39 Plus One is the debut novel from author Ragh Bir. Ragh began writing her debut novel back in 2007, and she found writing the first three chapters easy but as life does, it took an unexpected turn. Her mind went blank and the book took a back seat until she moved back to Slough just before 2020 ground to a halt. Once 2020 was in full swing she found her love for her writing again and within the year 39 Plus One was finally finished and here we are in 2022 devouring this brilliant novel.
Based on real life events. This book tells the story of singleton, Rachel Collins, who lives in Royal Windsor. She has a wonderful friendship circle, loving and supportive parents, and enjoys her job working in a dysfunctional family-run office supplies company.
On her 39th birthday, she decides to embark on a quest, for a year, to date anyone who is bold enough to show interest, regardless of how he looks, in a bid to find her perfect imperfect soulmate.
She brushes aside her high standards and actively pursues her dream of finding ‘the one’, before she turns 40. Her quest takes her on a roller-coaster ride into situations she never imagined she would find herself in; and the sometimes hilarious and weird world of dating becomes her life.
Her best friends, Harriet and Naomi, enjoy their weekly get-togethers, listening to Rachel’s latest dating disaster; and Vince and Harry also lend an ear, sharing in the frivolity.
The quest comes to an end on her 40th birthday. After a holiday to Ibiza, where after a day of mishaps, she discovers the truth – that her perfect imperfect soulmate is not quite what he seems.
While she sits on the beach, contemplating whether the last year has been worthwhile, she realises that the quest has been more of a journey of self discovery than anything else. Then serendipity steps in and pays her a visit…
39 Plus One was one of those books that I fell in love with from just reading the first few pages. I have since passed it to my other friends to read and know they will love it too . I really liked that it is based on real-life events and you can feel how much love and time went into the writing. I ams o glad she didn’t just push through back in 2007 and she waited until she felt it was right to finish it.
You can get a copy here From Amazon (*Aff Link)
DISCLAIMER: This item has been gifted to us but our opinions do not reflect on the products company, or the thoughts of any social media companies we have shared this review on.
We give our 100% honest opinions on the products we test and we have declared it is an AD and gifted as required by the ASA guidelines
