"There are changes now but they won't last, we'll become used to them." , 26 Jun 2008
In Friday Nights Joanna Trollope mixes in a variety of women's social issues into a contemporary comedy of manners when a group of women meet to share their Friday nights together. Little do these women realize that when a stranger enters their fold that the delicate balance in the form of shared friendships and gentle confidences will eventually become challenged.

Finally retired after years working in the health industry in and around the Fulham area of London, Eleanor has a chance to refect on her life, that has been defined mostly by her work. Although Eleanor doesn't exactly regret the fact that she never married and had children, she's not necessarily prepared to face this consummate gap in her time. Its not until that crucial structure has gone, and that it has taken everyone at work with it, that she suddenly comes to the recognition that there is no domestic life to fall back on. Therefore, it comes as no surprise that she's quite keen to invite two young single mothers, Paula and Leslie over for Friday night drinks, along with pate, French bread, and chocolate.

Soon enough, three other women are attending: Blaise and her business partner Karen, both owners of Workwell, an agency that specializes in persuading organizations to change the way that they work; and Jude, Leslie's younger sister, who loves house music and wants one day to be a popular disc jockey. At the center of the group, Paula has weathered much of life's worries, especially with regard to the well being of her teenage son Toby. Now with a new flat, funded largely by the father of Toby, and her job managing a store specializing in uncompromising dark furniture from Indonesia, Paula is finally at a point where she can finds a measure of security.

Meanwhile, Linsday with "her white knuckle grip on life" tries to rise above her ramshackle childhood. Recently widowed with her son Noah to care for, she envies Paula's extraordinary energy, this life force and this urge that she has to thow herself into things even at the risk of drowning. When Linsday was suddenly widowed a few years ago only Paula was there. Her wayward sister Jules certainly offered no support or consolation and the memories of those hard years constantly make her flinch and cringe.

True to form Karen and Blaise are hard workers and have done their best to make their fledging business a success. Lately however, Karen has become ever more distracted with domestic life, with her two young girls, Poppy and Rose, and her artist husband Lucas who refuses to shoulder many of the financial burdens of the household. Blaise, by contrast, feels herself becoming ever more focused on her career, her different approach and attitude to work pulling her further apart from Karen rather than fusing the two of them together. From the very first page it is established that Blaise has far wider horizons than Karen whose loving family responsibities ultimately are her shackle.

When the author introduces a new character, Paula's new beau, the personal and enigmatic Jackson, this brittle dynamic is subtly altered and although these women would never admit it, there relationships with each other are destined to change. At first, Jackson's affability and charming ways seem an easy fit for the group - he's sympathetic towards Eleanor's hip pains, is even interested in financing Jules's bourgening music career even as he seems to want to make Paula happy by forging a companionable relationship with Toby. Indeed he wants to get to know the rest of the group in an easy and undemanding way that proves to be a powerful combination.

Jackson is a man not obviously encumbered by his personal past, and his curiously imaginative efforts to make himself one of the group are endearing at best. Soon enough, however, his presence is causing these women to question their marriages and their lives, their feelings for themselves, and more importantly for each other. Even as Eleanor sees something opaque about him, something quite puzzling that she can't quite put her finger on, the rest of the women are suddenly beginning to turning against each other, all of them floundering about in a swamp of ill-defined anger and resentment.

Clearly though the women have no choice but to keep soldiering on. Paula remains at the novel's heart, unquestionably enamored of Jackson, mainly because he liberates her from all "the little ropes of anxiety and self-discipline," that has kept the poor and battered Linsday tethered to a life of self-imposed orderliness. Indeed, all of Trollope's women - and men - are constantly battered by life's hopes and dreams, their identities defined by their marriages or their families - or in Eleanor and Blaise's case - their work. Meanwhile, they must all face the hard realisation that sometimes getting out of the situations they have made in life is difficult at best and impossible at worst.

