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The Message
Julie Highmore is is known for her witty dialogue and likeable cast of characters - 'She writes wonderfully well. Her style is restrained and supremely confident, pruned of unnecessary detail and sparkling with mordant wit' Wendy Holden - THE MESSAGE promises to be her most enjoyable yet
426 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 2009
4 people are currently reading
37 people want to read
About the author
Julie Highmore
20 books66 followersAfter having her three children, Julie became a mature student at first Westminster College, then Oxford Brookes University, where she gained a degree in English. As part of the course, she studied creative writing with Philip Pullman, who encouraged her to continue with her writing after graduation. This she did, and her published work includes nine rom-com novels, and more recently, a crime fiction series for The Book Folks. The Missing American - the first in the series - features the somewhat flawed, Oxford-based private investigator, Edie Fox; a single mother and very young grandmother who inadvertently gets her precious family caught up in her first big case. Although her recent novels have ventured into some dark places, Julie manages to inject humour into the stories without diminishing the danger of situations Edie finds herself in.
Between graduating and becoming a published author, Julie taught English as a foreign language, and for several years was a reader for Oxford University Press’s Children’s Books.
She enjoys music, binge-watching a good TV series, country strolls, doing the New York Times crossword, and hanging out with her husband and ever-expanding family. With two Edie books now in production and a third following in Spring 2023, Julie is hoping to continue with the series while also exploring other crime-fiction paths.
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Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews
January 13, 2010
Jennifer Boyde has no idea that her perfect life is about to unravel, so when she hears a voice message from her husband Robert to someone named Jon, Jen is perplexed. All soon becomes horribly clear to Jen and she can’t believe her orderly life has unravelled in such a way. Jen’s world is shaken to the core and becomes even more confusing when a face from the past reappears. Jen met Kit Avery on an airbase in Germany and although she thought he was out of her league, they ended up dating for an entire summer. Jen thought Kit would be her one and only so when a tragic accident sends Kit away, Jen doesn’t think she’ll ever see him again. Years later, Kit and Jen meet again and are both forced to confront what happened that summer at the airbase, as well as their feelings for each other. Is it possible for your first love to really be your only love?
The Message is Julie Highmore’s eighth book but is described on the front cover, by the Bookseller, as her “breakout book”. Since I haven’t read Julie’s other seven books I can’t really say if this is better than her others however I’ve read a few synopses for her earlier books and The Message does sound as if it’s a bit of a departure from her earlier books and thus, probably is her breakout book of sorts. I really enjoyed reading The Message and I can see why all of the magazines and publishing sites are raving about the book.
The book opens as Jen is listening to a message from her husband Robert, a message that was supposed to go to his gay boyfriend, and the message changes her life. Jen’s learning of Robert’s cheating sends her into a bit of a spiral that ends in her feeling incredibly lonely and as if her life will never be the same again. We then cut to Kit in Norfolk and we find out his brother Pip has gone missing. It adds a lot of intrigue to the book and we then go back to Germany in 1969 and the summer in which Kit and Jen fall in love. The book then alternates chapters from Jen’s present point of view, Kit’s present point of view and the summer in Germany in 1969. The changes of perspective are done seamlessly and I found all three perspectives interested me.
The book spends a lot of time in 1969 at the airbase in Germany and that particular summer in which Kit and Jen fall in love. There was an air of mystery surrounding the whole summer in Germany and I couldn’t wait for the reveal to find out what had happened to cause Kit and Jen to never see each other again. Everything we learn about living on an airbase in the 1960’s seemed genuine and I really felt as if I was living in that airbase alongside Kit and Jen. It was easy to see how easily Jen fell in love with Kit and it definitely came across to me that Jen loved Kit more than Kit loved Jen. Jen and Kit’s relationship always seemed doomed from the start, though, and Kit’s mother, Mrs Avery, seemed determined to break them up for reasons I still fail to truly understand. My whole enjoyment of the book was going back to 1969 to carry on learning all about that fateful summer.
