Five Hundred Miles From You by Jenny Colgan

Lissa loves her job as a nurse, but recently she's been doing a better job of looking after other people than looking after herself. After a traumatic incident at work leaves her feeling overwhelmed, she agrees to swap lives with someone in a quiet village in Scotland.

Cormac is restless. Just out of the army, he's desperately in need of distraction, and there's precious little of it in Kirrinfief. Maybe three months in London is just what he needs.

As Lissa and Cormac warm to their new lives, emailing back and forth about anything and everything, finally things seem to be falling into place. But each of them feel there's still a piece missing. What - or who - could it be?

Jenny Colgan has always been one of my go to authors since she blew me away with one of my all time favourite books Meet me at the Cupcake Café and I trust in her writing so much that I jump at each new release of hers and dive into her books without even reading the synopsis.


Jenny Colgan’s new release Five Hundred Miles from You is another great read that follows two lead characters Lissa and Cormac who are both Nurse Practitioner Liaisons but work at opposite ends of the country. When Lissa witnessed a hit and run that had a drastic and traumatic effect on her it was put in place that the pair would job swap for three months giving Lissa the chance to work in a slower and calmer environment whilst allowing Cormac to challenge his skills in the hectic surroundings and sights of London.


We are reconnected with some much loved characters from The Bookshop on the Shore, Zoe and her family and the loveable Nina and her book van which was a lovely touch to be able to catch back up with these characters to see how their lives are progressing and they are definitely the kind of women Lissa needed around her at this difficult time in her life. Don’t be put off by reading this book if you haven’t read The Bookshop on the Shore as it is a complete stand alone, the author often weaves characters from previous novels into her storyline as her characters are so engaging, they are hard to just leave behind.


The storyline does touch on the importance of transplants and the thoughts behind them from both sides from making that decision to donate your loved one’s organs to the desperate hope on the other side of awaiting for a donor to come up to save a loved one.


The storyline highlights the different pace of life, the pros and cons between country and city life and we watch Lissa begin to unwind and see the beauty of living in the country but never quite sure if the appeal of the city will pull her back in.


I loved watching the connection between Lissa and Cormac grow and having the added little illustrations was a great touch provided by Cormac! My only little frustration in this novel was that we had a Lissa and a Larissa in this novel and it could be that I have only just got back into reading again recently but I found myself a couple of times confused thinking it was the same person.


This was a wonderful light read with short sharp chapters and a storyline that gripped me and characters that I found engaging.



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