Mary O' Connor holds a sign pleading Come Home, Jim, every day at the train station. Her quiet life holds no answers for the crowd who ignores her, until getting roughly bumped unnerves her and her meltdown makes it to social media, and causes more loss in her life. Enter Alice, a journalist, who sees in Mary a chance for resolution her life has not held. Alice digs into Mary's past, despite Mary's wishes, and discovers all issues in life cannot be resolved. ( )

From the mind of Abbie Greaves comes not your average romance. I suppose once on a lifetime, epic loves are pretty common in romance novels. What’s less common, when the epic love story takes a left turn and one partner disappears without a trace for seven years. That is exactly what happens to Mary and Jim. For seven years, Mary’s life has revolved around the singular routine of standing at the train station every night with a sign asking Jim to come home. After a viral video brings Mary’s cause to the world, investigative reporter Alice is on the case, and for the first time in seven years Mary may have a real chance at answers, but can she accept them? This story is both joyous and sad at the same time. Definitely have to give credit for the story being unusual. Thank you to Netgalley for the copy in exchange for an honest review. ( )

I received an Advance Reader's Copy of this book.

Mary and James share a love for each other that is epic, love that has rescued both of them. Then James disappears without warning, without a trace. For seven years following James' disappearance, Mary stands at the railway station holding a sign that reads "Come Home Jim" - a sign of her devotion and her belief that James will return. Told in alternating chapters set in the past and present, this is a story of romance, deep faith, and also heartache. Most important, it is a compelling account of mental illness. Eye-opening and thought-provoking. ( )

There's something about reading a first chapter and thinking 'I've stumbled onto something really good here..." Well, it didn't take a full chapter to know that I was going to love Abbie Greaves' new novel, Anywhere for You. I was hooked immediately.
Mary O'Connor finishes her shift at the grocery store every day and heads to Ealing Station. There, she stands in the same place day after day, holding up her sign that reads 'Come Home Jim'. She's kept this routine for seven years....

Okay, my curiosity was peaked - I needed to know more about Mary, why is she looking for Jim, who is Jim, where has he gone? Alice, a young reporter who needs a story to save her job sees the answer to her problems in Mary's story. Maybe she can even find Jim...

Greaves tells Mary's story in alternating chapters from present and past. I love this style of storytelling - it's guaranteed to keep me up late reading one more chapter as we slowly get to know who Jim was and what he meant to Mary. What a brilliant lead Greaves has created. My feelings for Mary ran the gamut - sad, happy, worried and more. All of the other players are just as well portrayed. Alice also has her own chapters and she too has 'baggage' - and a good heart. The supporting cast is made up of Ted, Olive and Kit - all volunteers at the local helpline. (I adored Kit.) And they too are harboring their own heartaches.

The journey to Jim's whereabouts is so very, very good. Greaves' writing is wonderful. I was caught up in the story from start to finish, I genuinely cared about the characters and the message woven into the book is true, timely and more. Anywhere for You is by turns heartbreaking, heartwarming and life affirming. Definitely recommended. ( )

Anywhere for You by Abbie Greaves does a deep dive into mental health and how it affects a person’s relationship with themselves and others. Greaves does a fantastic job peeking into all the corners that people try to keep hidden from themselves and others. For that I would give her five stars, but the very slow pacing and the repetition is where I had to knock the rating down a lot.

Anywhere for You is told in a non-linear timeline which helped to move the book along a bit, but with Mary continually thinking about missing Jim, singing his praises, and wondering how he could just disappear, it dragged the pacing to turtle speeds. There are readers who will enjoy this, but I did not.
Once Alice is introduced, the present which had been told by Mary (along with the past) switches to Alice telling the present and Mary just telling the past. I did enjoy this set up and thought it gave an interesting feel to the story.

I kept reading/skimming because I did want to find out the mystery behind Jim’s disappearance. About 85% into the book the story finally picked up, but the ending just did not make up for the slowness and repetition I had to go through to get there. ( )