Edwina Currie has written some steamy thrillers, but in this latest novel she has produced a credible vehicle for some serious ideas that show her as unusually free-thinking despite her own political roots.

The Ambassador falls somewhere between political thriller and science fiction, with a small romantic drama running through it. Set in 2099, the book advances a coherent vision of a fully federal European Union that has become so powerful it is the leading superpower. China remains in careful isolationism, as does a weak United States. The reason for the European success is its work on genetics; diseases and disabilities, along with tendencies to destructive behaviour, are eliminated carefully at conception or shortly after birth. Prosperity and long life are freely on offer. There seems to be no unhappiness. Can it be that, in Voltaire's ironic words, "the best of all possible worlds" has now arrived?

William "Bill" Strether, American ambassador to London, suspects not. Coming from a country where Fundamentalist Christianity has ensured the abolition of genetic work and cloning of humans, he has to overcome his distaste for the society while admiring its success (a nice inversion of how Europeans think of the U.S. in the present day). A naïve but brave humanist, he is impressed at first, but finds more and more reasons for concern as the futuristic paradise reveals sinister and secretive machinations. The novel acknowledges Brave New World as a model, but the abuse of eugenics has an even more terrible side in The Ambassador; Currie knows the political establishment and its arrogance and power well, of course, and compellingly renders the smooth self-justifications of her villains and the sickening terror of state control. In fact, the book transcends the thriller genre in its debates about genetic science; Currie articulates every side of this complex moral issue, and one's sympathies slide and waver.

The book also achieves a political wit in its details and asides that makes it even more of a pleasure. Despite the triumph of meritocracy in the U.S., the abolition of discrimination in Europe (not to mention the official denials about cloning), and the withering of the hereditary principle, the names of Currie's minor characters show that dynasties somehow maintain power anyway. A Kennedy is US President; a young Murdoch is still a media tycoon. Another media tycoon bears the hybrid name "Maxwell Packer". Margaret Thatcher is spoken of as a figure from history books, sometimes with approval and sometimes more sardonically. At one point President Clinton is referred to: "the second one, you know--Chelsea". These humorous references remind one that this amusing and compelling piece of political science fiction is based on themes--European federalism, genetics, civil liberties--that are, and will continue to be, highly topical.--Robert Potts

A good read on where we might be in a hundred years., 26 Nov 2000
The story moves along nicely but the best things about the book, which makes it un-put-downable, are the "one liners". Edwina Currie has looked ahead at our future and, as well as seeing stark possibilities there, she takes the chance to remark at the nonsenses that may be left over from today.

A good try but not successful, 21 Mar 1999
I read this on a long flight and somehow I finished it. Maybe because I didn't have anything else to read. Somehow it just missed, but I do admire her for trying to vary her content and style - she couldn't go on writing parliamentary sex novels for ever. I didn't think there was much tension and I didn't really care what happened to the characters.

Interesting and well written, 11 Mar 1999
I quite enjoyed this book, but the author clearly has had her mind mostly on certain developments, so while her thoughts on genetical engineering and the role of media are provocative and interesting, she seems to think that for example computers will evolve only marginally. But it's clearly worth reading.

A good read on where we might be in a hundred years., 26 Nov 2000
The story moves along nicely but the best things about the book, which makes it un-put-downable, are the "one liners". Edwina Currie has looked ahead at our future and, as well as seeing stark possibilities there, she takes the chance to remark at the nonsenses that may be left over from today.

A good try but not successful, 21 Mar 1999
I read this on a long flight and somehow I finished it. Maybe because I didn't have anything else to read. Somehow it just missed, but I do admire her for trying to vary her content and style - she couldn't go on writing parliamentary sex novels for ever. I didn't think there was much tension and I didn't really care what happened to the characters.

Interesting and well written, 11 Mar 1999
I quite enjoyed this book, but the author clearly has had her mind mostly on certain developments, so while her thoughts on genetical engineering and the role of media are provocative and interesting, she seems to think that for example computers will evolve only marginally. But it's clearly worth reading.

"well, who'd have thought it!", 17 Feb 2003
This is a novel about the emotional fallout from living life in the public eye; if you're looking for ruthless ambition and backstabbing, look elsewhere. Neither is this an accomplished bonkbuster; readers of erotic fiction will find the sex scenes rather demure, and be startled by the daughter's miserable downfall. the parliamentary innuendos and the excruciatingly realistic bye election are delicious, even though non-tories will sigh at her 1D portrayal of the 'opposition' characters.
On the other hand, i laughed alomost non-stop, and appreciated the explaination of that most unlikely of pairings. It also reminded me how fundamentally naive professional politicians are.
Oh, yes; eggs do feature!

Ambition and lust in the Corridors of Power, 18 Apr 2000
Well, it's certainly value for money - the paperback is the size of a house brick - but it's a bit cumbersome for reading in bed. We follow the adventures of a quartet of Tory MPs, two newly elected, two old hands. They form liaisons with each other, with journalists, with rather iffy strangers, some hetero, some homo. I'm not going to give it away by saying who does what with whom. If that is all there was to it, it would be a pretty routine bonkbuster. Two features set the book apart - the Parliamentary background and the insight into the politicians' mind. The small details of parliamentary daily life give the book interest and some authority. Other people's workplaces are interesting. If you read Magnus Mills' Restraint of Beasts you will learn a lot about the life of a fencing contractor. Mrs Currie's detail about who drinks where, about the Table Office, the appearance of Ministerial offices and so on are fascinating to anyone who is interested in politics. Her characters suffer from all being Tories - there is a one-dimensional quality to them. Money is no problem; children are cared for by au pairs and packed off to tinpot snobschools as soon as possible. Even her characters' names show class bias - the Tories all have mellifluous three-syllable names ( apart from our heroine and her family who are clearly arriviste) - the few working class characters have short sharp names - no poetry there. And whilst we are thinking about names, the whole plot of the book is summed up by the name of the chief male - Roger Dickson ( not even Dixon) Just feel the Freudianism in that ! The book is called 'A Parliamentary Affair' and it focuses upon the impact of several such. But only upon the parliamentary careers of the protagonists. Nobody, at any level, gives a damn about the impact of infidelity on wives, husbands, families, children. All come across as totally self-centred, self-obsessed, self-absorbed. And the last thing any of them seems to consider, ever, is the well-being of the electors who sent them there. The most sympathetic character in the book is our heroine's teenage daughter who is treated appallingly badly by everybody yet ends up canvassing for her mother's re-election. I know that I am not supposed to but I warm to the anti-hero, the tabloid journalist whose mission is to expose Parliamentary antics - I found his comeuppance unconvincing.In a democracy, he is just as necessary as the MPs. I think that Edwina Currie set out with the intention of writing a book on the difficulties of being a woman MP. If that was her intention, then she has failed - what we have been given is 'Bitch on the Make'. It's a good read, but don't bother voting for this bunch of egomaniacs at the next election!

No-one can deny that Edwina Currie can always be relied upon to deliver a heady mix of sex, politics and betrayal. The skulduggery of the political scene, of course, is something she knows well, and each of her novels has utilised her insider's eye with maximum skill. This Honourable House is her slickest and most accomplished book yet, with a plot that rings some fascinating changes on her earlier work.

Her politician hero Frank has watched his career reach Cabinet levels, and his distant past (not to mention his school friends who opted for lives of crime) is a mere memory. Of course, he has to cope with the usual baggage of a successful political career: a demanding wife, an equally demanding mistress and an all-knowing adviser who is forcing him to choose between them. Frank's dilemma leads him into some very deep waters, with the misplaced loyalty of his old friends having dire consequences, but his isn't the only story being told here. Social Security secretary Diane shares Frank's chequered past, and she is well known for a sexual appetite that would make even the most libidinous of politicians blush. But her relationship with an attractive new office recruit called Edward is about to make her life just as complicated as Frank's. These two main strands of Currie's narrative are cleverly linked, and she delivers all the drama and unbuttoned sex one might wish for. But her tale is even more ambitious, drawing other characters into a dangerous mix. And while Currie knows how to deliver the kind of entertainment that makes blockbuster novels bestsellers, she is still able to make some pertinent points about politics along the way without once forgetting her principal purpose: to entertain. And that she does effortlessly. --Barry Forshaw

A good read on where we might be in a hundred years., 26 Nov 2000
The story moves along nicely but the best things about the book, which makes it un-put-downable, are the "one liners". Edwina Currie has looked ahead at our future and, as well as seeing stark possibilities there, she takes the chance to remark at the nonsenses that may be left over from today.

A good try but not successful, 21 Mar 1999
I read this on a long flight and somehow I finished it. Maybe because I didn't have anything else to read. Somehow it just missed, but I do admire her for trying to vary her content and style - she couldn't go on writing parliamentary sex novels for ever. I didn't think there was much tension and I didn't really care what happened to the characters.

