02/12/2018
In Whelan’s enjoyable debut, American grad student Ella Durran seems to have it all—not only is she achieving her teenage dream of attending Oxford University for one year on a Rhodes Scholarship, but she’s doing so while working remotely on the presidential campaign of a female politician she idolizes. The only dark cloud on her horizon is the annoying presence of her English professor, Jamie Davenport. They meet cute when he almost runs her over with his car; later, he accidentally spills condiments all over the front of her blouse. Things go rapidly downhill from there. Naturally, Ella falls in love with Jamie, who is not only smart and sensitive but also owns a Victorian townhouse with a ballroom and drives an Aston-Martin convertible. Ella spends her days working on her dissertation on Middlemarch and her nights being romanced by Jamie. But things take a turn for the tragic, and Ella is forced to choose between her commitment to her original dream and contemplating a new future that involves much personal risk and sacrifice. The novel is so predictably plotted that the reader will not be surprised by the road Ella ultimately chooses. But fans of One Day and Me Before You will still be charmed by this warm story and Ella and Jamie’s romance. (Apr.)
With My Oxford Year, Julia Whelan has crafted a breathtakingly perfect picture of Oxford…a read bursting with warmth, mirth, and heart. A powerfully heartbreaking and life-affirming tribute to love and to choice – to choosing love and an open-hearted approach to the world.” — Entertainment Weekly, “A” review
“My Oxford Year is a pure delight with unpredictable depths. Julia Whelan has crafted a story that is as fun and charming as it is powerful and wise. Ella Durran is a breath of fresh air and her story will stay with you long after you’re done.” — Taylor Jenkins Reid, author of The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo
“...Julia Whelan’s My Oxford Year, which unfolds in charming Oxfordshire and reads even better when read through a pair of thick-rimmed glasses.” — Vogue.com
“Full of humor and romance, My Oxford Year has it all—I loved it!” — Jill Shalvis, New York Times bestselling author
“I laughed, I definitely cried, and I learned about literature and poetry in a way that made me feel a bit smarter today.” — Heather Cocks, author of The Royal We
“My Oxford Year is a funny, tender, heart-breaking coming-of-age adventure.” — Allison Winn Scotch, New York Times bestselling author
“Whelan has created a beautiful, romantic story that focuses on big ideas—love, death, poetry, and what really matters in the end.” — Kirkus Reviews
“[An] enjoyable debut…fans of One Day and Me Before You will be charmed by this warm story and Ella and Jamie’s romance.” — Publishers Weekly
“My Oxford Year is an achingly beautiful debut.” — Robinne Lee, author of The Idea of You
“Vivid, smart, and utterly charming, My Oxford Year is a heartfelt journey.” — Allie Larkin, author of Why Can’t I Be You
“Whelan’s vivid and detailed writing about Oxford will appeal to any Anglophile longing for quaint landscapes and clotted cream with their scones. And the love story will appeal to anyone who’s had to make difficult decisions.” — Refinery 29
“This debut novel has a preponderance of heart while offering respite from heady emotions with light wit. Whelan draws from her own Oxford experience, creating a richly rendered setting of not just the university’s spires but of the surrounding chip shops and grubby pubs that are just as vital.” — Booklist
“This pull-at-the-heartstrings yet sexy debut novel by Whelan, an award-winning audiobook narrator, is all about the choices we make for ourselves and others. It will delight Anglophiles as well as Jojo Moyes fans.” — Library Journal
“Whelan combined the most heart-wrenching and romantic moments of every Jojo Moyes and Nicholas Sparks novel and added in her own touches of humanity and lovableness...Bring your tissues.” — Travel + Leisure
“The premise and setting lends itself to rich descriptions and plenty of fun literature references for us book nerds, showcasing Whelan’s deep knowledge of both the subject and the area.” — Audible
“You’ll swoon over the sweet love story between Ella and Jamie, a young woman abroad and her professor...Heart eyes for days.” — HelloGiggles.com
“If you love books by Nicholas Sparks and JoJo Moyes, you’re going to swoon for Julia Whelan’s newest novel..” — Brit + Co.com
Full of humor and romance, My Oxford Year has it all—I loved it!
I laughed, I definitely cried, and I learned about literature and poetry in a way that made me feel a bit smarter today.”
Vivid, smart, and utterly charming, My Oxford Year is a heartfelt journey.
With My Oxford Year, Julia Whelan has crafted a breathtakingly perfect picture of Oxford…a read bursting with warmth, mirth, and heart. A powerfully heartbreaking and life-affirming tribute to love and to choice – to choosing love and an open-hearted approach to the world.
My Oxford Year is a pure delight with unpredictable depths. Julia Whelan has crafted a story that is as fun and charming as it is powerful and wise. Ella Durran is a breath of fresh air and her story will stay with you long after you’re done.
My Oxford Year is a funny, tender, heart-breaking coming-of-age adventure.”
