Intriguing, fascinating and unique are just some of the descriptions that come to mind for this wonderful book. I expected a bit of magic from Keith Stuart, whose previous books I loved. And The Frequency of Us certainly delivered.
Laura, with her troubled past, has landed a job as a care assistant, and her project is to determine whether a particularly difficult old man can continue to live alone in his large old home. No-one else has managed to connect with Will, who’s cantankerous and disliked by his neighbours. He and Laura forge a relationship of sorts and, bizarrely, it turns out that their lives are actually intertwined.
Laura is the only one who believes that Will’s memories may be true, and not a sign of dementia. She becomes fascinated by his insistence that he fell in love and married Austrian Jewish émigré Elsa. As she delves into Will’s past, and researches Elsa, so she becomes aware of vibrations or frequencies in the old home, all pointing to the fact that Elsa did exist, despite there being no record of their love.
Set in beautiful Bath, the story moves between the present and the 1930s/40s. Will was a wireless radio expert in the days of vintage radio, and I loved how the radios formed such an integral part of the story. I adored vivacious, precocious Elsa, and her courtship of the shy, mild-mannered Will. Theirs was an extraordinarily beautiful love affair.
Spellbinding and original, The Frequency of Us is a tale of lost love, parallel universes, dislocation and belief.

Clever idea, but just too confusing and unbelievable for me. I would rather have explored ‘their’ story more, as I bet THAT would have been amazing. The timeline aspect just detracted from what could have been a beautiful love story.

Sweet, charming and gripping: The Frequency of Us is another brilliant novel from the author of A Boy Made of Blocks and Days of Wonder, both novels I hugely enjoyed.

The main character Laura, who is currently working as a care worker, has been assigned an elderly gentleman living on his own in Bath to assess and see if he can stay in his home despite showing signs of dementia. Laura had her fair share of problems and difficult times herself, but getting through to Will, the man to whom she is assigned, is certainly not an easy task.

We soon find out that the house Will is living in has plenty of memories which may mean his head is still stuck in the past. We wonder if the Elsa he speaks about is actually real, or a figment of his damaged memory?

Alongside the present day narrative, we are taken back to 1942, during the Second World War, as we see Will as a young man and his sweetheart Elsa. What follows is a poignant and heartbreaking story. Switching between the two timeframes allows us to find out much more about Will, and I love books that have dual timeframes in them – this is no exception! For me it adds an extra layer of richness to the story.

Laura is a likeable and interesting character. She has her own problems and feels realistic and well-rounded as a person. I think author Keith Stuart shows the effects of ill mental health in an honest, frank and fresh way because although we see how it has affected Laura, she is still not defined by this.

There are mysterious elements that feel like they can’t be happening but we’re never sure if it’s the effect of Laura’s state of mind or something else. I don’t want to give too much away but I found the two storylines captivating in their own ways and would have happily read a lot more.

It’s 1938 and wireless engineer Will’s life is turned upside down when he meets sophisticated Austrian refugee Elsa. However, when Will returns home from hospital following a WW2 bomb blast, he finds his (now wife) Elsa has vanished - along with all traces that she ever existed.

But love never dies and at 87, Will is still haunted by Elsa’s memory. A force tugs his carer Laura into the mystery, as she tries to overcome her own trauma. Can she piece together what happened and resolve the past - or is Will’s life based on a lie?

This is a sweet and gentle novel. It has an original premise - think Me Before You meets Atonement meets Stranger Things. Thank you to Little Brown Book group and NetGalley for the ARC.

I loved the two characters and admire the way ultimately the strands of the story are spun together. Unfortunately I was lost through a lot of it wondering what on earth was happening. Righted itself at the conclusion which wasn’t expected or what I was hoping for though.

The Frequency of Us is a beautifully written tale about love, friendship and hope. During the Second World War, Will and Elsa meet and fall in love. When a bomb hits their street, Will is taken to hospital with minor injuries. When he awakens and asks about Elsa, nobody can provide any information and nobody has any recollection of his wife’s existence.
In 2007, Laura becomes Will’s carer and is tasked with deciding if he is capable of looking after himself in his crumbling home. Laura is struggling with her own mental health issues, and when she begins to believe there may be some truth in Will’s story she questions her own sanity.
This is a truly original novel that provides perfect escapism from our current difficult times.

