THIS DISASTER LOVES YOU by Richard Roper - SPOTLIGHT



QUICK TAKE: Brian’s wife, Lily, disappeared from his life without a trace six years, eleven months, one week, and two days ago, but Brian never lost hope. Since her disappearance, their once beloved English pub—and Brian’s livelihood—has been crumbling piece by piece. 


As the anniversary of her absence approaches, Brian desperately needs a sign. One doom-scroll on his business’s reviews later, he finds it: an active TripAdvisor account for PinkMoonLily1972 that he knows in his heart is his Lily. 


Interspliced with Brian’s journey to find Lily is the story of their love—how it started, and the twists and turns that brought them to this moment. As Brian jumps from one destination to the next to find Lily, and the truth behind their story comes into focus, he comes back to life with the help of Tess, a sarcastic, kind, and surprising traveling companion. 


But in order to move forward he’ll need to decide—stay in the past or take a chance on something unexpected.

 

BEHIND THE BOOK: What inspired you to write this story? “I was in a pub in York, my first post-Covid trip, when I heard a customer complaining to staff, going so far as to invoke “the weights and measures act of 1985.” I know without doubt that this person would follow up by writing a review online, and sure enough they did. 


I became weirdly obsessed with why people do this, reading lots of one-star reviews of things like the Sistine Chapel. But then it struck me that someone who owns a pub or café or shop might be having the worst day of their lives, only to read a review that completely slated them, even though they were doing their best. 


As I took the train home from York, the character of Brian appeared, and I feverishly wrote down what became the plot of the book. I think the person next to me must have thought I was composing an incredibly intense Whatsapp to someone…”


 

ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Richard Roper is a non-fiction editor at Headline, an imprint of Hachette UK. He lives in London and is the author of Something to Live For (published as How Not To Die Alone in hardcover) and When We Were Young.

 


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