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Katie Allen
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Everything Happens for a Reason Kindle Edition

by Katie Allen (Author) Format: Kindle Edition
3.5 3.5 out of 5 stars 112 ratings
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When Rachel's baby is stillborn, she becomes obsessed with the idea that saving a stranger's life months earlier is to blame. An unforgettable, heart-wrenching, warm and funny debut...

'Emotionally engaging, witty, clever and wonderfully satisfying' Daily Express

'A stunning debut ... a wise, moving, and thought-provoking novel' Susan Elliot Wright, author of The Flight of Cornelia Blackwood

'A heartbreaking, deeply moving and wonderfully witty tale, which celebrates all it means to be human' Isabelle Broom, author of The Getaway

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Mum-to-be Rachel did everything right, but it all went wrong. Her son, Luke, was stillborn and she finds herself on maternity leave without a baby, trying to make sense of her loss.

When a misguided well-wisher tells her that "everything happens for a reason", she becomes obsessed with finding that reason, driven by grief and convinced that she is somehow to blame. She remembers that on the day she discovered her pregnancy, she'd stopped a man from jumping in front of a train, and she's now certain that saving his life cost her the life of her son.

Desperate to find him, she enlists an unlikely ally in Lola, an Underground worker, and Lola's seven-year-old daughter, Josephine, and eventually tracks him down, with completely unexpected results...

Both a heart-wrenchingly poignant portrait of grief and a gloriously uplifting and disarmingly funny story of a young woman's determination, Everything Happens for a Reason is a bittersweet, life- affirming read and, quite simply, unforgettable.

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'A beautiful novel, bursting with raw emotional honesty and authenticity' Gill Paul, author of The Secret Wife

'So affecting. Profoundly sad. Funny. I just loved it' Louise Beech, author of This Is How We Are Human

'Darkly funny, yet poignant and moving ... Rachel's quest to find out if everything happens for a reason is both heartbreaking and heartwarming' Anna Bell, author of In Case You Missed It

'Some books teach you, others touch your soul, then there are books like this one that bury deep and create a home in your heart' Emma-Claire Wilson, Glass House Magazine

'A triumph ... a book of hope and ambition and making sense of the world, a tale of acting spontaneously, living in the moment and throwing caution to the wind' Isabella May, author of Oh! What a Pavlova

'An incredibly important and beautifully written book. Bittersweet and brave, it will keep you both laughing and crying until the last page' Kate Ford, actress, Coronation Street

'The perfect mix of clever, funny and intensely moving' Cari Rosen, author of Secret Diary of a New Mum Aged 43 ¼

'A heart-wrenching, soul-lifting read about loss and redemption in unlikely places' Eve Smith, author of The Waiting Rooms

'Read it and weep but also, incredibly, find moments to laugh and to know there is life after death' Julia Hobsbawm, author of The Simplicity Principle

'Simultaneously devastating and hilarious' Clare Allan, author of Poppy Shakespeare

'A memorable, poetic read ... The writing reminded me of Eleanor Oliphant' Becky Fleetwood, author of the Chroma series

‘Quirky yet insightful, bright yet wistful, amusing yet emotional … full of contradictions that fuse into the most surprising, moving, and beautiful novel’ LoveReading

For fans of Jonas Jonasson, Matt Haig, Graeme Simsion and Rachel Joyce.