In the midst of the Second World War Will and Elsa meet and fall in love. However one fateful night a bomb explodes outside their house and when Will wakes up in hospital his first instinct to ask after his wife. However the hospital have no-one of that name and there is no record of him ever being married.

Present day and Laura had lost her way. Back home living with her mum is not where she thought be at her age. Maybe a new job as a carer will give her a purpose again. Having Will to look after certainly takes her mind off her own worries.

This is Keith Stuart's third novel and after loving the first two I was eager to start this one and I am delighted that The Frequency of Us has been picked up by Between the Covers book club. Boy made of Blocks is one of my all time favourites and in both of his previous books Stuart has pulled at the heartstrings with his intricately beautiful father and child relationships. This book is completely different in that the story follows two strangers linked through fate and I did take both Laura and Will into my heart and the way their relationship grew did touch me. However where this book fell down for me was the story as for the most part I had no idea what was going on and this meant that the further I progressed the connection I felt previously weakened. Then by the time things came together I felt it was too late and I had little interest in the pieces coming together. Maybe I had too high expectations for this book and I know authors can't keep just writing the same style all the time but this one was too out there for me.

The Frequency of Us by Keith Stuart is a little hard to pin down. The book has a dual timeline, with part of the story set in the current day and part set during World War II. In the past Will, a radio engineer working in Bath meets Elsa Klein, a young Austrian refugee and the couple fall in love. In the present day we are introduced to Laura, a social worker tasked with evaluating Will's competence and ability to continue living alone. Despite a somewhat tense beginning, a bond soon begins to form between the unlikely pair and she sets out to uncover the truth about Elsa, the love of Will's life, but a woman nobody else seems to believe is real.
To say anything about how the two timelines resolve into a single story would spoil the ending of the book, but I will say it was a unique premise and even though I didn't particularly like the ending, I did appreciate the author trying something different. The real strength of this book lies in the central characters, seeing curmudgeonly Will gradually thaw and open up to Laura, and seeing Laura recover her self confidence and start to take control of her life is what kept me interested in this book. I always admire this author's ability to create characters that the reader will care about. I also though the skill with which he balanced the two timelines was very impressive, I enjoyed both equally, which is rare, usually I find myself drawn to one side of a story more than the other. The pacing is good, the story moves along well and doesn't lag in the middle. As I said earlier, the ending was not my favorite thing about this book, but I enjoyed myself along the way.
I read and reviewed an ARC courtesy of NetGalley and the publisher, all opinions are my own.

The Frequency of Us is a beautiful book. It won my heart very early on by mentioning Gombrich the hero/saviour of any student of History of Art worth their salt. If that wasn’t good enough it then doubled down by using Noel Coward’s Some Day I’ll Find You as Will and Elsa’s song, already an all time favourite of mine, and now I have to listen to it on repeat silently weeping at it’s bittersweet beauty. So yeah I liked this book. It hits all my favourite things. Separated lovers, faulty time lines, wartime drama, Art Deco houses, cool rebel aunts, flawed but striving heroines and an unrequited closeted gay love subplot what is not to love.
Will is an absolute heartbreaker, young Will is so sweet and earnest in contrast to Old Will who has shut down and closed himself off so debilitated is he by his loss. Elsa and Will are opposites, they are Art and Science so when they come together the my create something wonderful. Stuart’s comparison of relationships to radio frequencies is beautiful. I will never listen to the radio in the same way again.

I’d like to thank Little, Brown Book Group UK and NetGalley for giving me the opportunity to read ‘The Frequency Of Us’ by Keith Stuart in exchange for my honest and unbiased review.

