The Beforelife of Eliza Valentine – Laura Pearson

Published By: Boldwood
Pages: 293
Released On: 20/09/2024

There are four of us: Samuel, Lucy, Thomas, and me – Eliza.

We came into being the day Becca Valentine was born. We’ve been by her side ever since. What she doesn’t know yet, is that one day she might become our mother.

Then two men come into her life. Both seeking her heart. And then we realise: everything rests on Becca’s love story. Because one of the men is Lucy and Thomas’s father. And the other is mine and Samuel’s. And there’s simply no way we can all be born.

We all want her to make the right choice. We all want to be born. To hold her hand one day. To feel her stroke our hair. To call her our mother.

Then we discover there is something we can do. We can change Fate. But we only have a single chance each. How would you make sure you were born? And what if doing that isn’t what’s best for the person you already love the most in the world – your mother? 

*****

Thanks to NetGalley and Boldwood for the advanced copy of this title in return for an honest review.

I believe this is Laura’s sixth book – the others being The Last List of Mabel Beaumont, The Day Shelley Woodhouse Woke Up, Nobody’s Wife, I Wanted You to Know, and Missing Pieces. This is the third I have read along with the first two in that list, but I also have the other three on my shelf. I am never disappointed with her books and know I am in for an absolute treat.

What I love about her books is they’re so unique. She creates worlds and stories that I read nowhere else and I think that’s such an achievement, because if we’re honest, most ideas have already been done, just with each author giving it their own spin, but I read things I only get from Laura’s work.

What is interesting is how Laura has managed to combine what are effectively fantasy characters and a sci-fi premise, with very real, relatable, everyday feelings and goings-on.

This one took me a little longer to get into than her others. Not because it was bad (I’m not sure Laura has the word “bad” in her vocabulary), but because the other’s I’ve read are rooted in reality, recognisable and familiar things that could happen to you or I. Whereas this one asks you to suspend belief a bit to believe what’s going on, and so I wasn’t expecting that, but it is really jolly good.

It’s about love – new, old, and lost – relationships, parenting, self-identity, loss, second chances, lost opportunities, friendships, family – related and those found. It’s so powerful. It’s so moving without being heart-breaking; it’s funny without being comedic; it’s beautiful without being corny. It’s the correct amount of everything.

Laura’s books…how do I put this…they read like she’s written them with so much love and kindness, like she truly cares for these characters and their lives as if they were her own children. She has a huge heart and she leaves a small slice of it in every book she writes, and it shows.

I am very much an advocate for reading the author notes at the end of the book and this is no exception. Laura has been open and honest as to how this book came about and what it meant to her, and that made it more beautiful.

It’s not an upsetting book, although there are some difficult upsetting bits, but I actually found the beauty (especially the last few lines – which I won’t spoil) the most moving thing about it.

Once again, Laura has created a stunning book and I will continue to collect and read them for as long as she writes them. As dramatic as it may sound, her books make for a better world in my opinion.