...Julia Whelan’s My Oxford Year, which unfolds in charming Oxfordshire and reads even better when read through a pair of thick-rimmed glasses.
My Oxford Year is an achingly beautiful debut.
Whelan combined the most heart-wrenching and romantic moments of every Jojo Moyes and Nicholas Sparks novel and added in her own touches of humanity and lovableness...Bring your tissues.
If you love books by Nicholas Sparks and JoJo Moyes, you’re going to swoon for Julia Whelan’s newest novel..
The premise and setting lends itself to rich descriptions and plenty of fun literature references for us book nerds, showcasing Whelan’s deep knowledge of both the subject and the area.
Whelan’s vivid and detailed writing about Oxford will appeal to any Anglophile longing for quaint landscapes and clotted cream with their scones. And the love story will appeal to anyone who’s had to make difficult decisions.
This debut novel has a preponderance of heart while offering respite from heady emotions with light wit. Whelan draws from her own Oxford experience, creating a richly rendered setting of not just the university’s spires but of the surrounding chip shops and grubby pubs that are just as vital.”
You’ll swoon over the sweet love story between Ella and Jamie, a young woman abroad and her professor...Heart eyes for days.
This debut novel has a preponderance of heart while offering respite from heady emotions with light wit. Whelan draws from her own Oxford experience, creating a richly rendered setting of not just the university’s spires but of the surrounding chip shops and grubby pubs that are just as vital.”
Whelan combined the most heart-wrenching and romantic moments of every Jojo Moyes and Nicholas Sparks novel and added in her own touches of humanity and lovableness...Bring your tissues.
Narrator Julia Whelan performs her appealing debut novel as well as listeners would expect, which is to say, terrifically. The plot is a well-constructed take on the classic romantic drama, this time set in Oxford, where 24-year-old American Ella is studying on a Rhodes Scholarship. Enter her poetry professor, who turns out to be the guy she insulted that morning after he inadvertently trashed her blouse. You can guess the story’s direction, but that’s part of the satisfaction. And it’s all told with an eye for cultural detail. In addition to American Ella and posh-Brit Jamie, Whelan has peopled her novel with Oxford’s famous cornucopia of characters. The personalities pop, her pacing is superb, and the realism she injects will keep you wide-eyed. A.C.S. © AudioFile 2018, Portland, Maine
Narrator Julia Whelan performs her appealing debut novel as well as listeners would expect, which is to say, terrifically. The plot is a well-constructed take on the classic romantic drama, this time set in Oxford, where 24-year-old American Ella is studying on a Rhodes Scholarship. Enter her poetry professor, who turns out to be the guy she insulted that morning after he inadvertently trashed her blouse. You can guess the story’s direction, but that’s part of the satisfaction. And it’s all told with an eye for cultural detail. In addition to American Ella and posh-Brit Jamie, Whelan has peopled her novel with Oxford’s famous cornucopia of characters. The personalities pop, her pacing is superb, and the realism she injects will keep you wide-eyed. A.C.S. © AudioFile 2018, Portland, Maine
2018-02-06
A young woman starts an unexpected relationship while studying at Oxford in Whelan's debut.Ella Duran has a lot going on. After dreaming of studying at Oxford since she was a girl, she's finally there on a Rhodes scholarship, studying English language and literature from 1830-1914. She still has a career back in America, though—working in politics, where she has a chance to be the education consultant on a junior senator's campaign for president. She'll be working remotely and flying back to D.C. the second her year in Oxford ends. It all seems to be working out perfectly…but then she meets Jamie Davenport. After he runs into her in a chip shop and knocks a plate of condiments into her shirt, she thinks he's just a jerk and assumes she'll never see him again. But when she walks into her first day of class, she's dismayed to see that Jamie Davenport is her professor. Ella is soon making connections with her brainy classmates, including dramatic Charlie, pink-haired Maggie, and goofy Tom. She also begins a friendship with Jamie that soon turns into much more, although his reputation as a playboy and her short time in England make her assume that their "relationship" has an expiration date. But Jamie is charismatic and adventurous, and Ella can't help falling for him—which is why it's such a shock when she discovers that he's been hiding a huge secret. He has cancer, and now Ella must decide if their relationship will really be over when her Oxford year ends or if she wants to stay by his side through the inevitable ups and downs of his illness. Whelan describes Oxford richly, allowing readers to almost smell the chips and hear the bustle on the streets. Ella is an engaging narrator, one many readers will easily relate to, and her friends are fun, wacky characters who trade quips as quickly as if they were on Gilmore Girls. Ella and Jamie's relationship, which could so easily turn saccharine, always feels genuine, in part because the description of his illness and chemo focuses on the realistically awful details. Despite the subject matter, the story is infused with enough humor that it never feels unbearably heavy.Whelan has created a beautiful, romantic story that focuses on big ideas—love, death, poetry, and what really matters in the end.