The story begins in 1942 as Bath is being bombed during World War II. Will Emerson and his wife Elsa Klein are running for the shelter and next thing he knows is waking in hospital. When he asks after Elsa Will’s told that Elsa doesn’t exist, he’s never been married and there’s nothing in his house belonging to her. The story then moves to 2007 when Will is a cantankerous old man in his 80s and Laura James who’s working for a home care agency is asked to visit Will to assess his needs for help from social services. On first sight they don’t hit it off and Laura’s surprised when Will phones and agrees to being assessed but only if they send Laura again. When they next meet they talk, Laura telling Will about her health and family problems, and Will tells Laura of how he first met Elsa and their experiences during the war.

‘The Frequency Of Us’ the title of which touches on Will’s love of old radios, is a romantic novel of love, mystery and intrigue with a touch of science fiction. The story is told through the eyes of Will and Laura with the timescale spanning from 1942 to 2007. I loved the characters of Will and Laura and the connection between them and although a bit slow at times I liked reading of Will’s experiences during the war and his relationship with Elsa. This is an enjoyable story that’s easy to read with an interesting plot and conclusion. Although I preferred ‘A Boy Made Of Blocks, it’s beautifully written and well worth reading.

A huge thanks to Net Galley and Little Brown Book Group UK for an ARC of this book in exchange for a review.
Another fabulous read from Keith Stuart, I just loved Will Emerson and like Laura his young carer, I desperately wanted to know the truth, was Elsa a fabricated memory, or had she been real, and Will’s great and only love::
The story starts in 1942, in Bath, with the road that Will & his wife Elsa lived on being bombed, Will is injured, he can’t remember what happened, he has been living his life in the past, scared to let go of his precious memories.
Laura comes into his life as a carer, her job is also to assess Will for social services, the question being, is he fit to remain in his own home, living alon?. Laura herself has been unwell with mental health issues and although at first she finds Will difficult, uncommunicative and set in his ways, they both start to talk a little and build a little trust. Laura patiently listens to Will’s stories from when he met his Elsa until the bombing, in turn she tells him a little about her own troubling issues with her father. Laura starts a timeline and is trying to piece together what happened to Will & Elsa.
I loved the history, the old radios and such an apt and powerful title.
A fabulous read from start to finish.

Having read Keith Stuart's earlier books I was really excited to receive an advanced reader copy of this book.

This book was not what I expected from reading the blurb. It started off well and certainly held my attention for the first two thirds of the book but then it started to drag a bit and I found myself skipping segments to find out what happened in the end and then I just felt a bit confused. I am not a fan of supernatural/sci-fi happenings in books and probably wouldn't have chosen this book had I known, but having said that I did like the characters of Will, Elsa and Laura and the wartime chapters.

I must stress I didn't hate the book but I didn't love it either, it was ok.

Plot - 4/5
The plot was very engaging. I cannot claim to know the scientific accuracy behind the concepts mentioned in this book (It's not very heavy, don't worry) but I liked the plot and the story. It made sense to me. It also served the purpose of feeding me a good, entertaining, heartwrenching, and satisfying story. Am good with that.

Pacing - 4.5/5
The pacing was excellent. I was thinking, like other historical fiction novels, this too will sag in the middle and pick up in the end. But I am surprised and happy to say that this book didn't have the lagging middle problem. The author has maintained an even and steady pacing throughout the story, like a good cup of coffee that's warm from the beginning to finish.

Characters - 4/5
I didn't get attached to any of the characters. I probably might even forget all about them by next week but I still found the characters to be very well thought out and written about. Especially the relationship between Laura & Will, Will & Elsa, and Laura and her mother were heartwarming, good models that let me sink slowly into the story.

Set-up - 4/5
I am not a huge set-up person. I couldn't care less for descriptions of places, monuments, etc. My brain generally just casually skips over any such descriptions, be it about people, places, architecture, or weather. I cannot be bothered to read it with any interest. So I cannot judge the set-up accurately in this case, but whatever was there in the book worked for me and was not overdone.

Writing - 4.5/5
Writing is very approachable and good. I didn't have any trouble following through the timelines nor did I find the characters' names or stories confusing. I am surprised I haven't read this author before. An author with excellent potential indeed.

Overall rating - 4.2

Objective Rating - Invest grade - Book worth buying and adding to your collection.
Subjective Rating - ⭐⭐⭐⭐

With thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for a digital arc of this book, all opinions expressed here are my own.

