I am relatively new to Jenny Colgan’s work, have plenty of a back catalogue to get through but in the meantime I am transported back to Scotland. To the little town of Kirrinfief where you are part of the community, where you are part of everything that goes on and where you can suddenly feel at home.
Cormac is out of the army, a nurse in Kirrinfief, he has lost that sense of purpose and perhaps the small town community is not challenging himself or his skills enough.
Lissa is a city nurse through and through, nothing phases her as she goes about her duties in the community that is London. That is until she witness an horrific event and cannot come to terms with it. To still keep nursing, her bosses decide she needs to take the quiet life for a moment.
What better place that Kirrinfief and it means that Cormac can perhaps see something different and remember why he chose the quieter life.
So as the complete strangers swap places, we get to see how well they cope in different places with some challenging patients and locals. Lissa and Cormac find themselves communicating with each other, initially about the patients they might encounter but through these short missives a friendship develops.
Whilst this book delves into the lovely landscape of Kirrinfief (I want to go), the interesting relationships and new friendships which develop between the main characters and the others you meet along the way as well. Some will be familiar if you have read any of the other Colgan novels based in Kirrinfief.
The book is light hearted but it does deals with some rather difficult subjects to tackle, mental health, organ donation and drug addiction to name a few. All of which are so beautifully written into the novel that you understand that they can play a role in any story providing they are handled as well as Jenny Colgan has done here.
A book full of hope, laughter and love with a good dose of realism just to remind you that there is another life out there. And the one you choose should always be the one for you and no one else.
A must read for all old and new fans of Jenny Colgan.
Thank you to the publisher via netgalley for the opportunity to read this book.
Five Hundred Miles From You is published on the 28th May.
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