Certainly, the wise and consoling Eleanor remains the den-mother of her brood friends as they move around in a type of dance, some leaving the circle and some returning to it. Continuing with her smartly held observations on the lives, loves, and travails of the British middle class, Trollope's themes of work, marriage, and family - while not unique - add much flavor to this novel. The result is a perfectly stewed brew of contemporary English manners involving a variety of appealing characters that have flung themselves into their particular emotions and into the lives of others, regardless of the inevitable outcomes. Mike Leonard June 2008


Relationship Saga, 26 May 2008
Just finished the latest Trollope novel.
Have read all her previous works, so eagerly await each new offering.
This is not her best, but its still very readable and slowly draws you in.
The characters are hit and miss - and some of the situations are way out of Trollopes comfort zone (reading about going to a Chelsea match made me wince - as a regular attender of League one football matches having Trollope write about Chelsea Football sums up totally whats wrong with Premiership football and her account is cringey).
Its worth a read, but no great emotional punches and i hope next time for better.


Friday Nights, 19 Apr 2008
How I wish I'd read Amazon readers' reviews of this novel before buying it. For weeks I've been forcing myself to 'give it another go' but time after time I've failed to become engrossed in the characters' lives. Such a disappointment from one of my favourite authors.

Best trollopw book I have read so far!!, 30 Mar 2008
This, for me, was a "can't put down" type of book!! I have read Joanna Trollope before, but have never emphasized with the characters so well, as I have in the latest, brilliants novel. The main character, Eleanor, is absolutely, quietly but stunningly brilliant as the one who really " who holds it all together"! Cannot praise it highly enough! Am now inspired to re-read and try even more Trollope!

So So, 26 Mar 2008
I think I was drawn to the title after reading the fabulous Friday Night Knitting Club. It started out with the promise of a good read but I managed to put it down - for days! I kept trying to get into it again and then just gave it a good go to finish. Still thought 'something' would happen until I reached the last few pages - it never did. It was OK but I wouldn't have missed anything if I hadn't picked it up to read.

"There are changes now but they won't last, we'll become used to them." , 26 Jun 2008
In Friday Nights Joanna Trollope mixes in a variety of women's social issues into a contemporary comedy of manners when a group of women meet to share their Friday nights together. Little do these women realize that when a stranger enters their fold that the delicate balance in the form of shared friendships and gentle confidences will eventually become challenged.

Finally retired after years working in the health industry in and around the Fulham area of London, Eleanor has a chance to refect on her life, that has been defined mostly by her work. Although Eleanor doesn't exactly regret the fact that she never married and had children, she's not necessarily prepared to face this consummate gap in her time. Its not until that crucial structure has gone, and that it has taken everyone at work with it, that she suddenly comes to the recognition that there is no domestic life to fall back on. Therefore, it comes as no surprise that she's quite keen to invite two young single mothers, Paula and Leslie over for Friday night drinks, along with pate, French bread, and chocolate.

Soon enough, three other women are attending: Blaise and her business partner Karen, both owners of Workwell, an agency that specializes in persuading organizations to change the way that they work; and Jude, Leslie's younger sister, who loves house music and wants one day to be a popular disc jockey. At the center of the group, Paula has weathered much of life's worries, especially with regard to the well being of her teenage son Toby. Now with a new flat, funded largely by the father of Toby, and her job managing a store specializing in uncompromising dark furniture from Indonesia, Paula is finally at a point where she can finds a measure of security.

Meanwhile, Linsday with "her white knuckle grip on life" tries to rise above her ramshackle childhood. Recently widowed with her son Noah to care for, she envies Paula's extraordinary energy, this life force and this urge that she has to thow herself into things even at the risk of drowning. When Linsday was suddenly widowed a few years ago only Paula was there. Her wayward sister Jules certainly offered no support or consolation and the memories of those hard years constantly make her flinch and cringe.

