From Debbie Johnson, the author of the Comfort Food Café series, comes an emotionally rich, laugh-out-loud funny novel about the journey of self-discovery, family reunions, and finding peace with your past. Statistically Speaking is The Amazing Grace Adams meets Bridget Jones.

As a high school history teacher, Gemma Jones loves the certainty of the past–specific names, solid dates, and proven statistics. Maybe that’s because her past resembles a jumbled-up sock drawer, one where finding a match is impossible.

On paper, Gemma’s life is just like any other successful, single thirtysomething. Her students adore her. She lives in a cute beachside cottage next door to the world’s sweetest neighbor, Margie. And she’s caught the eye of Karim, the resident hot PE teacher at her school. But every day of her life, she can’t get one thing out of her mind: the baby she gave up for adoption when Gemma was just sixteen years old.

This is the year that Baby–the only name Gemma has for her little girl–will turn eighteen. And it might be the year she actually meets her daughter face-to-face. Or maybe she already has. Katie, a new student who’s moved into the area, shares Gemma’s hair color (bright red) and build (long and lean). And BTW–totally random stat–she also shares the same birthday (October 3) as Baby. And they’re both about to turn eighteen. What are the odds? But Gemma and Katie’s mom are becoming good friends, and Gemma is concerned that their newly minted friendship will unravel fast if Katie is indeed Gemma’s birthdaughter.

Gemma doesn’t know if this will be the year she finds Baby. But maybe, just maybe, it will be the year she finds herself–and finds peace with her life–past and present. And maybe that’s what truly counts.

Statistically Speaking by Debbie Johnson is a heartfelt and humorous novel about self-discovery, familial reconciliation, and dealing with one’s past. If you enjoy character-driven stories with a hefty dose of laughter like Bridget Jones or The Good Place, you’ll love this book. Fall in love with Debbie Johnson’s heartwarming novel (previously published in the UK as Forever Yours). Now available for the first time in the US!

 

My Rating:

Favorite Quotes:

Dog walkers, I have come to learn, are a friendly bunch. I know none of their names, and I have never shared mine, but we know each other by our beasts.

… nobody likes to think their teachers have a life, or even exist, outside the classroom. Kids are always surprised if they see me in the shop or a café, like part of them thinks I just hook myself up to some batteries and recharge in a cupboard when they’re not around.

I have never called it “wanderlust.” I find that I like it— wanderlust sounds sparkly and fun, as opposed to “too dysfunctional to lay down roots.”

There’s been a distinct reduction in attention span over the last few years, and I do sometimes worry that if the entire history of the world can’t be compressed into a TikTok video then it is too difficult for them.

I have been trapped in anxiety dreams all night long. Dreams where my fingers have turned into actual sausages that are too big to operate a keyboard. Dreams where I have forgotten my phone passcode and get locked out so many times my phone actually explodes in my hands like a grenade, leaving me with bloody stumps. Dreams where I am in hospital and nobody will let me out of bed to check my emails, tying me to the headboard with surgical stockings.

His family are his heart— mine was more of a septic appendix.

It is a smile that says she is happy. I manage to tear myself away from the photo after a few moments, reluctant to let it leave my hands, and lay it carefully by my side, scared it might disintegrate like a message in Mission Impossible.

My Review:

 

I adored this book from start to finish. This wily author is highly perceptive and appears to have been blessed by the pixies with strong word voodoo. I quickly fell into her prose and resented any interruptions that required putting my Kindle down for adulting requirements. Written from a first-person point of view, her brilliant narratives often squeezed my heart with keenly insightful observations and had me giggle-snorting at her wry humor on the same page. It was rather painful to pare down the two-page list of favorite quotes I highlighted during perusal. Ms. Johnson has a new acolyte.