I really enjoyed this story, beautifully written and original. Set during the Second World War, a chance meeting and a romance blossoms…or did it? Heartbreaking and uplifting; you won’t be disappointed.

The Frequency of Us by Keith Stuart Narrated by: Katy Sobey, Elliot Chapman was a beautifully written love story that spans a lifetime and the love that two people have that can never be forgotten or lost. This book is based in WW2 in 1942, in Bath, a young, naïve wireless engineer called Will meets German refugee called Elsa Klein: who is she very sophisticated, witty and worldly, Finally, at last Will's life seems to make sense. They both soon fall in love and get married. Sadly their new marital home is bombed, Will awakes from the wreckage injured to find himself alone.

No Elsa by his side.

Where is she?

Strangely No one has heard of Elsa Klein. People who know Will say he has never been married! He has never been with anyone! He has always been on his own!

Many Years passed Still no Elsa. But she is still in Will's heart and thinks of her every day. Seventy years now he is alone on this world and he meets Laura who is a social worker and is battling her way out of depression and anxiety and is off her medication. She has a new case and its for a strange, isolated old lonely man whose house hasn't changed since the war. He sits there waiting for his wife to come back to him and he still insists his wife vanished many, many years before, when he was an handsome young man.

Everyone thinks he know say's he's suffering dementia. But, he is?

Laura begins to suspect otherwise and starts to get to know Will.

This audiobook was excellent and I loved it! The narrator was 5 stars and read it beautifully and I loved it. All of Keith's books I have read or listened to have been a 5 star read/review

Big Thank you to NetGalley, Little Brown Book Group UK and the author Keith Stuart for my ARC of The Frequency Of Us in exchange for an honest review.

Enjoyed this listen, modern and fun, heartwarming.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publishers for letting me access an advance copy of this audiobook in exchange for my honest feedback.

Love love love KEITH Stuart books and this one again didn't disappoint. Definitely little different but amazing, characters were great and you could definitely get so involved I their lives. Great narration too

Another great book by Keith Stuart.
This is the third book I've read by Keith Stuart and it certainly lived up to his previous form. It was beautifully written and although a little far fetched at times, it took me with it the whole way.
It's a dual time line, split between the present day and WWII, centred around the bombing of Bath. Both were well done but I think I marginally favoured the descriptions of the past.

Both the main characters are struggling with life. Laura has dropped out of university and is haunted by her fear of bumping into her father who had ruined her childhood. Will still mourns the loss of his one great love, six decades previously. Laura becomes Will's carer, tasked with the job of deciding whether he is capable of living alone or whether he should be taken into care. He's a great character, but Laura is a good match for him.

The book is a wonderful mix of humour and emotion, along with a bit of detective work as Laura tries to piece together Will's past. Did the love of his life really exist, or is it all part of the onset of dementia?

I listened to the excellent narration by both Elliot Chapman (Will) and Katy Sobey (Laura), which really brought the story to life.
Recommended.

There are books that are at times an absolute joy to listen on the audiobook format!

The Frequency of Us was one such book for me - told in dual PoV; past and present - it was an intriguing plot with captivating characters until the climax.

We get alternate timelines - One of the past of Will, whose memories of WWII is somehow very different from what others around him know to be true, especially when it comes to his wife.

Laura, in her 20s, is trying to get back on her feet, after a traumatic experience- and her path crosses with that of Will’s; now in his 80s.

Laura seems to be the only person who seems to believe Will’s version of his past - and it takes her on a quest to understand the small anomalies that seems to crop out.

Like I said at the start, I so enjoyed the audiobook of this book until the climax - the climax was over the top and the introduction of a character at this time somehow made the whole plot seem.. off.

The Frequency Of Us by Keith Stuart is a fascinating read and it kept me engrossed with the storyline of the Second World War and the preset day. There is the story of Will and Elsa who meet in Bath in the Second World War and then many years later, we have Laura’s story. It is a fascinating story about frequencies and time and different lives we could have led, if only.
Highly recommended

A lovely story of two lost souls, who are thrown together. Laura is a social worker who is sent to see Will, unexpectedly he lets her in and slowly a friendship starts to grow as Laura looks further into Will past.
Elsa was a lady from Wills past but no one remembers her, is Will suffering dementia? Does Laura help Will to uncover his past?
A couple of u expected twists in the story which makes you wonder what else can be uncovered.

I’d like to take a minute to thank the publishers and netgalley for a copy of this in exchange of an honest review.

TW: anxiety and panic attacks

Frequency follows the story of Will and Laura. Seventy years ago wills wife went missing, and now no one believes him that she ever existed. Laura suffers with terrible anxiety and panic attacks and is tasked with assessing if Will is mentally unwell or telling the truth. She becomes determined to help him.

I’m going to give some trigger warnings because if you also have terrible anxiety like me, though these scenes are very well written it did also make ME super anxious as a result. I sometimes had to put the book down.

Ultimately it’s a very slow book and didn’t really hold my attention enough to want to continue with it. While elements of a mystery are awesome it just didn’t hook me enough. I also kind of expected radios to play a bigger part but it seemed almost secondary.