Interesting and well written, 11 Mar 1999
I quite enjoyed this book, but the author clearly has had her mind mostly on certain developments, so while her thoughts on genetical engineering and the role of media are provocative and interesting, she seems to think that for example computers will evolve only marginally. But it's clearly worth reading.

"well, who'd have thought it!", 17 Feb 2003
This is a novel about the emotional fallout from living life in the public eye; if you're looking for ruthless ambition and backstabbing, look elsewhere. Neither is this an accomplished bonkbuster; readers of erotic fiction will find the sex scenes rather demure, and be startled by the daughter's miserable downfall. the parliamentary innuendos and the excruciatingly realistic bye election are delicious, even though non-tories will sigh at her 1D portrayal of the 'opposition' characters.
On the other hand, i laughed alomost non-stop, and appreciated the explaination of that most unlikely of pairings. It also reminded me how fundamentally naive professional politicians are.
Oh, yes; eggs do feature!

Ambition and lust in the Corridors of Power, 18 Apr 2000
Well, it's certainly value for money - the paperback is the size of a house brick - but it's a bit cumbersome for reading in bed. We follow the adventures of a quartet of Tory MPs, two newly elected, two old hands. They form liaisons with each other, with journalists, with rather iffy strangers, some hetero, some homo. I'm not going to give it away by saying who does what with whom. If that is all there was to it, it would be a pretty routine bonkbuster. Two features set the book apart - the Parliamentary background and the insight into the politicians' mind. The small details of parliamentary daily life give the book interest and some authority. Other people's workplaces are interesting. If you read Magnus Mills' Restraint of Beasts you will learn a lot about the life of a fencing contractor. Mrs Currie's detail about who drinks where, about the Table Office, the appearance of Ministerial offices and so on are fascinating to anyone who is interested in politics. Her characters suffer from all being Tories - there is a one-dimensional quality to them. Money is no problem; children are cared for by au pairs and packed off to tinpot snobschools as soon as possible. Even her characters' names show class bias - the Tories all have mellifluous three-syllable names ( apart from our heroine and her family who are clearly arriviste) - the few working class characters have short sharp names - no poetry there. And whilst we are thinking about names, the whole plot of the book is summed up by the name of the chief male - Roger Dickson ( not even Dixon) Just feel the Freudianism in that ! The book is called 'A Parliamentary Affair' and it focuses upon the impact of several such. But only upon the parliamentary careers of the protagonists. Nobody, at any level, gives a damn about the impact of infidelity on wives, husbands, families, children. All come across as totally self-centred, self-obsessed, self-absorbed. And the last thing any of them seems to consider, ever, is the well-being of the electors who sent them there. The most sympathetic character in the book is our heroine's teenage daughter who is treated appallingly badly by everybody yet ends up canvassing for her mother's re-election. I know that I am not supposed to but I warm to the anti-hero, the tabloid journalist whose mission is to expose Parliamentary antics - I found his comeuppance unconvincing.In a democracy, he is just as necessary as the MPs. I think that Edwina Currie set out with the intention of writing a book on the difficulties of being a woman MP. If that was her intention, then she has failed - what we have been given is 'Bitch on the Make'. It's a good read, but don't bother voting for this bunch of egomaniacs at the next election!

This Honourable House, 04 Feb 2006
Sadly this was nowhere near as interesting or as fun as Currie's first two parliamentary novels. A lot of plot felt rehashed from the other novels and the twist ending painfully predictable. I wasn't expecting a literary classic but I was disappointed at how dull this book was.

A major disappointment, 06 Sep 2001
This book had the makings of a great story. The first two-thirds set out the scene and the main characters. Everything was set for a dramatic finish but my impression was that either the author got bored or was under pressure to finish the book. Whatever the reason, the outcome was a very poor conclusion that left me feeling I had wasted my time.

What a disappointment, 19 Jul 2001
I had very high hopes for this book until I started reading it. The story does not flow at all and too much time is spent explaining the background which makes the story very disjointed. Definitely not this year's most riveting read I'm afraid.

A story that ends too quickly leaves the reader wanting more, 05 Jul 2001
This Honourable House is the third Edwina Currie novel to inhabit the author's schizophrenic world where fact and fiction become blurred and the reader is left wondering just now much of what they read is really true. With the election just over, a New Labour-esque government is swept to power with a mandate to reform. Frank Bridges, re-married and newly elevated to the Cabinet seeks to turn his back on his past and his ex-wife, but both conspire against him with horrific consequences. Meanwhile, Diane Clark, the darling of the new administration who enjoys a higher approval rating than the new Prime Minister, tries hard to maintain her Feminist morals and her taste for the younger men of government. Until finally she meets a troubled new intern who makes her realise that perhaps there is something to be said for fidelity and marriage. But as the new lovers plan their future together, their pasts return in a shocking revelation that only the most astute reader will anticipate.

Whilst the Government reels from these revelations, the opposition fair little better. Benedict Ashworth, leader of the New Democrats has both a new role in politics and a new wife. But Jim Betts, newly-promoted Political Editor of the Globe newspaper, and a veteran of Currie's Westminster novels, is convinced there is more to Ashworth than meets the eye. Under pressure to find out more from the Globe's new Editor, Betts discovers the Ashworth secret, a secret that extends into the heart of the Treasury.

Never intended as a trilogy, the three books that form Currie's "Westminster Tales" are nonetheless well crafted and combine a clever mix of fact and fiction. From the silver-haired publicist Clifford Maxwell to the Government's Chief Spin Doctor Alistair McDonald, the reader feels comfortable that this new tale, whilst fictional, is believable and understandable. But unlike both A Parliamentary Affair and A Woman's Place, This Honourable House does not contain the detailed sexual encounters that readers may have become used to. The novel is also shorter than the previous two and suffers because of it. The vast majority of the book is spent crafting the background, but with a very rapid conclusion to the various threads that left me feeling slightly dissatisfied, like an opportunity had been missed. That said, Currie has clearly used her insider knowledge to some advantage and the resulting tale is enjoyable. Having charted the rise and fall of one Government, and the first term of a new, one wonders whether there is not another addition to the Westminster Tales still at large in the Currie mind.

A good read on where we might be in a hundred years., 26 Nov 2000
The story moves along nicely but the best things about the book, which makes it un-put-downable, are the "one liners". Edwina Currie has looked ahead at our future and, as well as seeing stark possibilities there, she takes the chance to remark at the nonsenses that may be left over from today.

A good try but not successful, 21 Mar 1999
I read this on a long flight and somehow I finished it. Maybe because I didn't have anything else to read. Somehow it just missed, but I do admire her for trying to vary her content and style - she couldn't go on writing parliamentary sex novels for ever. I didn't think there was much tension and I didn't really care what happened to the characters.

Interesting and well written, 11 Mar 1999
I quite enjoyed this book, but the author clearly has had her mind mostly on certain developments, so while her thoughts on genetical engineering and the role of media are provocative and interesting, she seems to think that for example computers will evolve only marginally. But it's clearly worth reading.

"well, who'd have thought it!", 17 Feb 2003
This is a novel about the emotional fallout from living life in the public eye; if you're looking for ruthless ambition and backstabbing, look elsewhere. Neither is this an accomplished bonkbuster; readers of erotic fiction will find the sex scenes rather demure, and be startled by the daughter's miserable downfall. the parliamentary innuendos and the excruciatingly realistic bye election are delicious, even though non-tories will sigh at her 1D portrayal of the 'opposition' characters.
On the other hand, i laughed alomost non-stop, and appreciated the explaination of that most unlikely of pairings. It also reminded me how fundamentally naive professional politicians are.
Oh, yes; eggs do feature!