True to form Karen and Blaise are hard workers and have done their best to make their fledging business a success. Lately however, Karen has become ever more distracted with domestic life, with her two young girls, Poppy and Rose, and her artist husband Lucas who refuses to shoulder many of the financial burdens of the household. Blaise, by contrast, feels herself becoming ever more focused on her career, her different approach and attitude to work pulling her further apart from Karen rather than fusing the two of them together. From the very first page it is established that Blaise has far wider horizons than Karen whose loving family responsibities ultimately are her shackle.

When the author introduces a new character, Paula's new beau, the personal and enigmatic Jackson, this brittle dynamic is subtly altered and although these women would never admit it, there relationships with each other are destined to change. At first, Jackson's affability and charming ways seem an easy fit for the group - he's sympathetic towards Eleanor's hip pains, is even interested in financing Jules's bourgening music career even as he seems to want to make Paula happy by forging a companionable relationship with Toby. Indeed he wants to get to know the rest of the group in an easy and undemanding way that proves to be a powerful combination.

Jackson is a man not obviously encumbered by his personal past, and his curiously imaginative efforts to make himself one of the group are endearing at best. Soon enough, however, his presence is causing these women to question their marriages and their lives, their feelings for themselves, and more importantly for each other. Even as Eleanor sees something opaque about him, something quite puzzling that she can't quite put her finger on, the rest of the women are suddenly beginning to turning against each other, all of them floundering about in a swamp of ill-defined anger and resentment.

Clearly though the women have no choice but to keep soldiering on. Paula remains at the novel's heart, unquestionably enamored of Jackson, mainly because he liberates her from all "the little ropes of anxiety and self-discipline," that has kept the poor and battered Linsday tethered to a life of self-imposed orderliness. Indeed, all of Trollope's women - and men - are constantly battered by life's hopes and dreams, their identities defined by their marriages or their families - or in Eleanor and Blaise's case - their work. Meanwhile, they must all face the hard realisation that sometimes getting out of the situations they have made in life is difficult at best and impossible at worst.

Certainly, the wise and consoling Eleanor remains the den-mother of her brood friends as they move around in a type of dance, some leaving the circle and some returning to it. Continuing with her smartly held observations on the lives, loves, and travails of the British middle class, Trollope's themes of work, marriage, and family - while not unique - add much flavor to this novel. The result is a perfectly stewed brew of contemporary English manners involving a variety of appealing characters that have flung themselves into their particular emotions and into the lives of others, regardless of the inevitable outcomes. Mike Leonard June 2008


Relationship Saga, 26 May 2008
Just finished the latest Trollope novel.
Have read all her previous works, so eagerly await each new offering.
This is not her best, but its still very readable and slowly draws you in.
The characters are hit and miss - and some of the situations are way out of Trollopes comfort zone (reading about going to a Chelsea match made me wince - as a regular attender of League one football matches having Trollope write about Chelsea Football sums up totally whats wrong with Premiership football and her account is cringey).
Its worth a read, but no great emotional punches and i hope next time for better.


Friday Nights, 19 Apr 2008
How I wish I'd read Amazon readers' reviews of this novel before buying it. For weeks I've been forcing myself to 'give it another go' but time after time I've failed to become engrossed in the characters' lives. Such a disappointment from one of my favourite authors.

Best trollopw book I have read so far!!, 30 Mar 2008
This, for me, was a "can't put down" type of book!! I have read Joanna Trollope before, but have never emphasized with the characters so well, as I have in the latest, brilliants novel. The main character, Eleanor, is absolutely, quietly but stunningly brilliant as the one who really " who holds it all together"! Cannot praise it highly enough! Am now inspired to re-read and try even more Trollope!

So So, 26 Mar 2008
I think I was drawn to the title after reading the fabulous Friday Night Knitting Club. It started out with the promise of a good read but I managed to put it down - for days! I kept trying to get into it again and then just gave it a good go to finish. Still thought 'something' would happen until I reached the last few pages - it never did. It was OK but I wouldn't have missed anything if I hadn't picked it up to read.