I first had a digital copy of this book, then I got a chance to listen to it on audio. This is almost always welcome since it means that it can cut the line and move forward of the books I have pending to read since I can listen to it on the move and when doing my groceries. This story was narrated slowly, and although I heard it at 1.5x, I could still feel the characters' dignity.
The story does not go the way of normal historical fiction, and the element that makes it different may seem jarring for a few, especially since it is quite unexpected. I really enjoyed another of this author's books, so I was looking forward to this. There is no similarity between this work and the Boy made of blocks except for how the emotions/despair of people seeps through.
We have an unlikely pair of friends whose paths cross unexpectedly. We have Laura, a nervous wreck and Will, a grumpy old man lost in the confusion that is his life. Laura sets out trying to unravel the past but comes away with more than she bargained for. I thought parts of it could have been trimmed for better effect since Laura's research into the past seemed to take too long, given the length of the work. The past is narrated by Will Emerson as he remembers it, and it was a good way to simultaneously see the younger and the present versions of the same man, given the way that time has treated him. The explanation of the twist seemed reasonable enough, I did not expect to be convinced by it, but I was.
The lesser said about the actual plotline, the better, especially since the story is revealed to maximize any possible secrets in the narrative. Finally, I have to say I would pick up another book by the author given a chance.
I received an ARC thanks to NetGalley and the publishers, but the review is entirely based on my own listening experience.

An upbeat, life-affirming book - a lovely spring pick-me-up.

I didn’t love the time-travelling element as I was hoping there was a more grounded reason for Elsa’s disappearance. Nevertheless the redemptive storyline was still intriguing and I liked the ending.

I loved this audiobook which I read on commute and in spare time to find out what was happening in Will’s life.
Will tells his life story, how he met and fell in love with Elsa, and how they were separated during a bombing in Bath during WWII. Whether Will is insane, suffering from dementia, or a deeper problem is slowly unravelled in this delightful story. Laura is given the opportunity to care for the aged Will and see if he is fit to live alone or if her should be moved to a care home.
Laura’s troubled past adds another layer to this beautiful story.
Where is Elsa? What happened to her? Was she ever real?
A great read.
Thanks to #NetGelley for the opportunity to listen to this audiobook in exchange for an honest review

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.

This was a beautifully crafted novel. I loved the character of Will and trying to piece together the mystery that surrounds him. The character of Laura was so well written, I could really imagine myself in her shoes.

I've been so lucky to listen to wonderful audiobooks just lately, and this is one of them.

It is set in Bristol during the second world war, and when a bomb goes off in his street, Will's life changes for ever. Before the bomb she had a wife that what was his whole world, and when he comes out of hospital he is told that she never existed , and they all think he is deluded.

The book, takes this story through to the present day, when an elderly Will is assessed by a young carer. Their lives become entwined in ways you could never imagine, as they hunt for Will's wife Elsa.

It is a beautiful story of love and loyalty across time and space, and although the ending requires you to suspend your belief for a while, it is certainly worth doing , to embrace the story.

The narration was sensitively done, capturing the wonderful story, and making me become completely obsessed with what was going to happen.

This is book that will stay with me for a long time.

The best time-hopping book I've read. It was executed so well and I loved this so much, the only thing that let it down was a slightly rushed and unnecessary ending, but the rest of it was simply enthralling.

I would recommend it to anyone wanting some adventure, a little romance and some believable escapism.

I was lucky enough to get an advanced audio copy to listen to through Netgalley, and the narration was excellent!

During the WWII in Bath, a young engineer, Will, meets the German refugee Elsa Klein. She is stunning, sophisticated and witty. Finally after meeting her, Will’s life start having a purpose. But soon after they decide to live together, their house is bombed and Will awakes from the wreckage alone and confused.
In the meanwhile seventy years later, Laura is battling her way out of depression. And now she has a new assignment at work, she has to take care of Will and find out if he is suffering with dementia.

I love dual timeline stories so this was a really pleasant audiobook to listen to.
Will, Elsa and Laura are extremely likeable characters, and I particularly sympathised with Laura as she tries to help Will make sense of his memories while struggling with her own skeletons.
Definitely this book made me want to go back to Bath and visit all the cultural places that were mentioned.

If you enjoy reading books set in WWII then this is the perfect pick.

Thank you NetGalley & Hachette Audio for the free audiobook.

With thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for an audio 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?

Both narrators did a great job, though for some reason the female voice seemed to echo for me. But it was an enjoyable listen.

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.

This story was a joy.

Keith Stuart is back with another excellent heartrending novel.

We are told the story from a dual time line starting in WW2. The story is very cleverly plotted out and constantly kept me guessing what would happen next.

The book touches on love, loss, mental health and memories.

I’d definitely recommend this book. I found myself really caring how Will and Laura’s stories ended up.

This was the first audiobook I’ve ever listened to! I thought that the narrators Elliot Chapman and Katy Sobey did a wonderful job.

Thank you to Hachette UK Audio and Netgalley for sending me an audio ARC of this book in exchange for my honest review.

I was not expecting the plot twist in this book. I was really gripped by this story, a young women, struggling herself, offering support to an old man in need. The war, love and loss all twisted in to the story. But the mystery of the story was such a surprise. I won’t ruin it, but I didn’t see it coming. I really enjoyed listening to this as an audio book- great natation, brought the story to life. If you want to read something very different- this book is certainly one to try.