rating 3 out of 5]

I love a time travel and the concept of this was great. I loved visiting the seventies! The writing had shades of Caitlin Moran and the first half of the book felt more like it was written for a slightly older audience than YA - but the pacing and voice in the second part were spot on.

There was a paragraph however in reference to a certain fallen 70s popstar which in my opinion wasn't appropriate to include. It may have been an attempt at humour but not appropriate in my view and I will be feeding this back to the publisher.

[Natasha · Rating 3 out of 5]

I enjoyed this book, the characters were great and the overall plot was fun and had a lot of potential. I listened to the audio book and Jenny’s performance was great and although I found I wanted to listen to it everyday I did also find my focus drifting a lot at the beginning. The thing that lets this book down for me is the pacing, it was incredibly slow at the start whilst she set up both characters and the ending seemed rushed with the main plot!

A fun first book of the year though and it is worth getting if you are looking for a fun easy YA read.

[Clodagh · Rating 5 out of 5]

Although I really enjoyed this book, it wasn't at all what I was expecting from the description. It begins with a long POV from Helena which I enjoyed but would have preferred more of a mix with Hermione. When the two girls meet in the mirror of the book, the story progresses more however the main plot point and the ending both feel quite rushed and under developed. I feel that the book would possibly have been better if it was just a story of friendship, rather than Hermione having to save Helena. Overall though it was very readable and I found it difficult to put down. 4.5* rounded up to 5

[Amanda Larkman · Rating 5 out of 5]

LOVED this. A sweet evocative tale. Aimed at YA but I found myself enjoying this as much as her adult books. A tale of two young women, one living in the 70s (clearly inspired by Jenny Eclair's experiences) and a teenager of the same age in the modern day. There is a time slip and they meet and solve problems together. I really hope there's a sequel as I loved meeting Helena. Eclair's writing goes from strength to strength

[Margaret Gregg · Rating 5 out of 5]

I enjoyed the teenage angst in this and the book would be a wonderful Young Adult read. What attracts me to a Jenny Eclair book is that...I used to live in Lytham St Annes and taught there. I have a 'best friend' who used to live on Arundel Road! The way that Jenny describes the characters and the environment is heart-warming. I'll be back for another book soon - this was my third!
PS As I'm writing this Jenny's on the television on Storage Hunters! Bizarre

[Elizabeth C · Rating 5 out of 5]

another page turne

What a fantastic book and a brilliant idea very goodnight sweetheart but so well done and the seventies parts were great I was 13 in 1975 and loved reading about that time so well done but I have loved all the books Jenny Eclair has written and they always have a twist in the tail keep writing please