I Found You is Lisa Jewell’s fourteenth novel, which published in 2016, and it is both extremely mystifying and very well done. The novel follows three narratives throughout the story as the reader tries to figure out who this mysterious man is and why he ended up on a beach not remembering anything about himself, where he came from, or why he is alone on a beach in the pouring rain. The story is told from four perspectives: Alice, the mystery man that Alice’s daughter names Frank, and Lily (which are told in the present), and Gray, who is telling his story from 1993. It’s apparent that these people are somehow connected and Jewell does a wonderful job at not giving away anything as she navigates between these character’s narratives.
Each of the four narrators in I Found You are each so unique and Jewell does a wonderful job balancing the overall plot between the four of them while also finding a way to connect them all. Alice is the first person that the reader will learn about. Alice is a single mother with three kids and a herd of dogs. She has a big heart which has led her to some questionable decisions in her life, but Alice means well and is such a loving and caring person, even if she is a little scatterbrained. The reader will then learn about Frank who ends up on the beach outside of Alice’s house. Alice originally goes down to give Frank a jacket and to offer him a warm place to stay overnight. What was supposed to be a one night of kindness turns into Alice helping Frank recall what has happened to him.
Lily is the next character that the reader gets to learn about. She is a brash Ukrainian woman who has recently moved to the United Kingdom to live with her husband she has just married. When Lily’s husband doesn’t return home from work one evening, she heads out on a frantic search to find him. Lastly, the reader learns about Gray who is telling his story in 1993. Gray is a teenager who is on a family trip with his parents and sister. The reader learns that Gray’s sister Kirsty ends up dating a young man who is not who he seems. All of these characters have some kind of connection to one another and the reader slowly unravels that connection as the story progresses.
Jewell is a huge fan of writing stories from multiple perspectives and points-of-view. She never disappoints on creating unique and well thought out voice for each of her characters and for her stories in general as well. While it’s apparent that each of the characters in I Found You are connected on some level, Jewell keeps the reader guessing right up to the point where everything is revealed. Personally, this is my favourite of Lisa Jewell’s work so far.
I found the story to be incredibly engaging, the characters were fascinating to learn more about, and the mystery was filled with suspense and I was stumped on who this mystery man was until Jewell revealed his identity near the end. Readers will also notice that I Found You ends on a happier note that some of Jewell’s other novels don’t necessarily end on. It was really nice to read a mystery novel that has some happiness to it after a very sad story overall. The more that I read Jewell’s work, the more I like her. I cannot wait to read more of her novels and see what she comes up with next.
I Found You is available from Amazon, Book Depository, and other good book retailers.
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Synopsis | Goodreads
‘How long have you been sitting out here?’
‘I got here yesterday.’
‘Where did you come from?’
‘I have no idea.’
East Yorkshire: Single mum Alice Lake finds a man on the beach outside her house. He has no name, no jacket, no idea what he is doing there. Against her better judgement she invites him in to her home.
Surrey: Twenty-one-year-old Lily Monrose has only been married for three weeks. When her new husband fails to come home from work one night she is left stranded in a new country where she knows no one. Then the police tell her that her husband never existed.
Two women, twenty years of secrets and a man who can’t remember lie at the heart of Lisa Jewell’s brilliant new novel.
I have had this one my shelf forever.