By Noorah Al Arji
DUBAI – What is your favorite color? What is your favorite city?
“What is your favorite …” is a question that usually confuses me and makes me think deeper and deeper.
What if I do not have a favorite color? Well, I am the kind of person who often does not have favorites. It may seem a bit odd, but I just do not think that way. However, when it comes to novels and/or books, the first thing that comes to my mind is a novel about stubborn lovebirds who grow up in Dublin, Ireland: a boy called Alex and a girl called Rosie.
Have you guessed yet? Perhaps not.
Well, it is a novel titled “Where Rainbows End” (HarperCollins) by Cecelia Ahern, who successfully managed to make the characters so genuine to the point where I felt I knew them well. Without any doubt, this was not an easy thing for Ms. Ahern to do as the book was written based on emails, instant messages and letters – definitely a unique approach that I absolutely fell in love with.
Even though I have called the couple “lovebirds,” each was so stubborn that neither of them admitted his/her love to the other. In other words, they simply were meant for each other, but can’t seem to admit it.
Alex and Rosie, the two main characters, have been close friends since they were 5 years old. A few years down the line, Alex’s father gets a job in Boston, which forces the whole family to move across the ocean. Despite the distance, the young friends continue to share emails, instant messages and letters. What frustrates me the most is that feelings towards each other escalate and none of them want to admit it; hence, the result is they marry and have children with other people.
You must be wondering now why I enjoyed reading the novel so much, aren’t you? Imagine yourself snooping through a stranger’s emails. Isn’t it fun and exciting? To me it was extremely entertaining as it is totally unacceptable and unethical thing to do in the real world.
Reading the book made me simultaneously laugh and cry. The characters are lovable and engaging, as each is flawed. Both protagonists face major struggles, making them ever more relatable and believable. It’s hard not to become sympathetic to a character when you see them grow from early childhood to 60, isn’t it?
To further enhance the novel and make it sound more realistic, Ms. Ahern misspells a few words during the early stages of an email exchange between Alex and Rosie when they are children. In my opinion, it was a very smart tactic of the author as it really grew on me – I really felt as if I was reading real email between two youngsters.
I would recommend “Where Rainbows End” to someone who is looking for a cheerful and fun novel that is somehow a lesson to those who do not have enough courage to say how they feel towards an individual.
Furthermore, I would recommend it to those, like myself, who like to read unique writing styles, love romance, laughter and the durability of friendship.
However, to those who are not books fanatics, you can get a sense of what the book is about by watching a movie called “Love, Rosie,” which is based on the novel. The movie stars Lily Collins as Rosie and Sam Claflin as Alex. This film version of the novel came out last fall. It is directed by Christian Ditter.
You can find the book at https://guardianbookshop.com/where-rainbows-end-9780007260829.html. Happy reading.
P.S. Do not live in silence for the rest of your life.
About the Author
Noorah Al Arji is a master’s student in the College of Communication and Media Sciences at Zayed University. She is a communications executive for Gulf Wells Corporation for Oil and Gas Services in Dubai.
This story was originally published on April 23, 2015. It was re-uploaded on Dec. 24, 2020.
