Charlotte Street by Danny Wallace

You know that typical story of Boy meets Girl? You know the one, you've read a million different versions, you've seen it depicted by Hollywood in every possible way.  Well....I bet you haven't seen the heartwarming everyday tale of Boy stalks Girl?

"My name is Jason - and I have just met the most incredible woman on Charlotte Street.  

Well, I say 'met'.  I sort of held her bags for a second.  But she smiled at me!

And it was this amazing smile.

Of course, I don't know her name, or anything about her at all.  But I do happen to have something of hers.  She left behind one of those old-school disposable cameras.

I've got it here.  It's here in front of me.

So there are two things I could now do:

I could develop the photos.  Maybe work out a way of finding her.  See that smile again.

Or I could chuck it in a bin like a grown-up.

I'm fairly sure one of those ideas is a good one.  I'm fairly sure the other might be illegal.

Look, if you were me... what would you?"

When I first heard on TV that Danny Wallace had written a novel, and that it was to do with a boy....stalking a girl, I was instantly drawn to it.  It sounded like something I would adore.

And I did, to an extent.  There were parts of the book which I feel I just didn't "get" and at that point, I felt slightly disconnected.  You know that feeling when you're fairly sure someone has just cracked a joke, but you just don't get it.  I experienced that throughout the majority part of the book - where there London in-jokes that I, as a country bumpkin, just didn't get??  Or maybe there wasn't, maybe I was over thinking it as the author is known as a 'funny man'.  There is certainly a sense of fun running throughout the book.

It made me smile, but it didn't make me laugh out loud.  Overpoweringly though, I loved the characters.  Danny leads you up certain paths that you might fall for, or you might not.  The ending isn't overly shocking, it's kind of predictable but it's perfect.

They say it'll happen when you least expect it, and this story tells you just that.  My absolute favourite part of this book was the last few chapters (and no, I don't mean because it was going to be over).  They're perfect, in every way.  So much so, I went back and reread them a few hours after finishing!

As mentioned by other reviewers, I can absolutely see this being made into a film.  Hurry up and sell the film rights!!