Weekend read: Monday to Friday Man by Alice Peterson

Gilly 'with a G' is a 34 young recently single woman living in the hard-to-find-your match city of London. Her fiance left her shortly before the wedding, and in less than 6 months he is already married with someone else. Her social activities are mostly enjoying the company of her nieces, the daughters of her twin brother or meeting other dog lovers in the park, while walking her little dog named Ruskin. 

She decides to rent for the week a room in her apartment, creating a profile on a website called 'Monday to Friday', for people commuting to and from London for the week and going out for the weekends. Through it, after a couple of hilarious adventures, she've found a handsome and mysterious man interested to share the home with her for five days, Jack. Meanwhile, her friendship with Guy, the temporary owner of Trouble, while his fiance, Flora is on a round trip around the world, develops beautifully. 

And this is just the beginning of a story with many ups and downs, solidarity and strong, opinionated women. Many of the characters populating this book are funny and there is hardly anyone which is not special in his or her way of being or talking.

The story is in some respects predictable, with the writing not always very appealing. However, there is a background story, of Megan, Gilly and Nick's little sister, and of how the family fell apart following her death. This part of the book creates balance with the less 'entertaining' parts and also brings meaning to the whole history. 

In addition to the romantic complications and many emotionals ups and downs and insecurities, this book is worth a read - be it only for a weekend - for the challenging questions it opens about the ingredients of a trustworthy relationships, honest and unconditional friendships and how personal changes may affect a relationship. Therefore it is more than a superficial read, I recommend to anyone going through a time of reconsideration and reflection about human connections and search for a partner, not necessarily 'the one and only'.

Rating: 3 stars