The Frequency of Us by Keith Stuart is the first book I have read by this author. I’m not sure what I expected, but this book of mystery, romance and maybe a little sci-fi was interesting at least.

Told from the dual perspectives of 80-something Will and 20-something Laura, we also alternate timelines between WWII and today. Will lost his wife Elsa during the German bombing of Bath...but no one else seems to realise she existed. Laura is a social worker left to decide if Will can continue to live alone, while battling her own issues and withdrawals from medication. Can they help each other find peace?

The story and the characters were well written, but unfortunately I didn’t feel a connection to them so I felt like it dragged in places. The twist left me feeling rather confused. This was an average three star read for me.

A lovely romance novel with some mystery set in WWII and present day - I loved the timeline!
The only thing lacking for me was it felt slow at times, however I fell in love with the characters!

In the Second World War, Bath, a young and naive wireless engineer, Will, meets German refugee Elsa Klein. She is sophisticated, witty and worldly. At last his life seems to make sense. But soon after, the newly married couple's house is is bombed, and Will awakes from the wreckage to find himself alone. But no one has heard of Elsa. They say he never married. Seventy years later, Laura is battling her way out of depression. Her new case is with Will to find out whether he is suffering fro dementia.

I quite like a story that mixes historical facts with fiction. This is one of these books that i don't want to say too much about as i don't want to spoil it for potential readers. The story spans two timelines, the present day and and during the war. This is another beautifully written novel. I do recommend this boo.

I would Like to thank #NetGalley, #LittleBrownBookGroupUK and the author #KeithStuart for my ARC of #TheFrequencyOfUs in exchange for an honest review.

I thought this was an amazing book. Not sure what I was expecting but this was captivating, and surprising and the characters were well fleshed out, the story was unlike anything I have ever read before, and the author was certainly not short on imagination. You do have to be able to suspend your disbelief when reading this book, but I am open to doing that and I loved this book. For me this was one of the best books i have read in a long time, and I have been lucky enough to read quite a few good books so far this year, I wouldn't be surprised if this was in my top 5 books at the end of the year. Fantastic book. I loved it.

Will Emerson is a young man living in Bath and working as radio engineer during world war 2. He is happily married to Elsa Klein until the day tragedy strikes and their home is bombed. Recovering in hospital Will asks about Elsa but no one knows who he is talking about. Many years later Laura is working as a care assistant and is asked to care for an elderly man in his home. The man appears to be suffering from dementia and keeps insisting he was once married and his wife vanished.

This story is told over duel timelines and I loved the way it panned out. This book started out great for me and I loved the story and the characters especially Will. I was totally loving the whole story but about three quarters way through I thought the story was beginning to drag a bit and I just wanted to get to the end. Overall though a good and enjoyable read 3.5⭐️

I loved the two timelines of the book and quickly grew to like Will. I had more trouble connecting to Laura. Her entire behavior around taking her medication made me dislike her. That improved when the character finally accepted her own situation.
I found the setting in Bath lovely, especially because of the descriptions of the city. The story is a great idea although the time traveling bit was not for me as there was absolutely no necessity for it, in my opinion.

I could foresee parts of the story, which isn’t ideal. But that didn’t take away from the joy of reading.

I have such mixed feelings about this book! It was not at all what I was expecting, but I loved the mystery element to the story. In this book, we follow Laura, a young woman dealing with anxiety and her childhood trauma, who has returned home to live with her mum and has just taken a job as a carer. As part of this job, she meets Will - a grumpy, elderly man still trying to uncover the mystery of Elsa, the Austrian refugee he fell in love with before she disappeared without a trace when Bath was bombed during WWII, who no one else remembers.

This is a perfectly enjoyable read, and I found the writing style quick and easy to read. The characters are really interesting to read about, and I felt really invested in both Laura's life and Will's story. There were a few different, slightly creepy moments that really kept me guessing as to what was going on, but I ultimately didn't love the conclusion - particularly how it pulled Laura's dad into the story and the impact of the conclusion on Laura's family. I would definitely recommend this book if enjoy multiple POVs and a real combination of different genres mixed together really well.