Well written, as usual, 23 Apr 2008
Another well written novel by Ms Trollope, whose narrative flair manages to hold your attention even when you get annoyed by some of the narrow caricatures she presents. Clodagh comes across as the stereoptypical lesbian. But Trollopes books are full of stereotypes. Normally though they are of working class people, who are almost always portrayed as dull-witted, lecherous, or criminal, and sometimes all three. In Trollopes world, only the Upper Middle class do anything worthwhile; and even when they sin it's for noble reasons. Adulterous upper middle class husbands are free spirits; transfer their behaviour to working class men, and they are merely lechers. Similarly, lower class women are sluts, whereas promiscuity among upper middle class women is mere temperament.

Despite the kind of narrow minded shortcomings described above, I like her books. I can't wait to find out if she ever produces a sympathetic characterisation of a working class person. It seems unlikely!

Blue Peter Lesbians, 17 Feb 2007
Lesbian books are a rarer commodity then id like them to be, and so when i find out about this kind of book im much more inclined to like it then your average novel.

A Village Affair is a book about lesbians by someone who seems to have no understanding about the feelings involved in these sorts of relationships. It tells the story of Alice, a brattish and unlikeable character from page one, who begrudgingly moves to a cottage in an insular and prosperous village.

She meets Clodagh, another character i was completely indifferent yo, and the two of them begin an affair. But its so unconvincing - the way they get together for example, is frankly ridiculous.....

imagine this, a woman who (inexplicably and totally implausibly) knows nothing about lesbians and has never ever had any inclinations towards females...clodagh woos her by saying "but we all have a choice" !!!!

no build up, no tension, thats literally it...and then they begin an affair and her husband doesnt even get a second thought!!!!

this story had the potential of saying something important, not just about lesbians but about love - the choices it forces us to make and the disruptive consequences for anyone involved in an affair...

the affair itself continues until alice's husband finds out about it - even then its a dull and drama-free exchange where there are tears and a little bit of passion i guess, but generally its all a little flat and trollope doesnt really get her teeth into any of the human complexity...

her main focus in this novel seems to be the fall-out of the affair for alice's villagers... they condemn and belittle and it frustratingly becomes clear that they represent the views of the author...

in short, trollope has no sympathy for, and no understanding of her protagonists, and as such, they come across as self-indulgent, joyless bitches with no real affinity for one another....

if you want to read a book about the magic of love and inparticular the complex relationships women form with one another may i suggest anything by jeanette winterson, sarah waters or radclyffe hall.... this is a waste of time

A book true to Joanna Trollope's form, 11 Feb 2000
Joanna Trollope has once again proven her ability to portrait each character so well that it is impossible to take sides. She also shows that it is not always necessary to go into juicy detail. Her novels tell more about the status of women in British society than any thesis could. The ending of this book is not a happy ending in the American sense but a truly hopeful one, which makes this book very realistic and lets the reader identify themselves with the characters. Anyone who has ever been in a crisis knows how impossible it is to describe one's feelings as long as it is still going on. "A Village Affair" shows too how dependant we are on other people's opinion and how impossible it is to please everyone - including oneself. So when Alice breaks free it makes the reader feel very relieved.

"There are changes now but they won't last, we'll become used to them." , 26 Jun 2008
In Friday Nights Joanna Trollope mixes in a variety of women's social issues into a contemporary comedy of manners when a group of women meet to share their Friday nights together. Little do these women realize that when a stranger enters their fold that the delicate balance in the form of shared friendships and gentle confidences will eventually become challenged.

Finally retired after years working in the health industry in and around the Fulham area of London, Eleanor has a chance to refect on her life, that has been defined mostly by her work. Although Eleanor doesn't exactly regret the fact that she never married and had children, she's not necessarily prepared to face this consummate gap in her time. Its not until that crucial structure has gone, and that it has taken everyone at work with it, that she suddenly comes to the recognition that there is no domestic life to fall back on. Therefore, it comes as no surprise that she's quite keen to invite two young single mothers, Paula and Leslie over for Friday night drinks, along with pate, French bread, and chocolate.