Ambition and lust in the Corridors of Power, 18 Apr 2000
Well, it's certainly value for money - the paperback is the size of a house brick - but it's a bit cumbersome for reading in bed. We follow the adventures of a quartet of Tory MPs, two newly elected, two old hands. They form liaisons with each other, with journalists, with rather iffy strangers, some hetero, some homo. I'm not going to give it away by saying who does what with whom. If that is all there was to it, it would be a pretty routine bonkbuster. Two features set the book apart - the Parliamentary background and the insight into the politicians' mind. The small details of parliamentary daily life give the book interest and some authority. Other people's workplaces are interesting. If you read Magnus Mills' Restraint of Beasts you will learn a lot about the life of a fencing contractor. Mrs Currie's detail about who drinks where, about the Table Office, the appearance of Ministerial offices and so on are fascinating to anyone who is interested in politics. Her characters suffer from all being Tories - there is a one-dimensional quality to them. Money is no problem; children are cared for by au pairs and packed off to tinpot snobschools as soon as possible. Even her characters' names show class bias - the Tories all have mellifluous three-syllable names ( apart from our heroine and her family who are clearly arriviste) - the few working class characters have short sharp names - no poetry there. And whilst we are thinking about names, the whole plot of the book is summed up by the name of the chief male - Roger Dickson ( not even Dixon) Just feel the Freudianism in that ! The book is called 'A Parliamentary Affair' and it focuses upon the impact of several such. But only upon the parliamentary careers of the protagonists. Nobody, at any level, gives a damn about the impact of infidelity on wives, husbands, families, children. All come across as totally self-centred, self-obsessed, self-absorbed. And the last thing any of them seems to consider, ever, is the well-being of the electors who sent them there. The most sympathetic character in the book is our heroine's teenage daughter who is treated appallingly badly by everybody yet ends up canvassing for her mother's re-election. I know that I am not supposed to but I warm to the anti-hero, the tabloid journalist whose mission is to expose Parliamentary antics - I found his comeuppance unconvincing.In a democracy, he is just as necessary as the MPs. I think that Edwina Currie set out with the intention of writing a book on the difficulties of being a woman MP. If that was her intention, then she has failed - what we have been given is 'Bitch on the Make'. It's a good read, but don't bother voting for this bunch of egomaniacs at the next election!

This Honourable House, 04 Feb 2006
Sadly this was nowhere near as interesting or as fun as Currie's first two parliamentary novels. A lot of plot felt rehashed from the other novels and the twist ending painfully predictable. I wasn't expecting a literary classic but I was disappointed at how dull this book was.

A major disappointment, 06 Sep 2001
This book had the makings of a great story. The first two-thirds set out the scene and the main characters. Everything was set for a dramatic finish but my impression was that either the author got bored or was under pressure to finish the book. Whatever the reason, the outcome was a very poor conclusion that left me feeling I had wasted my time.

What a disappointment, 19 Jul 2001
I had very high hopes for this book until I started reading it. The story does not flow at all and too much time is spent explaining the background which makes the story very disjointed. Definitely not this year's most riveting read I'm afraid.

A story that ends too quickly leaves the reader wanting more, 05 Jul 2001
This Honourable House is the third Edwina Currie novel to inhabit the author's schizophrenic world where fact and fiction become blurred and the reader is left wondering just now much of what they read is really true. With the election just over, a New Labour-esque government is swept to power with a mandate to reform. Frank Bridges, re-married and newly elevated to the Cabinet seeks to turn his back on his past and his ex-wife, but both conspire against him with horrific consequences. Meanwhile, Diane Clark, the darling of the new administration who enjoys a higher approval rating than the new Prime Minister, tries hard to maintain her Feminist morals and her taste for the younger men of government. Until finally she meets a troubled new intern who makes her realise that perhaps there is something to be said for fidelity and marriage. But as the new lovers plan their future together, their pasts return in a shocking revelation that only the most astute reader will anticipate.

Whilst the Government reels from these revelations, the opposition fair little better. Benedict Ashworth, leader of the New Democrats has both a new role in politics and a new wife. But Jim Betts, newly-promoted Political Editor of the Globe newspaper, and a veteran of Currie's Westminster novels, is convinced there is more to Ashworth than meets the eye. Under pressure to find out more from the Globe's new Editor, Betts discovers the Ashworth secret, a secret that extends into the heart of the Treasury.

Never intended as a trilogy, the three books that form Currie's "Westminster Tales" are nonetheless well crafted and combine a clever mix of fact and fiction. From the silver-haired publicist Clifford Maxwell to the Government's Chief Spin Doctor Alistair McDonald, the reader feels comfortable that this new tale, whilst fictional, is believable and understandable. But unlike both A Parliamentary Affair and A Woman's Place, This Honourable House does not contain the detailed sexual encounters that readers may have become used to. The novel is also shorter than the previous two and suffers because of it. The vast majority of the book is spent crafting the background, but with a very rapid conclusion to the various threads that left me feeling slightly dissatisfied, like an opportunity had been missed. That said, Currie has clearly used her insider knowledge to some advantage and the resulting tale is enjoyable. Having charted the rise and fall of one Government, and the first term of a new, one wonders whether there is not another addition to the Westminster Tales still at large in the Currie mind.

Synopsis from back cover, 28 Oct 2008
Helen Majinsky is sixteen, Jewish and confused. She is also in love, like every Merseyside schoolgirl, with four mop-topped young men, seduced by the Cavern Club and the exciting sound of 1963. In the year The Beatles have the world at their feet, Helen dreams secretly of reaching university and leaving Liverpool.

Her Liverpool. Her world. For a grammar school girl to even consider a future outside the city is to break taboos stronger than the Mersey undertow, and as the prospect of a place at Oxbridge shimmers into view, Helen knows she is restrained by the very forces of stability she longs to escape. But when love intervenes, with Michael Levison, a locally stationed US serviceman, Helen finds the means to break the chains of the old life, and her guide through the hidden dangers of the new....

good, 18 Jul 2001
i thouroughly enjoyed this book and was able to emphasise with the characters and cared what happened to them it was very well written and captured the difficulties facing young people especially women, at that time. i was disapointed to finish the book and found myself wondering what happened to helen and her family

A good read on where we might be in a hundred years., 26 Nov 2000
The story moves along nicely but the best things about the book, which makes it un-put-downable, are the "one liners". Edwina Currie has looked ahead at our future and, as well as seeing stark possibilities there, she takes the chance to remark at the nonsenses that may be left over from today.

A good try but not successful, 21 Mar 1999
I read this on a long flight and somehow I finished it. Maybe because I didn't have anything else to read. Somehow it just missed, but I do admire her for trying to vary her content and style - she couldn't go on writing parliamentary sex novels for ever. I didn't think there was much tension and I didn't really care what happened to the characters.

Interesting and well written, 11 Mar 1999
I quite enjoyed this book, but the author clearly has had her mind mostly on certain developments, so while her thoughts on genetical engineering and the role of media are provocative and interesting, she seems to think that for example computers will evolve only marginally. But it's clearly worth reading.

"well, who'd have thought it!", 17 Feb 2003
This is a novel about the emotional fallout from living life in the public eye; if you're looking for ruthless ambition and backstabbing, look elsewhere. Neither is this an accomplished bonkbuster; readers of erotic fiction will find the sex scenes rather demure, and be startled by the daughter's miserable downfall. the parliamentary innuendos and the excruciatingly realistic bye election are delicious, even though non-tories will sigh at her 1D portrayal of the 'opposition' characters.
On the other hand, i laughed alomost non-stop, and appreciated the explaination of that most unlikely of pairings. It also reminded me how fundamentally naive professional politicians are.
Oh, yes; eggs do feature!

Ambition and lust in the Corridors of Power, 18 Apr 2000
Well, it's certainly value for money - the paperback is the size of a house brick - but it's a bit cumbersome for reading in bed. We follow the adventures of a quartet of Tory MPs, two newly elected, two old hands. They form liaisons with each other, with journalists, with rather iffy strangers, some hetero, some homo. I'm not going to give it away by saying who does what with whom. If that is all there was to it, it would be a pretty routine bonkbuster. Two features set the book apart - the Parliamentary background and the insight into the politicians' mind. The small details of parliamentary daily life give the book interest and some authority. Other people's workplaces are interesting. If you read Magnus Mills' Restraint of Beasts you will learn a lot about the life of a fencing contractor. Mrs Currie's detail about who drinks where, about the Table Office, the appearance of Ministerial offices and so on are fascinating to anyone who is interested in politics. Her characters suffer from all being Tories - there is a one-dimensional quality to them. Money is no problem; children are cared for by au pairs and packed off to tinpot snobschools as soon as possible. Even her characters' names show class bias - the Tories all have mellifluous three-syllable names ( apart from our heroine and her family who are clearly arriviste) - the few working class characters have short sharp names - no poetry there. And whilst we are thinking about names, the whole plot of the book is summed up by the name of the chief male - Roger Dickson ( not even Dixon) Just feel the Freudianism in that ! The book is called 'A Parliamentary Affair' and it focuses upon the impact of several such. But only upon the parliamentary careers of the protagonists. Nobody, at any level, gives a damn about the impact of infidelity on wives, husbands, families, children. All come across as totally self-centred, self-obsessed, self-absorbed. And the last thing any of them seems to consider, ever, is the well-being of the electors who sent them there. The most sympathetic character in the book is our heroine's teenage daughter who is treated appallingly badly by everybody yet ends up canvassing for her mother's re-election. I know that I am not supposed to but I warm to the anti-hero, the tabloid journalist whose mission is to expose Parliamentary antics - I found his comeuppance unconvincing.In a democracy, he is just as necessary as the MPs. I think that Edwina Currie set out with the intention of writing a book on the difficulties of being a woman MP. If that was her intention, then she has failed - what we have been given is 'Bitch on the Make'. It's a good read, but don't bother voting for this bunch of egomaniacs at the next election!

