Perfect is Rachel Joyce's follow up to her very successful debut novel The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry, I was interested to see what her second book would be like so was pleased when I was able to get a review copy from Netgalley.
The book starts in 1972, a boy named Byron finds out that 2 seconds are being added to time and when an accident happens while his Mum is driving him and his sister to school he believes the extra time is to blame and becomes obsessed. He talks to his friend James about this and together they come up with operation Perfect to try and get to the truth.
The chapters alternate between then and now where Jim, in his fifties, lives in a van and works in a supermarket cafe cleaning tables. He has suffered with mental health issues and has OCD, he has a strict routine he needs to carry out inside his van, sealing it up with duct tape and saying hello to inanimate objects.
The book is wonderfully written, the characters all believable and parts of it are heartbreaking. I loved the relationship between Byron and his Mum and also Jim and his work colleagues who help him. There are also some funny moments such as when Jim's boss has been on a training course and comes back saying they need to hug and tell each other how they feel about their work mates.
Overall a great read and in my opinion even better than The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry, I eagerly await her third novel.
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