There weren’t many characters in the book as the main focus of the book was undoubtedly Jen and Kit. Their love in Germany was easily believable especially since they seemed to be each others first loves. In 1969 Jen had a naivety about her that was sweet and endearing and I loved the fact Kit was wise for his age and had his own views on things. The Kit and Jen of 2003 seemed a bit cynical about the whole love thing, Jen having discovered her husband was a gay adulterer and Kit never having settled down at all. It was a bit difficult to compare the Kit and Jen of 2003 to the Kit and Jen of 1969, the change in them was a bit surprising, but as the story unravels it all seems to make sense. The other characters I felt were integral to the book all seemed to be from 1969 rather than 2003. Mrs Avery, Kit’s mother, was ever present throughout the 1969 chapters and makes an appearance in 2003 also. I never really warmed to Mrs Avery and I always thought she came across as a bit of a cold fish. Mr Avery, Kit’s dad, makes a few appearances throughout the summer in Germany and I loved him whenever he appeared. I found it very difficult to see how a man like him, so sweet and kind, had married a woman like Mrs. Avery, prone to spitefulness and quite mean. The only main characters in 2003 seemed to be Kit’s nephew Adam, whom I liked, as well as his brother (and Adam’s dad) Pip. Pip, however, is missing for most of the book but he did seem to be an integral to the story particularly since everything that happened in 1969 affected him also.
Julie Highmore’s writing is very clever as while I found the book to move at quite a slow-pace I did actually find it a very absorbing read and I found myself dying to know what had happened. That was obviously down to how good Julie is at crafting a story. When I first started reading the book I never guessed I’d enjoy it as much as I did and I can’t get over how good it was. It may not be a fast-paced book nor have a heroine in her twenties but it is a good old-fashioned story and is definitely worth a read. Julie Highmore has managed to create such a fantastic past for her characters which as the book goes on becomes more and more intriguing until you’re bursting to know what had happened. I love it when I start reading a book and have no real idea how much I’m going to love it until I’ve turned the last page and find that, actually, I could go on reading another 400 pages!
The Message is Julie Highmore’s eighth book but is described on the front cover, by the Bookseller, as her “breakout book”. Since I haven’t read Julie’s other seven books I can’t really say if this is better than her others however I’ve read a few synopses for her earlier books and The Message does sound as if it’s a bit of a departure from her earlier books and thus, probably is her breakout book of sorts. I really enjoyed reading The Message and I can see why all of the magazines and publishing sites are raving about the book.
The book opens as Jen is listening to a message from her husband Robert, a message that was supposed to go to his gay boyfriend, and the message changes her life. Jen’s learning of Robert’s cheating sends her into a bit of a spiral that ends in her feeling incredibly lonely and as if her life will never be the same again. We then cut to Kit in Norfolk and we find out his brother Pip has gone missing. It adds a lot of intrigue to the book and we then go back to Germany in 1969 and the summer in which Kit and Jen fall in love. The book then alternates chapters from Jen’s present point of view, Kit’s present point of view and the summer in Germany in 1969. The changes of perspective are done seamlessly and I found all three perspectives interested me.
The book spends a lot of time in 1969 at the airbase in Germany and that particular summer in which Kit and Jen fall in love. There was an air of mystery surrounding the whole summer in Germany and I couldn’t wait for the reveal to find out what had happened to cause Kit and Jen to never see each other again. Everything we learn about living on an airbase in the 1960’s seemed genuine and I really felt as if I was living in that airbase alongside Kit and Jen. It was easy to see how easily Jen fell in love with Kit and it definitely came across to me that Jen loved Kit more than Kit loved Jen. Jen and Kit’s relationship always seemed doomed from the start, though, and Kit’s mother, Mrs Avery, seemed determined to break them up for reasons I still fail to truly understand. My whole enjoyment of the book was going back to 1969 to carry on learning all about that fateful summer.
