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500 Miles from You
500 Miles from You
A Novel
by Jenny Colgan
New York Times bestselling author Jenny Colgan returns to the beloved Scottish Highland town of Kirrinfief, which readers first met in The Bookshop on the Shore, and adds a dash of London's bustling urban landscape.
Lissie, is a nurse in a gritty, hectic London neighborhood. Always terribly competent and good at keeping it all together, she's been suffering quietly with PTSD after helping to save the victim of a shocking crime. Her supervisor quietly arranges for Lissie to spend a few months doing a much less demanding job in the little town of Kirrinfeif in Scottish Highlands, hoping that the change of scenery will help her heal. Lissie will be swapping places with Cormack, an Army veteran who's Kirrinfeif's easygoing nurse/paramedic/all-purpose medical man. Lissie's never experienced small-town life, and Cormack's never spent more than a day in a big city, but it seems like a swap that would do them both some good.
In London, the gentle Cormack is a fish out of the water; in Kirrinfief, the dynamic Lissie finds it hard to adjust to the quiet. But these two strangers are now in constant contact, taking over each other's patients, endlessly emailing about anything and everything. Lissie and Cormack discover a new depth of feeling...for their profession and for each other.
But what will happen when Lissie and Cormack finally meet...?
New York Times bestselling author Jenny Colgan returns to the beloved Scottish Highland town of Kirrinfief, which readers first met in The Bookshop on the Shore, and adds a dash of London's bustling urban landscape.
Lissie, is a nurse in a gritty, hectic London neighborhood. Always terribly competent and good at keeping it all together, she's been suffering quietly with PTSD after helping to save the victim of a shocking crime. Her supervisor quietly arranges for Lissie to spend a few months doing a much less demanding job in the little town of Kirrinfeif in Scottish Highlands, hoping that the change of scenery will help her heal. Lissie will be swapping places with Cormack, an Army veteran who's Kirrinfeif's easygoing nurse/paramedic/all-purpose medical man. Lissie's never experienced small-town life, and Cormack's never spent more than a day in a big city, but it seems like a swap that would do them both some good.
In London, the gentle Cormack is a fish out of the water; in Kirrinfief, the dynamic Lissie finds it hard to adjust to the quiet. But these two strangers are now in constant contact, taking over each other's patients, endlessly emailing about anything and everything. Lissie and Cormack discover a new depth of feeling...for their profession and for each other.
But what will happen when Lissie and Cormack finally meet...?
Reviews-
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April 1, 2020
After witnessing a devastating vehicular homicide in London, Lissa Westcott temporarily swaps jobs with a nurse in the Scottish Highlands, where fresh air and charming locals begin to heal her PTSD. A nurse practitioner liaison for the National Health Service, Lissa is well versed in the complexities of home visits to people unwilling or unable to participate in the conventional care of hospitals and personal physicians. From impoverished diabetics hiding chocolate bars in their sofa cushions to wealthy drug addicts with gaping, self-inflicted wounds, she's learned to harden her heart, keep her head down, and just get the job done. Up in Kirrinfief, Cormac MacPherson may have the same job title, but his caseload takes him past a blissful field of bluebells with lovely Loch Ness in the distance. Of course everyone in town knows his business, and it feels like one big family, but he is eager to see what life in London is like for three months. Colgan deftly switches between Lissa's and Cormac's experiences, and while Cormac endures hot weather and expensive bars, not to mention the attentions of Kim-Ange, Lissa's dramatic best friend, Lissa meets a collection of characters from Colgan's previous novels (including Nina and Lennox from The Bookshop on the Corner), in which other lovely lasses beset by the troubles of the modern world find peace and love in a magical Brigadoon. Predictably yet charmingly, Lissa and Cormac begin to form an intimate bond across the 500 miles separating them, and of course this bond is destined: The heart of the boy Lissa witnessed dying is transplanted into Islay, one of Cormac's young patients. By the time Lissa returns to London to testify at the inquest, love has blossomed. A bright, lighthearted romantic comedy ready for filming.COPYRIGHT(2020) Kirkus Reviews, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.
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April 6, 2020
Strangers trade lives in this endearing romance from Colgan (The Bookshop on the Shore), which will remind rom-com aficionados of the film The Holiday. London nurse Lissa Westcott witnesses a teenage boy getting run over by a car and is part of the failed effort to save his life. After the tragedy, she suffers from PTSD, leading her superiors to arrange for her to swap jobs with a nurse in the quiet town of Kirrinfief, Scotland, as a break from stressful London life. Meanwhile, nurse Cormac MacPherson travels from Kirrinfief to cover Lissa’s patients in London. As both adjust to the charms and quirks of life in a small town and big city, they exchange notes on patients via email. Soon their correspondence becomes more personal than professional as they forge a powerful bond. Their long-distance relationship is sweet but slow as the medical drama and contrasting settings take center stage, but their eventual face-to-face meeting is worth the wait. This cute, cozy story will draw readers in. Agent: Deborah Schneider, ICM. -
Sophie Kinsella
Praise for The Endless Beach:
“Total joy.” - Meg Donohue "A bright, lighthearted romantic comedy ready for filming."