This Honourable House, 04 Feb 2006
Sadly this was nowhere near as interesting or as fun as Currie's first two parliamentary novels. A lot of plot felt rehashed from the other novels and the twist ending painfully predictable. I wasn't expecting a literary classic but I was disappointed at how dull this book was.

A major disappointment, 06 Sep 2001
This book had the makings of a great story. The first two-thirds set out the scene and the main characters. Everything was set for a dramatic finish but my impression was that either the author got bored or was under pressure to finish the book. Whatever the reason, the outcome was a very poor conclusion that left me feeling I had wasted my time.

What a disappointment, 19 Jul 2001
I had very high hopes for this book until I started reading it. The story does not flow at all and too much time is spent explaining the background which makes the story very disjointed. Definitely not this year's most riveting read I'm afraid.

A story that ends too quickly leaves the reader wanting more, 05 Jul 2001
This Honourable House is the third Edwina Currie novel to inhabit the author's schizophrenic world where fact and fiction become blurred and the reader is left wondering just now much of what they read is really true. With the election just over, a New Labour-esque government is swept to power with a mandate to reform. Frank Bridges, re-married and newly elevated to the Cabinet seeks to turn his back on his past and his ex-wife, but both conspire against him with horrific consequences. Meanwhile, Diane Clark, the darling of the new administration who enjoys a higher approval rating than the new Prime Minister, tries hard to maintain her Feminist morals and her taste for the younger men of government. Until finally she meets a troubled new intern who makes her realise that perhaps there is something to be said for fidelity and marriage. But as the new lovers plan their future together, their pasts return in a shocking revelation that only the most astute reader will anticipate.

Whilst the Government reels from these revelations, the opposition fair little better. Benedict Ashworth, leader of the New Democrats has both a new role in politics and a new wife. But Jim Betts, newly-promoted Political Editor of the Globe newspaper, and a veteran of Currie's Westminster novels, is convinced there is more to Ashworth than meets the eye. Under pressure to find out more from the Globe's new Editor, Betts discovers the Ashworth secret, a secret that extends into the heart of the Treasury.

Never intended as a trilogy, the three books that form Currie's "Westminster Tales" are nonetheless well crafted and combine a clever mix of fact and fiction. From the silver-haired publicist Clifford Maxwell to the Government's Chief Spin Doctor Alistair McDonald, the reader feels comfortable that this new tale, whilst fictional, is believable and understandable. But unlike both A Parliamentary Affair and A Woman's Place, This Honourable House does not contain the detailed sexual encounters that readers may have become used to. The novel is also shorter than the previous two and suffers because of it. The vast majority of the book is spent crafting the background, but with a very rapid conclusion to the various threads that left me feeling slightly dissatisfied, like an opportunity had been missed. That said, Currie has clearly used her insider knowledge to some advantage and the resulting tale is enjoyable. Having charted the rise and fall of one Government, and the first term of a new, one wonders whether there is not another addition to the Westminster Tales still at large in the Currie mind.

Synopsis from back cover, 28 Oct 2008
Helen Majinsky is sixteen, Jewish and confused. She is also in love, like every Merseyside schoolgirl, with four mop-topped young men, seduced by the Cavern Club and the exciting sound of 1963. In the year The Beatles have the world at their feet, Helen dreams secretly of reaching university and leaving Liverpool.

Her Liverpool. Her world. For a grammar school girl to even consider a future outside the city is to break taboos stronger than the Mersey undertow, and as the prospect of a place at Oxbridge shimmers into view, Helen knows she is restrained by the very forces of stability she longs to escape. But when love intervenes, with Michael Levison, a locally stationed US serviceman, Helen finds the means to break the chains of the old life, and her guide through the hidden dangers of the new....

good, 18 Jul 2001
i thouroughly enjoyed this book and was able to emphasise with the characters and cared what happened to them it was very well written and captured the difficulties facing young people especially women, at that time. i was disapointed to finish the book and found myself wondering what happened to helen and her family

Intriguing story line, an all round good read, 12 Apr 2001
This being the first Edwina Currie book I have read, I was pleasantly sirprised. Although I found it hard to get into at first, after I had read the first few chapters I was hooked. I have now started reading A Parliamentary Affair, the prequel, this is by far better than A Women's Place, and that's saying something.

No-one can deny that Edwina Currie can always be relied upon to deliver a heady mix of sex, politics and betrayal. The skulduggery of the political scene, of course, is something she knows well, and each of her novels has utilised her insider's eye with maximum skill. This Honourable House is her slickest and most accomplished book yet, with a plot that rings some fascinating changes on her earlier work.

Her politician hero Frank has watched his career reach Cabinet levels, and his distant past (not to mention his school friends who opted for lives of crime) is a mere memory. Of course, he has to cope with the usual baggage of a successful political career: a demanding wife, an equally demanding mistress and an all-knowing adviser who is forcing him to choose between them. Frank's dilemma leads him into some very deep waters, with the misplaced loyalty of his old friends having dire consequences, but his isn't the only story being told here. Social Security secretary Diane shares Frank's chequered past, and she is well known for a sexual appetite that would make even the most libidinous of politicians blush. But her relationship with an attractive new office recruit called Edward is about to make her life just as complicated as Frank's. These two main strands of Currie's narrative are cleverly linked, and she delivers all the drama and unbuttoned sex one might wish for. But her tale is even more ambitious, drawing other characters into a dangerous mix. And while Currie knows how to deliver the kind of entertainment that makes blockbuster novels bestsellers, she is still able to make some pertinent points about politics along the way without once forgetting her principal purpose: to entertain. And that she does effortlessly. --Barry Forshaw

A good read on where we might be in a hundred years., 26 Nov 2000
The story moves along nicely but the best things about the book, which makes it un-put-downable, are the "one liners". Edwina Currie has looked ahead at our future and, as well as seeing stark possibilities there, she takes the chance to remark at the nonsenses that may be left over from today.

A good try but not successful, 21 Mar 1999
I read this on a long flight and somehow I finished it. Maybe because I didn't have anything else to read. Somehow it just missed, but I do admire her for trying to vary her content and style - she couldn't go on writing parliamentary sex novels for ever. I didn't think there was much tension and I didn't really care what happened to the characters.

Interesting and well written, 11 Mar 1999
I quite enjoyed this book, but the author clearly has had her mind mostly on certain developments, so while her thoughts on genetical engineering and the role of media are provocative and interesting, she seems to think that for example computers will evolve only marginally. But it's clearly worth reading.

"well, who'd have thought it!", 17 Feb 2003
This is a novel about the emotional fallout from living life in the public eye; if you're looking for ruthless ambition and backstabbing, look elsewhere. Neither is this an accomplished bonkbuster; readers of erotic fiction will find the sex scenes rather demure, and be startled by the daughter's miserable downfall. the parliamentary innuendos and the excruciatingly realistic bye election are delicious, even though non-tories will sigh at her 1D portrayal of the 'opposition' characters.
On the other hand, i laughed alomost non-stop, and appreciated the explaination of that most unlikely of pairings. It also reminded me how fundamentally naive professional politicians are.
Oh, yes; eggs do feature!

Ambition and lust in the Corridors of Power, 18 Apr 2000
Well, it's certainly value for money - the paperback is the size of a house brick - but it's a bit cumbersome for reading in bed. We follow the adventures of a quartet of Tory MPs, two newly elected, two old hands. They form liaisons with each other, with journalists, with rather iffy strangers, some hetero, some homo. I'm not going to give it away by saying who does what with whom. If that is all there was to it, it would be a pretty routine bonkbuster. Two features set the book apart - the Parliamentary background and the insight into the politicians' mind. The small details of parliamentary daily life give the book interest and some authority. Other people's workplaces are interesting. If you read Magnus Mills' Restraint of Beasts you will learn a lot about the life of a fencing contractor. Mrs Currie's detail about who drinks where, about the Table Office, the appearance of Ministerial offices and so on are fascinating to anyone who is interested in politics. Her characters suffer from all being Tories - there is a one-dimensional quality to them. Money is no problem; children are cared for by au pairs and packed off to tinpot snobschools as soon as possible. Even her characters' names show class bias - the Tories all have mellifluous three-syllable names ( apart from our heroine and her family who are clearly arriviste) - the few working class characters have short sharp names - no poetry there. And whilst we are thinking about names, the whole plot of the book is summed up by the name of the chief male - Roger Dickson ( not even Dixon) Just feel the Freudianism in that ! The book is called 'A Parliamentary Affair' and it focuses upon the impact of several such. But only upon the parliamentary careers of the protagonists. Nobody, at any level, gives a damn about the impact of infidelity on wives, husbands, families, children. All come across as totally self-centred, self-obsessed, self-absorbed. And the last thing any of them seems to consider, ever, is the well-being of the electors who sent them there. The most sympathetic character in the book is our heroine's teenage daughter who is treated appallingly badly by everybody yet ends up canvassing for her mother's re-election. I know that I am not supposed to but I warm to the anti-hero, the tabloid journalist whose mission is to expose Parliamentary antics - I found his comeuppance unconvincing.In a democracy, he is just as necessary as the MPs. I think that Edwina Currie set out with the intention of writing a book on the difficulties of being a woman MP. If that was her intention, then she has failed - what we have been given is 'Bitch on the Make'. It's a good read, but don't bother voting for this bunch of egomaniacs at the next election!