There weren’t many characters in the book as the main focus of the book was undoubtedly Jen and Kit. Their love in Germany was easily believable especially since they seemed to be each others first loves. In 1969 Jen had a naivety about her that was sweet and endearing and I loved the fact Kit was wise for his age and had his own views on things. The Kit and Jen of 2003 seemed a bit cynical about the whole love thing, Jen having discovered her husband was a gay adulterer and Kit never having settled down at all. It was a bit difficult to compare the Kit and Jen of 2003 to the Kit and Jen of 1969, the change in them was a bit surprising, but as the story unravels it all seems to make sense. The other characters I felt were integral to the book all seemed to be from 1969 rather than 2003. Mrs Avery, Kit’s mother, was ever present throughout the 1969 chapters and makes an appearance in 2003 also. I never really warmed to Mrs Avery and I always thought she came across as a bit of a cold fish. Mr Avery, Kit’s dad, makes a few appearances throughout the summer in Germany and I loved him whenever he appeared. I found it very difficult to see how a man like him, so sweet and kind, had married a woman like Mrs. Avery, prone to spitefulness and quite mean. The only main characters in 2003 seemed to be Kit’s nephew Adam, whom I liked, as well as his brother (and Adam’s dad) Pip. Pip, however, is missing for most of the book but he did seem to be an integral to the story particularly since everything that happened in 1969 affected him also.
Julie Highmore’s writing is very clever as while I found the book to move at quite a slow-pace I did actually find it a very absorbing read and I found myself dying to know what had happened. That was obviously down to how good Julie is at crafting a story. When I first started reading the book I never guessed I’d enjoy it as much as I did and I can’t get over how good it was. It may not be a fast-paced book nor have a heroine in her twenties but it is a good old-fashioned story and is definitely worth a read. Julie Highmore has managed to create such a fantastic past for her characters which as the book goes on becomes more and more intriguing until you’re bursting to know what had happened. I love it when I start reading a book and have no real idea how much I’m going to love it until I’ve turned the last page and find that, actually, I could go on reading another 400 pages!
December 5, 2018
Ugh this book. Everyone knows I won’t DNF a book but I was so close with this one. The storyline was rubbish and the characters were flat, I only kept reading in the hopes something somewhat interesting had happened to Pip only to be disappointed.
And the title is completely misleading. The title suggests this is about Robert and Jen, and Roberts shifting sexuality, but bam you get the news he’s gay only a few paragraphs into the book.
This was a complete waste of money and I’m glad it only cost me 99 pence.
And the title is completely misleading. The title suggests this is about Robert and Jen, and Roberts shifting sexuality, but bam you get the news he’s gay only a few paragraphs into the book.
This was a complete waste of money and I’m glad it only cost me 99 pence.
May 22, 2017
3.5 stars. A nice, pleasant read that I enjoyed more than I expected to. I obviously needed a break from murderers and psychopaths! Very easy-reading.
May 2, 2010
When Jen hears an unexpected voicemail message on her phone from her husband Robert, her whole world falls apart and she is forced to confront a painful truth, and thus she re-evaluates her life.
Told in seemless flashbacks we learn about Jen's teenage years spent on an army base in Germany , where she meets her first love, Kit, who is the son of a high ranking officer.
Years later Jen and Kit meet again, both have had difficult pasts , but will they have a future.
I really enjoyed this book, my first by Julie Highmore. Well written, not overly sentimental and quite thought provoking in places. This was a splendid easy read.
Told in seemless flashbacks we learn about Jen's teenage years spent on an army base in Germany , where she meets her first love, Kit, who is the son of a high ranking officer.
Years later Jen and Kit meet again, both have had difficult pasts , but will they have a future.
I really enjoyed this book, my first by Julie Highmore. Well written, not overly sentimental and quite thought provoking in places. This was a splendid easy read.
July 13, 2015
A really pleasant read, the main character Jen, Middle aged and in a comfortable life accidentally receives a voicemail message from her husband which definitely isn't intended for her. The book swings between the unraveling of her life and memories of her first love when she was a teenager, stationed in Germany with her RAF sergeant father.
I loved this book and whizzed through it over a weekend.
I loved this book and whizzed through it over a weekend.
April 13, 2014
This book ebbs and flows. I like the time splits between the late 60's and the 00's, there are some good characters, especially the mum. But overall it takes way too long to get to the first good snog, and then it falls down. Too much filling the pages with the dullness of life. Hmmm
March 30, 2014
A bit of easy reading. Story of the effects a missent message has on the lives of Jen and Kit. In fact the effects of many mis-sent messages and interpretations. Good story for a quiet weekend.
January 25, 2017
An enjoyable read.
Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews