This week we are discussing The Flatshare by Beth O'Leary, Ch. 1-22.
Trigger Warning!!! This book contains situations and subjects related to: mental/emotional abuse and stalking.
Spoiler Warning!!! This post is full of spoilers for The Flatshare by Beth O'Leary.
Discussion:
Jacilyn: Hello friends and welcome to our first discussion of The Flatshare by Beth O'Leary.
I'll admit from the start that I feel a bit meh on Tiffy as a whole, and honestly the reason stems from an early passage where Tiffy is talking about Katherin. She says "She refuses to wear a bra even to this day, when bras have become quite comfortable and women have mostly given up on fighting the power because Beyoncé is doing it for us." I'm sorry, but bras are not comfortable and Beyoncé is not fighting the power for us. If current events tell us anything, it's that it's definitely not time for women to stop fighting the power with everything in them. But, I digress. Just having that in the back of my mind prevents me from finding her completely endearing. The stress baking and note-leaving, though? That I find both sweet and relatable.
Michaela: That line bothered me as well, but it felt like such a random thing to say, even for this character. It felt more like an author opinion than a character opinion to me because from how we see Tiffy talk the rest of this section it just feels off. Obviously could just be me. Mostly everything else about Tiffy makes her feel like a very real character, Leon as well. It’s been so weird and interesting reading not only two different characters' point of views but also two different writing styles for these character’s inner voices. Leon thinks in such a short and pointed way while Tiffy gives lots of detail. The stress baking is really cute and Leon feeling the need to cook in response is adorable. The notes back and forth also give me so much joy. I loved how Mr. Prior compared the notes to letters which is a very romantic thing and I totally see what he’s saying. This book really is such a fascinating idea for a love story, I feel like I can’t put it down.
Jacilyn: It took me a little bit to get used to Leon’s chapters, but I feel like the transition is getting smoother going from Tiffy’s thoughts to Leon’s. I love getting to see both sides of a romance bloom, just like in Something to Talk About and in another series I love called The Brown Sisters. It’s been really cool to learn about the other character through the notes as well. And, there’s just something about a love that blooms from the foundation of a friendship.
I have always loved notes and letters. I was the queen of note giving and receiving in school, from elementary through high school, and letters were kind of a way for some of my friends and I to continue the tradition after I inevitably moved away again…. While it lasted, anyways. The visuals of their entire flat just covered in sticky notes was such prime romcom content, too. The two of them are just so cute and I am so impatient for them to finally meet in person.
Their former significant others, however….. Can both fuck all the way off. The relationship between Tiffy and Justin was clearly dysfunctional and unhealthy, and I feel like he’s just a walking field of red flags flapping in the wind. It was awful to read about how Tiffy missed him, because obviously we can see what she doesn’t. And we can’t forget about Kay… controlling, judgemental, and I’m convinced she doesn’t have an empathetic bone in her body. Y’know, I can totally understand feeling upset about a partner not having a lot of time for them, but that just means that it’s not a compatible relationship. Leon cares so deeply about his job and all of his residents, and he’s great at what he does. How could you love someone and fault them for what makes them happy? Not to mention the fact that she thinks Richie is guilty and straight up resents Leon for the time he puts towards trying to free his WRONGFULLY CONVICTED BROTHER. I just do not believe that she loved Leon for who he was, she loved Leon for who she wanted him to be.
Michaela: Leon’s chapters were definitely different and a little hard for me to get used to but I’m getting there. Letters are such a romantic tradition and I love the modernization of it in this book with the post-its.
Literally the first note I wrote down about Kay says “Kay is very controlling a bitch” and Justin’s was “Justin is an abusive narcissist”. I am NOT a fan of either of these people. I totally agree about Kay not loving Leon for who he was. She wanted nothing to do with anything he found important. She understood he needed to work but did not care about his patients and forbade him from working weekends. She refused to believe in Richie and like you said resented Leon for spending time helping him. She also expected every moment of his off work hours to be spent with her and she even resented him for being tired after getting home from working a high stress job overnight. That is insanity, she’s absolutely horrible.
Justin is also horrible. The way he looked at Tiffy on the cruise was definitely not a “bedroom eye” look, it was a possessive look. As was his text, he clearly just enjoys controlling Tiffy. Disgusting. The more we learn about him the more I hate him. I'm so glad she has friends who see that and aren’t afraid to point these things out to her. It’s often incredibly hard to see the abuse and control someone has over you when you’re in a relationship like that because you’re constantly being told that all the issues are your fault, I don’t blame Tiffy for having a hard time with this. O’Leary has done a decent job showing how hard it is to accept something like that and also the slow discovery of memories that start to become clearer.
Already Tiffy and Leon have a better relationship than either of them had with their exes and they haven’t even met yet. Which let me say, that whole scene of Tiffy walking around the halls just missing him, my heart could not handle it! My heartbeat was going 500 beats a minute from the stress. Then everyone at the hospital knowing her name and thinking so highly of her, ugh my blackened soul started to see the light of day again because of it. Everyone clearly loves Leon so much and they’re finally seeing him be happy.
Jacilyn: Their workplaces are even collaborating, and they haven’t even met yet. I just love it, it’s all so sweet. Holly in particular is a favorite. When Leon got the call with bad news, I started crying because I really expected her to be dying. One of my favorite Leon passages is what he thinks after Richie asks if Holly is going to die “It’s difficult. People struggle to see it’s not about whether she’s going to die—palliative care isn’t just a place you go to slowly slip away. More people live and leave than die on our wards. It’s about being comfortable for the duration of something necessary and painful. Making bad times easier." What a lovely, hopeful way of looking at it. I imagine that doesn’t make it much easier when they lose people, but keeping that attitude probably makes it so much better for people like Mr. Prior and Holly.
Unsurprisingly, I really love Richie’s side plot we have going on. I’m really passionate about criminal justice reform, wrongful convictions and the laws and evidence involved; I spend a lot of my time reading and listening about those subjects, and I very firmly believe that if more people knew about the experiences of folks who have experienced wrongful convictions and incarceration in general, that we could start gaining more momentum in the fight towards creating truly safe communities. I say all that to explain how happy I am to have come across this storyline in one of our books - it’s just one way to spread the word. I am definitely no expert in British law, but I know enough about the system (shoutout Redhanded podcast) to recognize where it shares similar shortcomings to the US system. The building relationship between Tiffy and Richie is so enjoyable to watch unfold, and Leon seems to feel the same.
Michaela: Healthcare is such a hard job. For those who don’t know, I have worked in a few different hospitals and in particular an emergency room. I was only admissions staff so I did not care for patients beyond helping them with insurance but I watched families lose family members, my coworkers lose patients, and even my coworkers losing other coworkers. It is not an easy job and not emotionally easy either. In the emergency room you only know a patient for a few days at the very most but usually only maybe a couple hours, I can’t imagine how it would feel to lose a patient after caring for them in long term care like Leon does. The way he talks about his job shows what a beautiful person he is. He may struggle with personal relationships (as all his coworkers were so surprised he was going to live with someone) but he does not struggle with compassion and care. Not only does he care for his patients but he also goes beyond what is expected of him. He cares so deeply for Holly and Mr. Prior, that he’s the one they called to comfort her when they thought she was starting to fade and he is looking for Mr. Prior’s lost love.
Tiffy was so quick to accept Richie and hear his story, she immediately said she cannot judge him because she doesn’t know the whole story. That is a quality that not many people have. Then Tiffy reached out to her friend Gerty, who is a lawyer, to help if she could. Not only was Tiffy understanding but genuinely wanted to help. I can fully understand why Leon was so nervous to read Tiffy’s letter, his own significant other didn’t believe his brother and resented him for trying to help his brother. They will be a great trio together.
Jacilyn: I’m itching to keep reading so we can finally see Tiffy and Leon meet (hopefully!?!?!?) and where things go with Gerty and Richie’s case. Until next time, readers!
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