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  1. Print length
    351 pages
  2. Language
    English
  3. Sticky notes
    On Kindle Scribe
  4. Publisher
    Orenda Books
  5. Publication date
    April 10 2021
  6. File size
    2379 KB
  7. Page Flip
    Enabled
  8. Word Wise
    Enabled
  9. Enhanced typesetting
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From the Publisher

Everything Happens for a Reason
Everything Happens for a Reason

Everything Happens for a Reason

Everything Happens for a Reason

Everything Happens for a Reason

Everything Happens for a Reason
Everything Happens for a Reason

Product description

Review

"Witty, clever and wonderfully satisfying, this novel packs an intense emotional punch and it completely captured my heart." —Daily Express S Magazine

About the Author

Everything Happens for a Reason is Katie Allen's first novel. She used to be a journalist and columnist at the Guardian and Observer, and started her career as a Reuters correspondent in Berlin and London. The events in Everything Happens for a Reason are fiction, but the premise is loosely autobiographical. Katie’s son, Finn, was stillborn in 2010, and her character’s experience of grief and being on maternity leave without a baby is based on her own. And yes, someone did say to her ‘Everything happens for a reason’.
 

Product details

  • ASIN ‏ : ‎ B08NXT6WPK
  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ Orenda Books (April 10 2021)
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • File size ‏ : ‎ 2379 KB
  • Text-to-Speech ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • Screen Reader ‏ : ‎ Supported
  • Enhanced typesetting ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • X-Ray ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • Word Wise ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • Sticky notes ‏ : ‎ On Kindle Scribe
  • Print length ‏ : ‎ 351 pages
  • Customer Reviews:
    3.5 3.5 out of 5 stars 112 ratings

About the author

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Katie Allen

Katie Allen

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Katie grew up in Warwickshire and now lives in South London with her husband, children, dog, cat and stick insects. Her first novel, Everything Happens for a Reason was published in 2021 and praised for its mix of humour, honesty and raw emotion. Her second book, Happy is the One, will be published in January 2025.

Katie writes fiction with autobiographical elements that touch on experiences many of us share and grapple with at some stage. Her upcoming novel draws on the challenges of caring for a sick parent and coming to terms with childhood losses. Her first novel drew on her experience of stillbirth - a topic she hopes to bring out of the shadows. Katie's son, Finn, was stillborn in 2010, and her grief and the experience of being on maternity leave without a baby inspired her main character in Everything Happens for a Reason. And yes, someone did say to her “Everything happens for a reason”, driving her to distraction but ultimately fuelling this novel.

Katie used to be a reporter and columnist at the Guardian and Observer, and started her career as a Reuters correspondent in Berlin and London.

When she's not writing or walking children and dogs, she loves baking, watching comedies, reading news and wishing she had written other people’s brilliant novels. She also loves quiz shows and forcing friends to do quizzes and she wastes hours meandering on the web - but she put that to some use by appearing on the TV show Pointless with her brother Nic.

If you like ginger cats and/or vain dogs you can follow Katie's pets on Instagram (monkey_and_miko).

Customer reviews

3.5 out of 5 stars
3.5 out of 5
112 global ratings

Top reviews from Canada

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Top reviews from other countries

Penny
5.0 out of 5 stars Lively, original and moving
Reviewed in the United States on April 1, 2022
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I loved several things about this book, including how original it is. It's not only the format—Rachel writes emails to her stillborn son, Luke—but also the tone and plot. I can't remember ever reading a book that deals with such a difficult subject with such poignant humour. Rachel is funny but never once did I doubt her grief. There are some great characters, particularly Josephine and the dogs, and I was convinced by the continuous chaos of Rachel's life as she desperately tries to make sense of Luke's death. It's a lively read and moves quickly between scenes and emotions, which gave me a good sense of Rachel's thoughts as she tried to process her loss. I thoroughly enjoy it.
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Amazon Customer
5.0 out of 5 stars Wonderful
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on April 8, 2022
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This is a wonderful book. Yes it's sad in places, which I'm not usually looking for, but it's also heartwarming and funny throughout and that's what stayed with me. The topic is a difficult one but it only looks at the aftermath, and we need more books that explore this. The main character feels human and real. It's very readable, enjoyable and relatable. I couldn't put it down.
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Kindle Customer
5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent book
Reviewed in Australia on February 21, 2022
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This was a very good read. I struggled a little at the beginning but am so glad I stuck with it. Apart from being the expected story of a mother dealing with a tragic loss there's also a strong impacting message about social media and how it's misuse can destroy lives. Everyone should read this engrossing story.
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JenMedBookLover
4.0 out of 5 stars Moving, poignant witty and honest story of coping with loss.
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on April 10, 2021
Verified Purchase
I have to be honest. I think I'm going to find it hard to write this review, and it might not be very long. Not because I didn't enjoy the book, far from it, I almost don't feel as though I am in a position to really pass comment. Like I'm not qualified, reading this as a voyeur and not from a position of real empathy. I've never experienced this kind of loss. In fact, with perhaps only a couple of exceptions, I haven't been in a position where I have lost any one who I was so close to that the loss becomes all consuming. Because that is, in essence, what this book is all about. The profound sense of grief that Rachel feels that pushes to to find meaning in her loss and to seek out the person whose life she believes she may have traded fo that of her son, Luke's.



