Book Review: Between Me and You by Allison Winn Scotch

Ben knows my story, Ben knows my soul. I want him to write for that, to that, to me. Because when he taps into me, and I braid myself to him, we are a galaxy unto and of ourselves.

Sometimes she’s like a firework, explosive but still mesmerizing, and it’s not like I don’t want to sit back and watch the show.

I like author Allison Winn Scotch for a number of reasons—her books are always fun and fast-paced escapes, often with a touch of the mystical (The One That I Want, Time of My Life) and tackle the popular topics of “What if?” I enjoyed her last novel, In Twenty Years,  where a group of college friends reunite after twenty years (think “The Big Chill” in a modern-day setting). She’s also a funny presence on social media, having first started out as a freelance journalist for big-name magazines like InStyle, Redbook, Shape, etc. (my dream job!) before becoming a best-selling author. When I heard about her latest book, Between Me and You, and how its plot centers on an actress and a screenwriter and their complicated relationship, I knew it was for me, the gal who has piles of celebrity gossip magazines around her house at any given moment. (In Touch and UsWeekly are my favorites.) I was lucky enough to get an advance digital copy of Between Me and You to read and review and I dove right in.

Synopsis:

When their paths first cross, Ben Livingston is a fledgling screenwriter on the brink of success; Tatum Connelly is a struggling actress tending bar in a New York City dive. They fall in love, they marry, they become parents, and they think only of the future. But as the years go by, Tatum’s stardom rises while Ben’s fades. In a marriage that bears the fallout of ambition and fame, Ben and Tatum are at a crossroads. Now all they can do is think back…

A life of passion, joy, tragedy, and loss—once shared—becomes one as shifting and unpredictable as a memory. As the pieces of their past come together, as they explore the ways love can bend and break, Ben and Tatum come to see how it all went wrong—and wonder what they can do now to make it all right.

Review:

The book starts out in the present day, when Ben and Tatum are in their early 40s and have been separated for some time. Ben is waiting for Tatum on the beach, reliving their history together in his mind, but then someone else shows up instead. From there the book alternates chapters telling both Tatum and Ben’s stories. Tatum’s chapters propel the narrative forward (1999 to present) while Ben’s work backward (2016 back down to 1999). We learn how they met by chance in a bar in 1999, when Tatum was a theater student and part-time bartender and Ben working on an MFA. He was also in the process of breaking up with his long-term girlfriend when he meets Tatum.

Through the years, we watch as both of their stars rise after their move from New York to Los Angeles, like the quintessential Hollywood couple. The relationship of Brad Pitt and Angelina came to mind (Tatum goes from struggling actress to Oscar winner to influential director throughout the course of the book, much like Angelina) as well as Jennifer Garner and Ben Affleck (this one because of the infidelity that invades the marriage and because Tatum is from a small town much like Garner). I did read an article  not long ago that said she interviewed several different celebrity couples while researching this book to help provide authenticity, and she thanked Jennifer Garner and Judy Greer in the acknowledgements section.

Throughout the book, Ben and Tatum face their share of challenges, from the death of Tatum’s mother, to her alcoholic father, to a loved one lost in 9/11 and a family member with a heartbreaking drug addiction. They also have a son and struggle with the balance of parenthood while Tatum is often away filming or directing and Ben gets frustrated with his job of writing for TV when he really wants to be writing the screenplay that will put him on the map. The chapters kept me guessing, as each one dropped crumbs of the story along the way. I found myself rooting for Tatum and Ben and also cursing them for the foolish decisions they made and refused to communicate with one another. I was on the edge of my seat by the time I got to the end.

I will say that if you are going to read this book, don’t read it on a Kindle like I did. Because of the way the chapters alternate time periods, I found myself wanting to quickly flip back and forth to double-check information, and that’s not easy to do on a digital device. So read this in the print version and you will feel much less frustrated.

Thank you to NetGalley and Scotch’s publicity team for allowing me the opportunity to read this book in advance, I enjoyed it and will read it again now that I have a better handle on the way the timeline worked, I’m sure I can pick up on even more tidbits the second time around!