This Honourable House, 04 Feb 2006
Sadly this was nowhere near as interesting or as fun as Currie's first two parliamentary novels. A lot of plot felt rehashed from the other novels and the twist ending painfully predictable. I wasn't expecting a literary classic but I was disappointed at how dull this book was.

A major disappointment, 06 Sep 2001
This book had the makings of a great story. The first two-thirds set out the scene and the main characters. Everything was set for a dramatic finish but my impression was that either the author got bored or was under pressure to finish the book. Whatever the reason, the outcome was a very poor conclusion that left me feeling I had wasted my time.

What a disappointment, 19 Jul 2001
I had very high hopes for this book until I started reading it. The story does not flow at all and too much time is spent explaining the background which makes the story very disjointed. Definitely not this year's most riveting read I'm afraid.

A story that ends too quickly leaves the reader wanting more, 05 Jul 2001
This Honourable House is the third Edwina Currie novel to inhabit the author's schizophrenic world where fact and fiction become blurred and the reader is left wondering just now much of what they read is really true. With the election just over, a New Labour-esque government is swept to power with a mandate to reform. Frank Bridges, re-married and newly elevated to the Cabinet seeks to turn his back on his past and his ex-wife, but both conspire against him with horrific consequences. Meanwhile, Diane Clark, the darling of the new administration who enjoys a higher approval rating than the new Prime Minister, tries hard to maintain her Feminist morals and her taste for the younger men of government. Until finally she meets a troubled new intern who makes her realise that perhaps there is something to be said for fidelity and marriage. But as the new lovers plan their future together, their pasts return in a shocking revelation that only the most astute reader will anticipate.

Whilst the Government reels from these revelations, the opposition fair little better. Benedict Ashworth, leader of the New Democrats has both a new role in politics and a new wife. But Jim Betts, newly-promoted Political Editor of the Globe newspaper, and a veteran of Currie's Westminster novels, is convinced there is more to Ashworth than meets the eye. Under pressure to find out more from the Globe's new Editor, Betts discovers the Ashworth secret, a secret that extends into the heart of the Treasury.

Never intended as a trilogy, the three books that form Currie's "Westminster Tales" are nonetheless well crafted and combine a clever mix of fact and fiction. From the silver-haired publicist Clifford Maxwell to the Government's Chief Spin Doctor Alistair McDonald, the reader feels comfortable that this new tale, whilst fictional, is believable and understandable. But unlike both A Parliamentary Affair and A Woman's Place, This Honourable House does not contain the detailed sexual encounters that readers may have become used to. The novel is also shorter than the previous two and suffers because of it. The vast majority of the book is spent crafting the background, but with a very rapid conclusion to the various threads that left me feeling slightly dissatisfied, like an opportunity had been missed. That said, Currie has clearly used her insider knowledge to some advantage and the resulting tale is enjoyable. Having charted the rise and fall of one Government, and the first term of a new, one wonders whether there is not another addition to the Westminster Tales still at large in the Currie mind.

Synopsis from back cover, 28 Oct 2008
Helen Majinsky is sixteen, Jewish and confused. She is also in love, like every Merseyside schoolgirl, with four mop-topped young men, seduced by the Cavern Club and the exciting sound of 1963. In the year The Beatles have the world at their feet, Helen dreams secretly of reaching university and leaving Liverpool.

Her Liverpool. Her world. For a grammar school girl to even consider a future outside the city is to break taboos stronger than the Mersey undertow, and as the prospect of a place at Oxbridge shimmers into view, Helen knows she is restrained by the very forces of stability she longs to escape. But when love intervenes, with Michael Levison, a locally stationed US serviceman, Helen finds the means to break the chains of the old life, and her guide through the hidden dangers of the new....

good, 18 Jul 2001
i thouroughly enjoyed this book and was able to emphasise with the characters and cared what happened to them it was very well written and captured the difficulties facing young people especially women, at that time. i was disapointed to finish the book and found myself wondering what happened to helen and her family

Intriguing story line, an all round good read, 12 Apr 2001
This being the first Edwina Currie book I have read, I was pleasantly sirprised. Although I found it hard to get into at first, after I had read the first few chapters I was hooked. I have now started reading A Parliamentary Affair, the prequel, this is by far better than A Women's Place, and that's saying something.

This Honourable House, 04 Feb 2006
Sadly this was nowhere near as interesting or as fun as Currie's first two parliamentary novels. A lot of plot felt rehashed from the other novels and the twist ending painfully predictable. I wasn't expecting a literary classic but I was disappointed at how dull this book was.

A major disappointment, 06 Sep 2001
This book had the makings of a great story. The first two-thirds set out the scene and the main characters. Everything was set for a dramatic finish but my impression was that either the author got bored or was under pressure to finish the book. Whatever the reason, the outcome was a very poor conclusion that left me feeling I had wasted my time.

What a disappointment, 19 Jul 2001
I had very high hopes for this book until I started reading it. The story does not flow at all and too much time is spent explaining the background which makes the story very disjointed. Definitely not this year's most riveting read I'm afraid.

A story that ends too quickly leaves the reader wanting more, 05 Jul 2001
This Honourable House is the third Edwina Currie novel to inhabit the author's schizophrenic world where fact and fiction become blurred and the reader is left wondering just now much of what they read is really true. With the election just over, a New Labour-esque government is swept to power with a mandate to reform. Frank Bridges, re-married and newly elevated to the Cabinet seeks to turn his back on his past and his ex-wife, but both conspire against him with horrific consequences. Meanwhile, Diane Clark, the darling of the new administration who enjoys a higher approval rating than the new Prime Minister, tries hard to maintain her Feminist morals and her taste for the younger men of government. Until finally she meets a troubled new intern who makes her realise that perhaps there is something to be said for fidelity and marriage. But as the new lovers plan their future together, their pasts return in a shocking revelation that only the most astute reader will anticipate.

Whilst the Government reels from these revelations, the opposition fair little better. Benedict Ashworth, leader of the New Democrats has both a new role in politics and a new wife. But Jim Betts, newly-promoted Political Editor of the Globe newspaper, and a veteran of Currie's Westminster novels, is convinced there is more to Ashworth than meets the eye. Under pressure to find out more from the Globe's new Editor, Betts discovers the Ashworth secret, a secret that extends into the heart of the Treasury.

Never intended as a trilogy, the three books that form Currie's "Westminster Tales" are nonetheless well crafted and combine a clever mix of fact and fiction. From the silver-haired publicist Clifford Maxwell to the Government's Chief Spin Doctor Alistair McDonald, the reader feels comfortable that this new tale, whilst fictional, is believable and understandable. But unlike both A Parliamentary Affair and A Woman's Place, This Honourable House does not contain the detailed sexual encounters that readers may have become used to. The novel is also shorter than the previous two and suffers because of it. The vast majority of the book is spent crafting the background, but with a very rapid conclusion to the various threads that left me feeling slightly dissatisfied, like an opportunity had been missed. That said, Currie has clearly used her insider knowledge to some advantage and the resulting tale is enjoyable. Having charted the rise and fall of one Government, and the first term of a new, one wonders whether there is not another addition to the Westminster Tales still at large in the Currie mind.

A good read on where we might be in a hundred years., 26 Nov 2000
The story moves along nicely but the best things about the book, which makes it un-put-downable, are the "one liners". Edwina Currie has looked ahead at our future and, as well as seeing stark possibilities there, she takes the chance to remark at the nonsenses that may be left over from today.

A good try but not successful, 21 Mar 1999
I read this on a long flight and somehow I finished it. Maybe because I didn't have anything else to read. Somehow it just missed, but I do admire her for trying to vary her content and style - she couldn't go on writing parliamentary sex novels for ever. I didn't think there was much tension and I didn't really care what happened to the characters.

Interesting and well written, 11 Mar 1999
I quite enjoyed this book, but the author clearly has had her mind mostly on certain developments, so while her thoughts on genetical engineering and the role of media are provocative and interesting, she seems to think that for example computers will evolve only marginally. But it's clearly worth reading.

