The Flatshare Was Like Getting Into a Hot Bath after an Extraordinarily Long Day

I’ve been book indulgent lately. I have found myself reaching for the type of literature that doesn’t push any boundaries, for the kind of syntax that just lulls you into a comfortable ambience. My life has been absurdly busy of late, I am finishing my master’s degree, running a home, being a mum and have just entered into a new, and un-expected, relationship. Hard-hitting and thought-provoking novels have gone by the wayside, like my brain can’t compute anything else.

The Flatshare was the book that felt like getting into a really hot bath after an extraordinarily long day. It held my hand and comforted me and led me into peaceful oblivion, carried away with the lives of the characters.

Tiffy has just come out of a relationship and needs a new place to live. She is broke, broken-hearted and downbeat; her choices on living arrangements are limited. She has two options, a dirty, possibly un-safe apartment or a flat share with a difference. This flat share consists of not only sharing a home, but also a bed. Each occupant sleeping alone at different times of the day due to conflicting schedules. In desperation, she opts for the latter.

The novel is a split narrative between Tiffy and Leon, both occupiers of the small flat (and bed). It follows them as their lives become linked by the clues about each other left in their shared home in each other’s absence. Although they don’t meet face-to-face until half way through the book, they start communicating by way of post-its and the narrative between them is both fun and revealing.

“I often think it must be very tiring, being Tiffy. Even in note form she seems to expend so much energy.”

O’Leary writes the characters as if their own thoughts and personality spill onto the pages. Tiffy is quirky, enthusiastic and the kind of sensually curvaceous I have always longed to be. Leon is sensible and calm and at times alarmingly stoic. The way O’Leary writes Leon in particular, took a little getting used to. His sentences are short, and at times, take on a computer-generated feel. However, I quickly became accustomed to this and slowly, warmed to it, and him.

We find out that Tiffy has been in an emotionally-abusive relationship for years, with a man who controls her, even post break-up. I related to this in a way many (I hope) can’t. There were times I had to close the book because the narrative was a little close to home.

“Your brain can do amazing stuff to protect itself from pain," Mo tells me. "But it'll struggle to keep secrets from the rest of you for long.”

Of course, like all ‘rom-coms’ in this particular genre, the plot is predictable. You know what is going to happen even from the tagline on the front cover. But the book doesn’t suffer for this, there are characters in this story whom I loved. In fact, I found myself wanting to know more about them compared to the central characters of Tiffy and Leon. Leon’s brother for example, in prison for armed robbery or Mr. Prior and the story of his long-lost lover.

“They had one fraught, romantic, war-torn summer, then were split up. Johnny White was taken to hospital for shellshock. They never saw each other again. Mr. Prior could’ve got in lots of trouble (homosexuality vexing to military sorts).”

I enjoyed O’Leary’s writing. It was easy, the way all good fiction is. Each page filled with humour and personality. There is a reason why The Flatshare has been praised all over social media since its release - it’s loveable and it’s funny.

Has my life been changed since reading this book? No. Did I get the warm-fuzzy feeling only this type of story can give – definitely.

I cried at the end. Big, fat dollops of salty self-indulgence: it was glorious.

If it is ground-breaking, Pulitzer prize-winning fiction you are looking for, The Flatshare probably isn’t for you.

If it’s comfort food on a cold day, then it probably is.

Katie D xx