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True Love

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True Love

By: Paddy Crewe
Narrated by: Alex Tahnee
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About this listen

Brought to you by Penguin.

What does it mean to love and be loved?

It is the 1980s and Finn and Keely are growing up in the North East of England.

Keely is a fighter. Even in the face of loss she strives to seek connection, but finds that she’s not always searching in the right places.

Finn is quiet, sensitive, distant. He spends much of his time alone, yet deep down he wants to discover the thrill of relating to others.

When the two finally meet, everything is changed. Love – with all of its attendant joys and costs – is thrust upon them, and each must decide if they will bend or break under its pressure. True Love is a story of the trials of youth, the bonds of family and friendship, and of how much we are willing to risk to have ourselves be seen.

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‘Empathetic, honest, compelling. I’ll read anything Paddy Crewe writes.’ Bonnie Garmus, author of Lessons in Chemistry

‘True Love had me from its gorgeous, lyrical opening to its transcendent final pages. Paddy Crewe is an exceptionally gifted writer.’ Louise Kennedy, author of Trespasses

© Paddy Crewe 2024 (P) Penguin Audio 2024

 Coming of Age Contemporary Friendship Genre Fiction Literary Fiction Small Town & Rural Heartfelt

Critic reviews

Paddy Crewe's excellent second book will be one of the best things that you read all year
Remarkable . . . Crewe’s sensitivity to the tentacles of neglect in his characters is phenomenal. Time and again he captures a deep human truth.
Crewe recounts in lavish, unhurried prose [the protagonists'] respective childhoods, their abrupt coming together, their gradual drifting apart, and the love that keeps the two connected throughout like a magnetic thread . . . There's an earnestness to the writing, yet it’s a heart scorcher just the same. Read it and indulge
This slow-burn love story is gorgeously written, with two characters you won’t forget easily
Effective and moving . . . Crewe’s prose sings
True Love is a perfect read if you’re looking for a character-driven novel with split narratives or a coming-of-age story that is both heartbreaking and uplifting, reminiscent of Sally Rooney’s work
Invokes this sense of melancholy with true deftness . . . Crewe’s unabashed desire to move his readers is to be genuinely commended . . . A full-throated, heart-on-sleeve piece of storytelling
Crewe's story is . . . one of low, heavy emotions. But it is sustained throughout by the gruff lyricism of his writing . . . And while the novel moves at a steady pace, it builds to a climactic final third
Paddy Crewe writes with a lyrical, lonely prose that’s full of the kind of tenderness which both frightens and saves us
Empathetic, honest, compelling. I’ll read anything Paddy Crewe writes.
All stars
Most relevant
A painfully honest account of grief, loss, love and connection from two sides of a love story, told in a beautiful lyrical style. The narrator imbues the voices of the main characters with a delicate breath of life, allowing the words to deliver the punch. Skillfully read with a truth and raw quality that encapsulates the setting, evoking iron skies and coal blackened beaches. Her voice dances between intimate understanding and unsuspecting punches to the gut.

Haunting

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I loved the narration, the descriptive style of the writing, I was thoroughly captivated from beginning to end, I’ll be looking out for more books by this author. Excellent

Absolutely brilliant

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