"well, who'd have thought it!", 17 Feb 2003
This is a novel about the emotional fallout from living life in the public eye; if you're looking for ruthless ambition and backstabbing, look elsewhere. Neither is this an accomplished bonkbuster; readers of erotic fiction will find the sex scenes rather demure, and be startled by the daughter's miserable downfall. the parliamentary innuendos and the excruciatingly realistic bye election are delicious, even though non-tories will sigh at her 1D portrayal of the 'opposition' characters.
On the other hand, i laughed alomost non-stop, and appreciated the explaination of that most unlikely of pairings. It also reminded me how fundamentally naive professional politicians are.
Oh, yes; eggs do feature!

Ambition and lust in the Corridors of Power, 18 Apr 2000
Well, it's certainly value for money - the paperback is the size of a house brick - but it's a bit cumbersome for reading in bed. We follow the adventures of a quartet of Tory MPs, two newly elected, two old hands. They form liaisons with each other, with journalists, with rather iffy strangers, some hetero, some homo. I'm not going to give it away by saying who does what with whom. If that is all there was to it, it would be a pretty routine bonkbuster. Two features set the book apart - the Parliamentary background and the insight into the politicians' mind. The small details of parliamentary daily life give the book interest and some authority. Other people's workplaces are interesting. If you read Magnus Mills' Restraint of Beasts you will learn a lot about the life of a fencing contractor. Mrs Currie's detail about who drinks where, about the Table Office, the appearance of Ministerial offices and so on are fascinating to anyone who is interested in politics. Her characters suffer from all being Tories - there is a one-dimensional quality to them. Money is no problem; children are cared for by au pairs and packed off to tinpot snobschools as soon as possible. Even her characters' names show class bias - the Tories all have mellifluous three-syllable names ( apart from our heroine and her family who are clearly arriviste) - the few working class characters have short sharp names - no poetry there. And whilst we are thinking about names, the whole plot of the book is summed up by the name of the chief male - Roger Dickson ( not even Dixon) Just feel the Freudianism in that ! The book is called 'A Parliamentary Affair' and it focuses upon the impact of several such. But only upon the parliamentary careers of the protagonists. Nobody, at any level, gives a damn about the impact of infidelity on wives, husbands, families, children. All come across as totally self-centred, self-obsessed, self-absorbed. And the last thing any of them seems to consider, ever, is the well-being of the electors who sent them there. The most sympathetic character in the book is our heroine's teenage daughter who is treated appallingly badly by everybody yet ends up canvassing for her mother's re-election. I know that I am not supposed to but I warm to the anti-hero, the tabloid journalist whose mission is to expose Parliamentary antics - I found his comeuppance unconvincing.In a democracy, he is just as necessary as the MPs. I think that Edwina Currie set out with the intention of writing a book on the difficulties of being a woman MP. If that was her intention, then she has failed - what we have been given is 'Bitch on the Make'. It's a good read, but don't bother voting for this bunch of egomaniacs at the next election!

This Honourable House, 04 Feb 2006
Sadly this was nowhere near as interesting or as fun as Currie's first two parliamentary novels. A lot of plot felt rehashed from the other novels and the twist ending painfully predictable. I wasn't expecting a literary classic but I was disappointed at how dull this book was.

A major disappointment, 06 Sep 2001
This book had the makings of a great story. The first two-thirds set out the scene and the main characters. Everything was set for a dramatic finish but my impression was that either the author got bored or was under pressure to finish the book. Whatever the reason, the outcome was a very poor conclusion that left me feeling I had wasted my time.

What a disappointment, 19 Jul 2001
I had very high hopes for this book until I started reading it. The story does not flow at all and too much time is spent explaining the background which makes the story very disjointed. Definitely not this year's most riveting read I'm afraid.

A story that ends too quickly leaves the reader wanting more, 05 Jul 2001
This Honourable House is the third Edwina Currie novel to inhabit the author's schizophrenic world where fact and fiction become blurred and the reader is left wondering just now much of what they read is really true. With the election just over, a New Labour-esque government is swept to power with a mandate to reform. Frank Bridges, re-married and newly elevated to the Cabinet seeks to turn his back on his past and his ex-wife, but both conspire against him with horrific consequences. Meanwhile, Diane Clark, the darling of the new administration who enjoys a higher approval rating than the new Prime Minister, tries hard to maintain her Feminist morals and her taste for the younger men of government. Until finally she meets a troubled new intern who makes her realise that perhaps there is something to be said for fidelity and marriage. But as the new lovers plan their future together, their pasts return in a shocking revelation that only the most astute reader will anticipate.

Whilst the Government reels from these revelations, the opposition fair little better. Benedict Ashworth, leader of the New Democrats has both a new role in politics and a new wife. But Jim Betts, newly-promoted Political Editor of the Globe newspaper, and a veteran of Currie's Westminster novels, is convinced there is more to Ashworth than meets the eye. Under pressure to find out more from the Globe's new Editor, Betts discovers the Ashworth secret, a secret that extends into the heart of the Treasury.

Never intended as a trilogy, the three books that form Currie's "Westminster Tales" are nonetheless well crafted and combine a clever mix of fact and fiction. From the silver-haired publicist Clifford Maxwell to the Government's Chief Spin Doctor Alistair McDonald, the reader feels comfortable that this new tale, whilst fictional, is believable and understandable. But unlike both A Parliamentary Affair and A Woman's Place, This Honourable House does not contain the detailed sexual encounters that readers may have become used to. The novel is also shorter than the previous two and suffers because of it. The vast majority of the book is spent crafting the background, but with a very rapid conclusion to the various threads that left me feeling slightly dissatisfied, like an opportunity had been missed. That said, Currie has clearly used her insider knowledge to some advantage and the resulting tale is enjoyable. Having charted the rise and fall of one Government, and the first term of a new, one wonders whether there is not another addition to the Westminster Tales still at large in the Currie mind.

Synopsis from back cover, 28 Oct 2008
Helen Majinsky is sixteen, Jewish and confused. She is also in love, like every Merseyside schoolgirl, with four mop-topped young men, seduced by the Cavern Club and the exciting sound of 1963. In the year The Beatles have the world at their feet, Helen dreams secretly of reaching university and leaving Liverpool.

Her Liverpool. Her world. For a grammar school girl to even consider a future outside the city is to break taboos stronger than the Mersey undertow, and as the prospect of a place at Oxbridge shimmers into view, Helen knows she is restrained by the very forces of stability she longs to escape. But when love intervenes, with Michael Levison, a locally stationed US serviceman, Helen finds the means to break the chains of the old life, and her guide through the hidden dangers of the new....

good, 18 Jul 2001
i thouroughly enjoyed this book and was able to emphasise with the characters and cared what happened to them it was very well written and captured the difficulties facing young people especially women, at that time. i was disapointed to finish the book and found myself wondering what happened to helen and her family

Intriguing story line, an all round good read, 12 Apr 2001
This being the first Edwina Currie book I have read, I was pleasantly sirprised. Although I found it hard to get into at first, after I had read the first few chapters I was hooked. I have now started reading A Parliamentary Affair, the prequel, this is by far better than A Women's Place, and that's saying something.

This Honourable House, 04 Feb 2006
Sadly this was nowhere near as interesting or as fun as Currie's first two parliamentary novels. A lot of plot felt rehashed from the other novels and the twist ending painfully predictable. I wasn't expecting a literary classic but I was disappointed at how dull this book was.

A major disappointment, 06 Sep 2001
This book had the makings of a great story. The first two-thirds set out the scene and the main characters. Everything was set for a dramatic finish but my impression was that either the author got bored or was under pressure to finish the book. Whatever the reason, the outcome was a very poor conclusion that left me feeling I had wasted my time.

What a disappointment, 19 Jul 2001
I had very high hopes for this book until I started reading it. The story does not flow at all and too much time is spent explaining the background which makes the story very disjointed. Definitely not this year's most riveting read I'm afraid.

A story that ends too quickly leaves the reader wanting more, 05 Jul 2001
This Honourable House is the third Edwina Currie novel to inhabit the author's schizophrenic world where fact and fiction become blurred and the reader is left wondering just now much of what they read is really true. With the election just over, a New Labour-esque government is swept to power with a mandate to reform. Frank Bridges, re-married and newly elevated to the Cabinet seeks to turn his back on his past and his ex-wife, but both conspire against him with horrific consequences. Meanwhile, Diane Clark, the darling of the new administration who enjoys a higher approval rating than the new Prime Minister, tries hard to maintain her Feminist morals and her taste for the younger men of government. Until finally she meets a troubled new intern who makes her realise that perhaps there is something to be said for fidelity and marriage. But as the new lovers plan their future together, their pasts return in a shocking revelation that only the most astute reader will anticipate.

