Photo courtesy of Penguin Books

Having never read Tess Hadley’s previous best-selling novels, Late in the Day to name one, I found her latest, Free Love: A Novel thoroughly entertaining. Set in late ‘60’s in London, a suburban family of four complacently exist before a young rebel is invited to dinner.  The consequence is alluring, alarming and life-changing for all.

Tess Hadley has a lovely writing voice, like a joyful lazy river ride displaying strong and passionate undercurrents. I relished the idea of how a change in a person’s environment can change his or her entire outlook and personality. Hadley also captures multiple generations’ perspectives with spot-on accuracy, both teenage lust and longing and the ironic mixture of both wisdom and confusion of those in midlife. 

The late 1960’s, rife with conflict and its subsequent emerging novelty, seem to be a popular culture to explore given its parallelism to our current world experience. Hence, like Franzen’s Crossroads, Hadley’s Free Love is a less intense, but satisfying look at human nature.

Free Love, A Novel comes out February 1, 2022 and can be purchased in person at BookStoreOne Sarasota or ordered from their online store at sarasotabooks.com/shop 

Photo courtesy of Penguin Books