All of You Every Single One: A Novel

It is, perhaps, a small miracle that Eve and Julia found one another in the first place as lesbians in the early 1900s. It’s an even greater one that they were able to run away together and have the chance of a new life in Vienna. Their story begins with their flight, though, because their happily ever after doesn’t come when they reach Austria. They still must find a way to make rent, and actually living together is no fairy tale. Real life has trials most storybook lovers never must face.

Beatrice Hitchman’s writing is beautiful from the start, though I found the first part of the book rather dull. It was only when Eve and Julia’s story began to intertwine with those around them that I truly became invested. The little community that built up around them caught me by the heart at once, and I found I didn’t know how to escape it. I also found I didn’t particularly want to.

This book won’t suit everyone. As I mentioned, it’s slow to start, despite a prologue with action plucked from later in the story. There were times when I found the names and action hard to follow. All the same, I found I loved it.