Whilst the Government reels from these revelations, the opposition fair little better. Benedict Ashworth, leader of the New Democrats has both a new role in politics and a new wife. But Jim Betts, newly-promoted Political Editor of the Globe newspaper, and a veteran of Currie's Westminster novels, is convinced there is more to Ashworth than meets the eye. Under pressure to find out more from the Globe's new Editor, Betts discovers the Ashworth secret, a secret that extends into the heart of the Treasury.

Never intended as a trilogy, the three books that form Currie's "Westminster Tales" are nonetheless well crafted and combine a clever mix of fact and fiction. From the silver-haired publicist Clifford Maxwell to the Government's Chief Spin Doctor Alistair McDonald, the reader feels comfortable that this new tale, whilst fictional, is believable and understandable. But unlike both A Parliamentary Affair and A Woman's Place, This Honourable House does not contain the detailed sexual encounters that readers may have become used to. The novel is also shorter than the previous two and suffers because of it. The vast majority of the book is spent crafting the background, but with a very rapid conclusion to the various threads that left me feeling slightly dissatisfied, like an opportunity had been missed. That said, Currie has clearly used her insider knowledge to some advantage and the resulting tale is enjoyable. Having charted the rise and fall of one Government, and the first term of a new, one wonders whether there is not another addition to the Westminster Tales still at large in the Currie mind.

Synopsis from back cover, 28 Oct 2008
Helen Majinsky is sixteen, Jewish and confused. She is also in love, like every Merseyside schoolgirl, with four mop-topped young men, seduced by the Cavern Club and the exciting sound of 1963. In the year The Beatles have the world at their feet, Helen dreams secretly of reaching university and leaving Liverpool.

Her Liverpool. Her world. For a grammar school girl to even consider a future outside the city is to break taboos stronger than the Mersey undertow, and as the prospect of a place at Oxbridge shimmers into view, Helen knows she is restrained by the very forces of stability she longs to escape. But when love intervenes, with Michael Levison, a locally stationed US serviceman, Helen finds the means to break the chains of the old life, and her guide through the hidden dangers of the new....

good, 18 Jul 2001
i thouroughly enjoyed this book and was able to emphasise with the characters and cared what happened to them it was very well written and captured the difficulties facing young people especially women, at that time. i was disapointed to finish the book and found myself wondering what happened to helen and her family

A good read on where we might be in a hundred years., 26 Nov 2000
The story moves along nicely but the best things about the book, which makes it un-put-downable, are the "one liners". Edwina Currie has looked ahead at our future and, as well as seeing stark possibilities there, she takes the chance to remark at the nonsenses that may be left over from today.

A good try but not successful, 21 Mar 1999
I read this on a long flight and somehow I finished it. Maybe because I didn't have anything else to read. Somehow it just missed, but I do admire her for trying to vary her content and style - she couldn't go on writing parliamentary sex novels for ever. I didn't think there was much tension and I didn't really care what happened to the characters.

Interesting and well written, 11 Mar 1999
I quite enjoyed this book, but the author clearly has had her mind mostly on certain developments, so while her thoughts on genetical engineering and the role of media are provocative and interesting, she seems to think that for example computers will evolve only marginally. But it's clearly worth reading.

"well, who'd have thought it!", 17 Feb 2003
This is a novel about the emotional fallout from living life in the public eye; if you're looking for ruthless ambition and backstabbing, look elsewhere. Neither is this an accomplished bonkbuster; readers of erotic fiction will find the sex scenes rather demure, and be startled by the daughter's miserable downfall. the parliamentary innuendos and the excruciatingly realistic bye election are delicious, even though non-tories will sigh at her 1D portrayal of the 'opposition' characters.
On the other hand, i laughed alomost non-stop, and appreciated the explaination of that most unlikely of pairings. It also reminded me how fundamentally naive professional politicians are.
Oh, yes; eggs do feature!

Ambition and lust in the Corridors of Power, 18 Apr 2000
Well, it's certainly value for money - the paperback is the size of a house brick - but it's a bit cumbersome for reading in bed. We follow the adventures of a quartet of Tory MPs, two newly elected, two old hands. They form liaisons with each other, with journalists, with rather iffy strangers, some hetero, some homo. I'm not going to give it away by saying who does what with whom. If that is all there was to it, it would be a pretty routine bonkbuster. Two features set the book apart - the Parliamentary background and the insight into the politicians' mind. The small details of parliamentary daily life give the book interest and some authority. Other people's workplaces are interesting. If you read Magnus Mills' Restraint of Beasts you will learn a lot about the life of a fencing contractor. Mrs Currie's detail about who drinks where, about the Table Office, the appearance of Ministerial offices and so on are fascinating to anyone who is interested in politics. Her characters suffer from all being Tories - there is a one-dimensional quality to them. Money is no problem; children are cared for by au pairs and packed off to tinpot snobschools as soon as possible. Even her characters' names show class bias - the Tories all have mellifluous three-syllable names ( apart from our heroine and her family who are clearly arriviste) - the few working class characters have short sharp names - no poetry there. And whilst we are thinking about names, the whole plot of the book is summed up by the name of the chief male - Roger Dickson ( not even Dixon) Just feel the Freudianism in that ! The book is called 'A Parliamentary Affair' and it focuses upon the impact of several such. But only upon the parliamentary careers of the protagonists. Nobody, at any level, gives a damn about the impact of infidelity on wives, husbands, families, children. All come across as totally self-centred, self-obsessed, self-absorbed. And the last thing any of them seems to consider, ever, is the well-being of the electors who sent them there. The most sympathetic character in the book is our heroine's teenage daughter who is treated appallingly badly by everybody yet ends up canvassing for her mother's re-election. I know that I am not supposed to but I warm to the anti-hero, the tabloid journalist whose mission is to expose Parliamentary antics - I found his comeuppance unconvincing.In a democracy, he is just as necessary as the MPs. I think that Edwina Currie set out with the intention of writing a book on the difficulties of being a woman MP. If that was her intention, then she has failed - what we have been given is 'Bitch on the Make'. It's a good read, but don't bother voting for this bunch of egomaniacs at the next election!

This Honourable House, 04 Feb 2006
Sadly this was nowhere near as interesting or as fun as Currie's first two parliamentary novels. A lot of plot felt rehashed from the other novels and the twist ending painfully predictable. I wasn't expecting a literary classic but I was disappointed at how dull this book was.

A major disappointment, 06 Sep 2001
This book had the makings of a great story. The first two-thirds set out the scene and the main characters. Everything was set for a dramatic finish but my impression was that either the author got bored or was under pressure to finish the book. Whatever the reason, the outcome was a very poor conclusion that left me feeling I had wasted my time.

What a disappointment, 19 Jul 2001
I had very high hopes for this book until I started reading it. The story does not flow at all and too much time is spent explaining the background which makes the story very disjointed. Definitely not this year's most riveting read I'm afraid.

A story that ends too quickly leaves the reader wanting more, 05 Jul 2001
This Honourable House is the third Edwina Currie novel to inhabit the author's schizophrenic world where fact and fiction become blurred and the reader is left wondering just now much of what they read is really true. With the election just over, a New Labour-esque government is swept to power with a mandate to reform. Frank Bridges, re-married and newly elevated to the Cabinet seeks to turn his back on his past and his ex-wife, but both conspire against him with horrific consequences. Meanwhile, Diane Clark, the darling of the new administration who enjoys a higher approval rating than the new Prime Minister, tries hard to maintain her Feminist morals and her taste for the younger men of government. Until finally she meets a troubled new intern who makes her realise that perhaps there is something to be said for fidelity and marriage. But as the new lovers plan their future together, their pasts return in a shocking revelation that only the most astute reader will anticipate.

Whilst the Government reels from these revelations, the opposition fair little better. Benedict Ashworth, leader of the New Democrats has both a new role in politics and a new wife. But Jim Betts, newly-promoted Political Editor of the Globe newspaper, and a veteran of Currie's Westminster novels, is convinced there is more to Ashworth than meets the eye. Under pressure to find out more from the Globe's new Editor, Betts discovers the Ashworth secret, a secret that extends into the heart of the Treasury.

Never intended as a trilogy, the three books that form Currie's "Westminster Tales" are nonetheless well crafted and combine a clever mix of fact and fiction. From the silver-haired publicist Clifford Maxwell to the Government's Chief Spin Doctor Alistair McDonald, the reader feels comfortable that this new tale, whilst fictional, is believable and understandable. But unlike both A Parliamentary Affair and A Woman's Place, This Honourable House does not contain the detailed sexual encounters that readers may have become used to. The novel is also shorter than the previous two and suffers because of it. The vast majority of the book is spent crafting the background, but with a very rapid conclusion to the various threads that left me feeling slightly dissatisfied, like an opportunity had been missed. That said, Currie has clearly used her insider knowledge to some advantage and the resulting tale is enjoyable. Having charted the rise and fall of one Government, and the first term of a new, one wonders whether there is not another addition to the Westminster Tales still at large in the Currie mind.

