BOOK REVIEW: According to Yes by Dawn French

Manhattan’s wealthy Upper East Side has it’s own rigid code of behaviour. One strictly adhered to by the Wilder-Bingham family.
Emotional displays- unacceptable.
Unruly behaviour- definitely not welcome.
Fun- no thanks.
So when Rosie Kitto, an eccentric primary school teacher from England bounces into this fortress of restraint with a heart as big as the city, the family quickly discovers that she hasn’t read the rule book.
After a life-time of saying no, what happens when everyone starts saying …yes?

Publisher: Penguin

Pages: 376

I have a huge girl crush on Dawn French and I loved her autobiography Dear Fatty so I thought I would try one of her fiction books. According to Yes is a beautiful book, there is really no end to this woman’s talents!

Rosie Kitto leaves her life in Cornwall where she is a primary school teacher and boards a flight to Manhattan. She is running away from her current life and she has decided that going forward she is going to live according to Yes, she is going to take more risks.

The Wilder-Bingham family have no idea of Rosie’s life plan; they have employed her to care for the two younger members of the family, Red and Three. Glenn Wilder-Bingham is the matriarch and she runs a tight-ship; she is in no way ready for this eccentric English lady who is going to turn all their lives upside down.

This book is such a mix, there is a great deal of comedy but so much warmth and poignancy too. Dawn French creates characters that you feel greatly for, even some of the unlikable ones. I was surprised by how much I deeply cared for them all by the end of the book.

Rosie Kitto is a magnificent creation, she is fierce, eccentric, kind-hearted and incredibly brave. She does a few things in the book that will undoubtedly raise a few eyebrows but overall I decided by the end of the story that I needed to be more like Rosie. To appreciate joy in the small things and the beautiful world we live in  and most importantly, to search for and celebrate the good in people- however small that may be.

According to Yes by Dawn French is an emotional and comforting read. I loved it!