This Book Made Me Think of You

This painfully beautiful story of love and loss from Page (Mornings with Rosemary) is an emotional tour de force. Six months after her American husband Joe Carter’s death from cancer, London book editor Matilda “Tilly” Nightingale copes by throwing herself into her work. She then receives an unexpected call from bookseller Alfie, who informs her that before Joe died, he selected 12 books, one for each month of the year, for her to pick up at Alfie’s shop. Each book also contains a handwritten note from Joe to Tilly. The notes encourage her to begin living again, inspiring her to travel to Paris, try camping in the wilderness, and learn how to cook. As the months pass, she and Alfie become close friends. But when Tilly’s mother-in-law asks her to come to Connecticut for a visit and the lease on Alfie’s store is canceled, the two must decide what the future will hold. Page crafts a taut plot and makes her characters achingly real; readers will be crying in some places, laughing in others, yet always in thrall to the story. This heartbreaking tale is sure to find a wide audience. Agent: Robert Caskie, Robert Caskie Ltd. (Feb.)