Synopsis from back cover, 28 Oct 2008
Helen Majinsky is sixteen, Jewish and confused. She is also in love, like every Merseyside schoolgirl, with four mop-topped young men, seduced by the Cavern Club and the exciting sound of 1963. In the year The Beatles have the world at their feet, Helen dreams secretly of reaching university and leaving Liverpool.

Her Liverpool. Her world. For a grammar school girl to even consider a future outside the city is to break taboos stronger than the Mersey undertow, and as the prospect of a place at Oxbridge shimmers into view, Helen knows she is restrained by the very forces of stability she longs to escape. But when love intervenes, with Michael Levison, a locally stationed US serviceman, Helen finds the means to break the chains of the old life, and her guide through the hidden dangers of the new....

good, 18 Jul 2001
i thouroughly enjoyed this book and was able to emphasise with the characters and cared what happened to them it was very well written and captured the difficulties facing young people especially women, at that time. i was disapointed to finish the book and found myself wondering what happened to helen and her family

Intriguing story line, an all round good read, 12 Apr 2001
This being the first Edwina Currie book I have read, I was pleasantly sirprised. Although I found it hard to get into at first, after I had read the first few chapters I was hooked. I have now started reading A Parliamentary Affair, the prequel, this is by far better than A Women's Place, and that's saying something.

This Honourable House, 04 Feb 2006
Sadly this was nowhere near as interesting or as fun as Currie's first two parliamentary novels. A lot of plot felt rehashed from the other novels and the twist ending painfully predictable. I wasn't expecting a literary classic but I was disappointed at how dull this book was.

A major disappointment, 06 Sep 2001
This book had the makings of a great story. The first two-thirds set out the scene and the main characters. Everything was set for a dramatic finish but my impression was that either the author got bored or was under pressure to finish the book. Whatever the reason, the outcome was a very poor conclusion that left me feeling I had wasted my time.

What a disappointment, 19 Jul 2001
I had very high hopes for this book until I started reading it. The story does not flow at all and too much time is spent explaining the background which makes the story very disjointed. Definitely not this year's most riveting read I'm afraid.

A story that ends too quickly leaves the reader wanting more, 05 Jul 2001
This Honourable House is the third Edwina Currie novel to inhabit the author's schizophrenic world where fact and fiction become blurred and the reader is left wondering just now much of what they read is really true. With the election just over, a New Labour-esque government is swept to power with a mandate to reform. Frank Bridges, re-married and newly elevated to the Cabinet seeks to turn his back on his past and his ex-wife, but both conspire against him with horrific consequences. Meanwhile, Diane Clark, the darling of the new administration who enjoys a higher approval rating than the new Prime Minister, tries hard to maintain her Feminist morals and her taste for the younger men of government. Until finally she meets a troubled new intern who makes her realise that perhaps there is something to be said for fidelity and marriage. But as the new lovers plan their future together, their pasts return in a shocking revelation that only the most astute reader will anticipate.

Whilst the Government reels from these revelations, the opposition fair little better. Benedict Ashworth, leader of the New Democrats has both a new role in politics and a new wife. But Jim Betts, newly-promoted Political Editor of the Globe newspaper, and a veteran of Currie's Westminster novels, is convinced there is more to Ashworth than meets the eye. Under pressure to find out more from the Globe's new Editor, Betts discovers the Ashworth secret, a secret that extends into the heart of the Treasury.

Never intended as a trilogy, the three books that form Currie's "Westminster Tales" are nonetheless well crafted and combine a clever mix of fact and fiction. From the silver-haired publicist Clifford Maxwell to the Government's Chief Spin Doctor Alistair McDonald, the reader feels comfortable that this new tale, whilst fictional, is believable and understandable. But unlike both A Parliamentary Affair and A Woman's Place, This Honourable House does not contain the detailed sexual encounters that readers may have become used to. The novel is also shorter than the previous two and suffers because of it. The vast majority of the book is spent crafting the background, but with a very rapid conclusion to the various threads that left me feeling slightly dissatisfied, like an opportunity had been missed. That said, Currie has clearly used her insider knowledge to some advantage and the resulting tale is enjoyable. Having charted the rise and fall of one Government, and the first term of a new, one wonders whether there is not another addition to the Westminster Tales still at large in the Currie mind.

Synopsis from back cover, 28 Oct 2008
Helen Majinsky is sixteen, Jewish and confused. She is also in love, like every Merseyside schoolgirl, with four mop-topped young men, seduced by the Cavern Club and the exciting sound of 1963. In the year The Beatles have the world at their feet, Helen dreams secretly of reaching university and leaving Liverpool.

Her Liverpool. Her world. For a grammar school girl to even consider a future outside the city is to break taboos stronger than the Mersey undertow, and as the prospect of a place at Oxbridge shimmers into view, Helen knows she is restrained by the very forces of stability she longs to escape. But when love intervenes, with Michael Levison, a locally stationed US serviceman, Helen finds the means to break the chains of the old life, and her guide through the hidden dangers of the new....

good, 18 Jul 2001
i thouroughly enjoyed this book and was able to emphasise with the characters and cared what happened to them it was very well written and captured the difficulties facing young people especially women, at that time. i was disapointed to finish the book and found myself wondering what happened to helen and her family

Intriguing story line, an all round good read, 12 Apr 2001
This being the first Edwina Currie book I have read, I was pleasantly sirprised. Although I found it hard to get into at first, after I had read the first few chapters I was hooked. I have now started reading A Parliamentary Affair, the prequel, this is by far better than A Women's Place, and that's saying something.

No-one can deny that Edwina Currie can always be relied upon to deliver a heady mix of sex, politics and betrayal. The skulduggery of the political scene, of course, is something she knows well, and each of her novels has utilised her insider's eye with maximum skill. This Honourable House is her slickest and most accomplished book yet, with a plot that rings some fascinating changes on her earlier work.

Her politician hero Frank has watched his career reach Cabinet levels, and his distant past (not to mention his school friends who opted for lives of crime) is a mere memory. Of course, he has to cope with the usual baggage of a successful political career: a demanding wife, an equally demanding mistress and an all-knowing adviser who is forcing him to choose between them. Frank's dilemma leads him into some very deep waters, with the misplaced loyalty of his old friends having dire consequences, but his isn't the only story being told here. Social Security secretary Diane shares Frank's chequered past, and she is well known for a sexual appetite that would make even the most libidinous of politicians blush. But her relationship with an attractive new office recruit called Edward is about to make her life just as complicated as Frank's. These two main strands of Currie's narrative are cleverly linked, and she delivers all the drama and unbuttoned sex one might wish for. But her tale is even more ambitious, drawing other characters into a dangerous mix. And while Currie knows how to deliver the kind of entertainment that makes blockbuster novels bestsellers, she is still able to make some pertinent points about politics along the way without once forgetting her principal purpose: to entertain. And that she does effortlessly. --Barry Forshaw

A good read on where we might be in a hundred years., 26 Nov 2000
The story moves along nicely but the best things about the book, which makes it un-put-downable, are the "one liners". Edwina Currie has looked ahead at our future and, as well as seeing stark possibilities there, she takes the chance to remark at the nonsenses that may be left over from today.

A good try but not successful, 21 Mar 1999
I read this on a long flight and somehow I finished it. Maybe because I didn't have anything else to read. Somehow it just missed, but I do admire her for trying to vary her content and style - she couldn't go on writing parliamentary sex novels for ever. I didn't think there was much tension and I didn't really care what happened to the characters.

Interesting and well written, 11 Mar 1999
I quite enjoyed this book, but the author clearly has had her mind mostly on certain developments, so while her thoughts on genetical engineering and the role of media are provocative and interesting, she seems to think that for example computers will evolve only marginally. But it's clearly worth reading.

"well, who'd have thought it!", 17 Feb 2003
This is a novel about the emotional fallout from living life in the public eye; if you're looking for ruthless ambition and backstabbing, look elsewhere. Neither is this an accomplished bonkbuster; readers of erotic fiction will find the sex scenes rather demure, and be startled by the daughter's miserable downfall. the parliamentary innuendos and the excruciatingly realistic bye election are delicious, even though non-tories will sigh at her 1D portrayal of the 'opposition' characters.
On the other hand, i laughed alomost non-stop, and appreciated the explaination of that most unlikely of pairings. It also reminded me how fundamentally naive professional politicians are.
Oh, yes; eggs do feature!

Ambition and lust in the Corridors of Power