The Split by Laura Kay Review

Humorous, Healing, and Full of Heart

It’s incredibly difficult not to get drawn into a book when the strapline is “Ally’s relationship is over, and she’s taking the cat!”
Let’s face it, how many of us have had horrendous, heartbreaking, soul-destroying breakups and given into the temptation of acting like a petty, revengeful teenager? Well, if you have, this book will resonate with you; but deep down, it’s so much more than that. The Split, by Laura Kay, is a refreshingly different take on how to heal a broken heart.

Blurb:
Brutally dumped by her girlfriend, Ally is homeless, friendless and jobless…but at least she has Malcolm. Wounded and betrayed, Ally has made off with the one thing she thinks might soothe the pain: Emily’s cat.
After a long train journey she arrives home to her dad in Sheffield, ready to fold herself up in her duvet and remain on the sofa for the foreseeable. Her dad has other ideas. A phone call later, and Ally is reunited with her first ever beard and friend of old, Jeremy. He too is broken-hearted and living at home again.
In an inspired effort to hold each other up, the pair decide to sign up for the local half marathon in a bid to impress their exes with their commitment and athleticism.
Given neither of them can run, they enlist the support of athletic, not to mention beautiful Jo. But will she have them running for the hills…or will their ridiculous plan pay off?

Ally didn’t see it coming. Not at all. If she had, maybe she wouldn’t have quit her job, but then, being miserable in a job and getting dumped by the woman you love may well have been worse. But still, now Ally finds herself jobless, homeless, and heartbroken. But she won’t be leaving her life in London behind without taking something with her. The cat. Malcolm.

We’ve all done it, haven’t we? Done or said something to upset someone, taken revenge, but Ally hopes that taking the cat with her back to her father’s home in Sheffield might give her a bargaining chip to get Emily back. Or, at the very least give her company as she hides under the duvet back in her childhood home.

But Ally’s dad has other ideas. He is not ready for Ally to give up and suggests she meets up with her old childhood friend, Jeremy. Poor Jeremy is also back living with the parents after breaking up with his boyfriend. Although the pair were thrown together as teenagers due to their parents’ friendship, as adults, they are about to discover they have much more in common than they first thought, and a broken heart is just the start.

As Ally and Jeremy decide to run the local half marathon together (in a terrible attempt to impress their ex-partners) hilarity ensues.

The Split, by Laura Kay, is an incredibly touching, funny, and endearing story about healing from a broken heart. These gorgeously well-rounded and beautifully drawn characters pull you in and keep you captive. The humour is delicately placed and the heartbreak is real.

The Split is that beautiful RomCom that I would have loved to have read in my teens/twenties… a book that gives you hope that love isn’t dead and that heartbreak isn’t permanent.

..next time you come home from a bad date or want to drown yourself in ice-cream while watching Bridget Jones’s Diary on repeat – put the remote down and pick up The Split and wait for your pain find a home and your heart find a soul mate.

I debated whether I should highlight the LGBTQ+ angle of this book, and flip-flopped from one side to the other (because in this day and age, it shouldn’t even be something we need to discuss when talking about romance books) but I landed on the decision that actually it is a very important aspect of this book. Not because it ‘helps highlight issues’ – but because this is one of those incredible novels that leave you feeling ‘seen’ no matter who you are. It leaves you feeling as if you relate to the characters and connect with their heartbreak because when it comes to matters of the heart, it doesn’t matter if you are lesbian, gay, bi or straight – heartbreak is heartbreak no matter who you love. We all need time to heal. Many of us turn to friends to pick us up and reach for comfort food to fill the void, and many of us find ways to try and get their attention again. It doesn’t matter who you are, I defy you to read this book and not feel connected to these characters in some way. To watch these two friends navigate their new lives together is a joy and offers hope to all those who have lost love.

The Split is charming, it’s funny, it’s full of love, and pain, and healing.

So, next time you come home from a bad date or want to drown yourself in ice-cream while watching Bridget Jones Diary on repeat – put the remote down and pick up The Split and wait for your pain to find a home and your heart find a soul mate.

A fabulous book, one that will long reside in my heart.

Published by: Quercus Books
ISBN: 978-152940-981-9