For seven years Mary has been standing outside Ealing Broadway station each night after her supermarket shift holding a handmade sign ‘Come Home Jim’. Commuters push past her, oblivious. Except that one night she isn’t invisible and her vigil goes viral.

Mary meets James (Jim), a doctor, whilst working as an events organiser in Belfast and theirs is a whirlwind relationship. Mary has never met anyone like Jim and the two characters seem to fit so well together that I couldn’t understand what had happened for Mary to end up alone and waiting outside the station six years later.

Over the course of the book, with the present day being 2018 the story goes back to earlier timelines to give glimpses of their life together and the challenges in their relationship.

Mary is an engaging character, easy to sympathise with but also I found her frustrating at times. At first I couldn’t understand why she wouldn’t accept what was to be and try to rebuild her life. She volunteers at Nightline, a crisis telephone centre but when she receives calls that are rather too close to home, that fragile stability that she has made for herself is rocked to its core.

This is such a moving and thought provoking book. Focussing on mental health and the inability to properly communicate one’s fears and needs, there are several characters suffering in one way or another who all need a helping hand. Mary made a promise to Jim and is determined to keep it, whatever the cost. Her vigil attracts the attention of a journalist, Alice (who has her own issues, both personal and professional) and together with Kit, another Nightline volunteer, they decide to help Mary.

This is very much a character driven story, beautifully written with a tender touch and may strike a chord with so many people on the several issues it touches upon. Lest you get the wrong idea, there are times of humour, especially with Alice and Kit, whose pairing was a joy. I loved the mystery running through the story as to why Jim disappeared, where he went to; and more importantly, will he come home? A wonderfully enjoyable read. One to recommend. ( )

Oh this gorgeous book. I absolutely loved it.

As with the author's first book, The Silent Treatment, Abbie Greaves asks 'why?' in response to an inexplicable situation. Why is Mary O'Connor spending her evenings standing outside Ealing Broadway Station with a sign that says "Come Home Jim"? Where is Jim? Why did he leave? Jim was the love of Mary's life and he's been gone for seven years. It feels like an impossibly unbearable situation. Things come to a head as the story begins, and as it progresses, Alice, a new friend of Mary's, and Kit, who works at the same helpline as Mary, begin to try to work out the mystery of where Jim disappeared to.

The Ends of the Earth is an absolutely incredible read. I was drawn in right from the beginning, both into the 'now' story of Mary who is unable to move on, and the 'then' story which tells of Mary and Jim's meeting and their subsequent life together. Their love is an intense one that moves quickly and there's nothing I love more than a good love story. I thought their relationship was beautifully written and perfectly portrayed, giving me a real sense of true love. Of course, we know that this might be a love affair that doesn't have a happy ending but I needed to know more and I couldn't stop turning the pages to see how it would conclude.

Alice and Kit provide a delightful side story and there are scenes between them that really made me giggle. I enjoyed the sub-plot that came with Alice and which tied in beautifully with the main story. The author has provided the perfect balance of humour and heart-rending sadness and has produced a thoughtful and emotive read. The underlying message is one of mental health and how we never know what's going on behind closed doors, or indeed what people are dealing with and holding inside themselves.

A book that can make me both laugh and cry is an absolute winner in my book and The Ends of the Earth did just that. It offers all that I want in a book and it will be one of my books of the year. ( )