And that, in a very small nutshell, is the premise of this book. That need to understand the incomprehensible. That almost superstitious belief of Rachel's that in saving a life, she had sealed the fate of her unborn child. It is unclear to begin with if she truly believes this or if it isn;t just the act of clinging to a hope that, as the title of the book suggests, everything does, indeed, happen for a reason, and that some greater purpose was achieved that fateful day. The book follows Rachel's search for the mystery man with a blend of humour, self recrimination and an occasional touch of melancholy, highlighting Rachel's struggles with everything, including her marriage, in the wake of their loss. Her loss.



The styling for this book is quite creative, Rachel narrating her story through a series of emails which are addressed to Luke. Now to begin with this seems a little quirky, but it works perfectly for this book. Because the length of the emails can vary, the pacing ebbs and flows as the story requires and the abrupt flow really makes this feel like a proper stream of consciousness from Rachel as she navigates the difficult months of her non-maternal maternity leave. It does mean that all scenes are told from Rachel's point of view, a kind of alternative first person narrative, in which converations are recalled memories rather than live scenes, but by using this technique, Katie Allen really is taking us deep into the mind of her character. Nothing is off limits, Rachel's honesty, both upbeat and heartbreaking as it can be, has an authenticity which is enriched by the author's own experience. 



Although Rachel is first and foremost in our minds, there are a varied cast of characters who float in and out of her world. Her mother, her husband, the man whose life she saved, Lola, the woman who helped track him down, and her daughter, Josephine, whose lack of filter makes for some very refreshing and often more light-hearted moments in the story. We get to know them all, but a step removed, only really from how Rachel perceives them, or at least explains them to Luke, so whilst they inform the story, it really is not about them. And then there is Rachel's family - both immediate and extended. There were times when Rachel drove me a little crazy, when you can understand why the family might expect her to 'move on' and 'get over it,' but then they are contrasted with the moments of crass and overwhelming insensitivity that her family display, when I was left so angry on Rachel's behalf, it was unbelievable. 



I know I haven't really done the book justice in this review. It is, in essence, the story of one woman's expression of grief. It is honest, uncompromising, a list of all the things that Rachel would say to Luke should he have lived. The marking of his milestones. The emptiness of loss she experiences. The quest for answers the universe cannot give, and the toll it takes on her relationships. It is both witty and it is emotional. It illustrates moments of hope and moments of despair. It is a book which lingers in the mind, and one which many will be able to empathise with. And I think, for those like Rachel who have experienced this impossible loss, the death of a loved one, the loss of a child, it probably says all of the things that they want and need to say, stating loud and clear to everyone that there really is no 'right' way to grieve. It is a unique take on a difficult subject and one I think will receive plenty of well deserved praise. Be prepared for an emotional journey.
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monica
1.0 out of 5 stars boring
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on December 28, 2021
Verified Purchase
It’s quite a boring book - however, it may be helpful for people who are going thought a similar situation presented In This book. The layout of this book is weird. Not recommended.
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