Coincidence by J.W. Ironmonger

March 2022 - Coincidence by J. W. Ironmonger

How do you choose a book?

Do you roam the aisles of the bookstore and wait until the cover, the title, the name of the author, or a staff pick gets your attention? Do you read the reviews? Or do you scan a website like Goodreads or BookBub? Or wait for something to jump out from the books Amazon recommends for you?

The books I choose can come from any of those sources, though many, including Coincidence, are recommended by friends.

Coincidence is a contemporary novel set in 2012 and first published in 2013, but it feels like a volume that might have been pulled from Dickens' bookshelf. Maybe, it's just the way this American reader experienced the British setting, the rain, the fog, the moodiness, the dark nook of an office in one of their old universities. Was it Oxford or Cambridge or Hogwarts?

Thomas Post is a professor of Applied Philosophy and studies coincidences. He works in that nook of an office that smells like tea and doesn't seem to be the least bit handicap accessible. By his way of thinking, there are no coincidences. So the fact that you ran into your friend from school at a concert in Mexico is not remarkable. And Thomas Post can prove mathematically that the odds of that sort of thing are well within reason statistically. The human brain seeks out patterns where none exist.

Azalea Ives enters the well-ordered world of Thomas Post with a life that is nothing but coincidences. Her mother died on a particular date, and her father died on the same date ten years before that, and she has it in her mind that she too will die on the next anniversary of that date. (There are a few more coincidences, but I don't want to spoil the fun) Azalea would very much like Thomas to reassure her that this is not her destiny.

Is Coincidence a romance? Maybe. I guess it depends on the pattern you choose to see. It's smart, with intelligent observations and insight into human emotions. Thomas Post is an intellectual loner, Azalea Ives a troubled and tragic heroine. There is an element of romance tangled in a series of mysteries and tucked in a philosophical treatise on the question of free will, destiny, and predetermination. For me, that makes it a great read.

The sense that you have picked up a book from a by-gone era also comes through as Thomas and Azalea build a relationship. They progress slowly and a bit awkwardly as they work together to find answers to Azalea's many questions and coincidences. They are a bit prim with each other. Is that from the last century, or is it simply the quirkiness of Thomas, or could it just be British?

The pacing of the writing and the details in the descriptions all add to the feeling that this is a book written by the reincarnation of Agatha Christie. I promise I mean this as a compliment. The writing contributes to the sense of mystery and intrigue rather than detracts from it.

In Coincidence, Ironmonger reminds us that anything can happen, and instead of seeking to explain it, maybe we should just enjoy every minute. So pick this one up or download it. I promise it's more fun to read than reading about it.