If You Love Me I’m Yours by Lizzie Chantree

Val Penny ♦ December 28, 2019 ♦ 2 Comments

Those of you who read this blog regularly will know that my favourite genre is crime fiction, however from time to time I stray into other territories. Often this is because of my book group or because I am given a book as a gift. On other occassions, I simply find an author whose work I enjoy. Lizzie Chantree is one of those writers.

Her novel, If You Love Me, I’m Yours, is about as far from my usual crime thrillers as it is possible to get – but it is well worth a read. The eclectice characters jump off of the page and into your heart.

Maud and Dot come together to support each other as they find their way in the world that has been created for them by their parents. Maud, is a blooming artist, but she is constricted by the disappointment in her parents who want her to settle down, dress conservatively, find a nice man and have a good job, basically forget about art. Her bungalow is plain to the outside world apart from her bedroom, where she has painted a gorgeous mural and her studio at the end of the garden.  While Dot wants to be an artist and tries to live up to her parents and brother’s talent. They are all outstanding artists, but Dot, in her mind, can’t paint. So instead, she is a persona of what she thinks her family want her to be, the crazy one, with outrageous outfits.

They find each other, well Dot finds Maud, due to someone dropping random art around the village with little tags on and it causes quite the stir. Instantly, the extrovert Dot and the introvert Maud become fast friends, both seeing the real person behind the walls they have built. There is also a love story but I enjoyed that the romance took the back seat in this story and it was the friendships that took centre stage. 

This is a delightfully crafted story that I read in one sitting because I could not put it down. Read it, enjoy it, you won’t forget it!

Author

A #1 bestselling author and award-winning inventor, Lizzie Chantree, started her own business at the age of 18 and became one of Fair Play London and The Patent Office’s British Female Inventors of the Year in 2000. She discovered her love of writing fiction when her children were little and now runs networking hours on social media, where creative businesses, writers, photographers and designers can offer advice and support to each other. She lives with her family on the coast in Essex.

Val Penny