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From the author of Something to Live For, a nostalgic, heart-warming story of two long-lost friends who embark on a 184-mile walk of the Thames Path in order to find their way back to the truth, and to their friendship.
How do you move forward…when all you want to do is go back?
Joel and Theo haven't spoken since the summer they turned sixteen, but that's about to change.
From the outside Joel looks like the picture of success: a TV scriptwriter with a smash hit who's still together and in love with his teenage sweetheart, Amber. But he's falling apart at the seams. He's headed home to reconnect with best friend Theo--to get back to the start of it all.
Theo has been living in his parents' shed, nursing a broken heart and a wounded ego, convinced life can't get any worse. Then he gets evicted on his 30th birthday. He thinks he's done with the real world - until it shows up on his doorstep...
One of them is keeping a secret, and the other is living a lie. But can the promise they once made to walk all 184 miles of the Thames Path help them find their way back to the truth--and to their friendship?
"[D]elightful...This endearing outing becomes a heartfelt meditation on male companionship, forgiveness, and navigating life's ups and downs. Roper's story shimmers." - Publishers Weekly
"Even in hard moments, there is an element of farce...Although the end might not land with everyone, the story of two friends finding each other again will resonate with most. A funny and poignant portrait of friendship." - Kirkus Reviews
"Bittersweet and full of heart, this book will appeal to fans of Jonathan Tropper and Matthew Norman." - Booklist
"When We Were Young is such a warm, uplifting read. It's a celebration of the bond we have with our oldest friends, and it's so funny, without ever losing its poignancy—Richard Roper writes humour so brilliantly." – Beth O' Leary, author of The Flatshare and The Switch
"Roper possesses a wry and formidable wit. But his real gift is the ability to infuse that humor with such immense heart that it becomes the path for an uplifting and redemptive journey. I loved this book." - Steven Rowley, author of Lily and the Octopus
"Delightfully life-affirming and funny, a moving exploration of friendship and finding the path to redemption. Fans of The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry will love it!" - Bianca Marais, author of Hum If You Don't Know the Words
This information about When We Were Young was first featured
in "The BookBrowse Review" - BookBrowse's membership magazine, and in our weekly "Publishing This Week" newsletter. Publication information is for the USA, and (unless stated otherwise) represents the first print edition. The reviews are necessarily limited to those that were available to us ahead of publication. If you are the publisher or author and feel that they do not properly reflect the range of media opinion now available, send us a message with the mainstream reviews that you would like to see added.
Any "Author Information" displayed below reflects the author's biography at the time this particular book was published.
Richard Roper is a non-fiction editor at Headline, an imprint of Hachette UK. He lives in London and is the author of Something to Live For and When We Were Young.
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