Jennifer Jones is in control.
Jen is confident she has complete control over the things that are trying to control her. Until she isn’t. Until she hasn’t. Until she realises she has never been in control at all. She’s been papering over it for years.
It's the start of the year 2000. A new millennium has arrived. For Jen and her three friends, university life in Manchester is full of possibility and endless fun. Sassiness, spontaneity, marvellous mayhem and youthful optimism reign in the Manchester rain.
But beneath the sometimes brash bravado sometimes even the most resilient, carefree, fun-loving characters who, on the surface look like they are living their best lives, are perilously close to falling apart. Over the course of one unforgettable year, the young women confront their own realities and truths. Some make foolish mistakes and others life changing choices.
Sometimes heartwarming and other times heartbreaking, but always brutally honest. This is a story of friendship, mistakes, self-discovery and acceptance; identity, love and the messy reality of becoming an adult. It's about the masks we wear, the mistakes and choices we make, and the courage it takes to stop papering over it and face ourselves when everything feels like it's falling apart.
It’s real, raw, raunchy, sometimes random and frankly rude at times. Just like Jen and her friends.
What did I think?
Paper Over It is a year in the life of four friends at the start of the new millennium. Jen met Em, Lou and Kate at university in Manchester and although they are from different parts of the country and different walks of life, they have remained firm friends.
The book almost has its own playlist as each chapter lists a song that is relevant to what we have just read. I loved seeing the theme song of each chapter and I found myself singing along (in my head) to some cracking tunes. There are also some lovely excerpts from Winnie the Pooh that really demonstrates the ethos of friendship.
Although I'm a little older than Jen and her friends, it really took me back to my own experiences of the millennium year and stepping foot into working life for the first time. It was both fun and scary and I think Ruth Gresty perfectly portrays this with the things that happen to Jen over the year. Yes she makes mistakes, but some things that happened weren't her fault and I was so angry (with the other party) when her naivety allowed her to be taken advantage of. It was just one more thing to paper over and forget it ever happened...but I hope things would be different nowadays.
It's a fantastic debut novel that is incredibly well written and the characters are so well developed I felt as if they were my own friends. There are some serious subjects covered but they are handled sensitively and lightened somewhat by Ruth Gresty's sparkling wit. I could totally see Paper Over It being made into a sitcom or mini series and I would certainly be adding it to my watchlist.
Incredibly nostalgic, entertaining and amusing, Paper Over It is a sharp and witty novel that I wouldn't hesitate to recommend to readers of all genres. It's a fabulous read and a stunning debut novel; Ruth Gresty is certainly one to watch and I'm looking forward to seeing what she writes next.
I received a gifted paperback for the blog tour and this is my honest and unbiased opinion.
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About the author:
Ruth has worked in Marketing for twenty-seven years and has always loved writing and storytelling. Understanding people and their behaviour, creating stories that resonate and developing engaging and enduring narratives have all been key to success in her professional background.
From a personal perspective, Ruth is a Manchester born, bred and based menopausal mum of three boys (twelve, fifteen and twenty seven). She spends most of her weekends trying to manage the family mayhem with her partner Simon and watching their younger boys on the sideline of various sports pitches hunting for a loo (occasionally having to resort to a wild wee), a sausage sandwich and a brew while trying to keep warm in doubled-up big socks (mainly stolen from the males in her house) and multiple layers (having had it drilled into her since childhood that it is the number of layers that count, not the thickness of each layer - the complete opposite of friendships).
A nasty accident on Good (Bad) Friday in 2024 meant she spent several months sat on her arse with one leg having to be perpetually higher than said arse. As an energetic, self-confessed curator of chaos, she needed something to focus on and keep her from going frankly crazy. And keep her family from going crazy too. She found that you can’t do much when you're in acute pain with one leg in the air (including the jigsaws and ‘paint by numbers’ well-wishers had kindly gifted her). But you can read, reflect, think and you can definitely reminisce and daydream. And you can write. Which is what she did.
Her debut novel, Paper Over It, combines her sometimes over-enthusiastic imagination with insights gained from growing up in the 80s and becoming a young mum in the late 90s, her silent struggle with eating disorders in her earlier years, the power of some relationships and the destructive nature of others, and the joy of family, friendship, loyalty, hope and laughter.
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