One Plus One By Jojo Moyes

This is a road story about three plus one unlikely characters. There is Jess, a 20-something single mom, her maybe 12-year-old daughter, Tanzie and her teenage misfit stepson who was recently bullied. The plus one is Ed, a mid-30’s guy who Jess met when she cleaned his house in her job as a house cleaner and also drove him home one evening from the pub, where she works in the evening, after he drank too much. Tanzie is a math wizard who has the opportunity to win a scholarship plus expenses if she does well in the Math Olympiad in Scotland (They all live in England). Ed who is usually called Mr. Nicholls offers to drive Jess and family to Scotland after he sees them on the road when their car broke down on the way there. There is also a large droopy dog, Norman, who is along on this road trip so it is really three plus one plus one.

Jojo Moyes has a writing style that holds our attention with details of an interesting backstory about each person, which also shows their unique personality. We get insight into how the characters were developed. It turns out that they are all troubled. Jess and the kids all had difficult childhood experiences. Ed, while successful in business now has to deal with a recent personal relationship, which threatens to drastically change his life. They are all in the car, driving only 45 miles an hour on their way to Scotland because Tanzie gets sick when the car goes over that speed. As they putter along, their feelings unravel to the reader.

I believe that the magnetism that draws us to this book and makes you not want to put it down is that there always seems to be a glimmer of hope for each of them individually, as well as a group. But as exciting and hopeful as the story swings for them, there are circumstances, which challenge or devastate that hope. There is the wish for a fairytale ending but yet, it is a book about real life.

There is also great potential for this book as a movie with outstanding roles for in-depth character portrayals, which could even include some R-rated scenes. There is passion, love, poignancy, moral and ethical dilemmas. There is even an important role for a dog. But don’t wait for the movie, this will be a great read.