Everything English by Deb Joelle

I fancy myself a bit of an anglophile. Now that I live in Canada, I can use the British spellings without everyone calling me pretentious or a wannabe-Brit. We even use the British pronunciations for words like process (proh-sess), scone (scawn), and basil (I have no idea how to write this phonetically). I love Brit-coms like Keeping Up Appearances and As Time Goes By and it’s not unusual for me to say something like, “I could really do with a cuppa.” (cup of tea)

So, if you’ve read Deb Emily’s book, The Whole World, you can imagine how quickly I was sucked into the setting! In fact, I think I might’ve had a pot of tea per chapter. And my husband almost wore out his bike tires making runs to the village for scones.

Deb Emily has written a book full of fascinating characters and a mystery to pull you into the story, but I have to admit, the descriptions of Cambridge, the observations of the people, especially from an American point of view, and the sheer Britishism of the story, got my heart racing. I loved the history of the buildings and architecture. I actually went to Cambridge a few years ago, so I had this sort of mental foundation of what the city looks like and all of the wonderful descriptions brought it to life for me. I could see the pavements and the umbrellas and arches and windows and old buildings. I walked the street with Emily’s characters and saw what they saw. But the thing is, I think even if you’ve never been there, the writing is so visual you can’t help but see it. I also expect that Deb Emily will be getting a lot of email from people saying things like, “After reading your book, I just have to see Cambridge for myself. I bought a plane ticket and I was wondering if when I’m in town you might fancy a cuppa.”

Congratulations to Deb Emily on your release! It’s a beautiful feeling and I hope you’re enjoying it and having fun.