Soon enough, three other women are attending: Blaise and her business partner Karen, both owners of Workwell, an agency that specializes in persuading organizations to change the way that they work; and Jude, Leslie's younger sister, who loves house music and wants one day to be a popular disc jockey. At the center of the group, Paula has weathered much of life's worries, especially with regard to the well being of her teenage son Toby. Now with a new flat, funded largely by the father of Toby, and her job managing a store specializing in uncompromising dark furniture from Indonesia, Paula is finally at a point where she can finds a measure of security.

Meanwhile, Linsday with "her white knuckle grip on life" tries to rise above her ramshackle childhood. Recently widowed with her son Noah to care for, she envies Paula's extraordinary energy, this life force and this urge that she has to thow herself into things even at the risk of drowning. When Linsday was suddenly widowed a few years ago only Paula was there. Her wayward sister Jules certainly offered no support or consolation and the memories of those hard years constantly make her flinch and cringe.

True to form Karen and Blaise are hard workers and have done their best to make their fledging business a success. Lately however, Karen has become ever more distracted with domestic life, with her two young girls, Poppy and Rose, and her artist husband Lucas who refuses to shoulder many of the financial burdens of the household. Blaise, by contrast, feels herself becoming ever more focused on her career, her different approach and attitude to work pulling her further apart from Karen rather than fusing the two of them together. From the very first page it is established that Blaise has far wider horizons than Karen whose loving family responsibities ultimately are her shackle.

When the author introduces a new character, Paula's new beau, the personal and enigmatic Jackson, this brittle dynamic is subtly altered and although these women would never admit it, there relationships with each other are destined to change. At first, Jackson's affability and charming ways seem an easy fit for the group - he's sympathetic towards Eleanor's hip pains, is even interested in financing Jules's bourgening music career even as he seems to want to make Paula happy by forging a companionable relationship with Toby. Indeed he wants to get to know the rest of the group in an easy and undemanding way that proves to be a powerful combination.

Jackson is a man not obviously encumbered by his personal past, and his curiously imaginative efforts to make himself one of the group are endearing at best. Soon enough, however, his presence is causing these women to question their marriages and their lives, their feelings for themselves, and more importantly for each other. Even as Eleanor sees something opaque about him, something quite puzzling that she can't quite put her finger on, the rest of the women are suddenly beginning to turning against each other, all of them floundering about in a swamp of ill-defined anger and resentment.

Clearly though the women have no choice but to keep soldiering on. Paula remains at the novel's heart, unquestionably enamored of Jackson, mainly because he liberates her from all "the little ropes of anxiety and self-discipline," that has kept the poor and battered Linsday tethered to a life of self-imposed orderliness. Indeed, all of Trollope's women - and men - are constantly battered by life's hopes and dreams, their identities defined by their marriages or their families - or in Eleanor and Blaise's case - their work. Meanwhile, they must all face the hard realisation that sometimes getting out of the situations they have made in life is difficult at best and impossible at worst.

Certainly, the wise and consoling Eleanor remains the den-mother of her brood friends as they move around in a type of dance, some leaving the circle and some returning to it. Continuing with her smartly held observations on the lives, loves, and travails of the British middle class, Trollope's themes of work, marriage, and family - while not unique - add much flavor to this novel. The result is a perfectly stewed brew of contemporary English manners involving a variety of appealing characters that have flung themselves into their particular emotions and into the lives of others, regardless of the inevitable outcomes. Mike Leonard June 2008


Relationship Saga, 26 May 2008
Just finished the latest Trollope novel.
Have read all her previous works, so eagerly await each new offering.
This is not her best, but its still very readable and slowly draws you in.
The characters are hit and miss - and some of the situations are way out of Trollopes comfort zone (reading about going to a Chelsea match made me wince - as a regular attender of League one football matches having Trollope write about Chelsea Football sums up totally whats wrong with Premiership football and her account is cringey).
Its worth a read, but no great emotional punches and i hope next time for better.


Friday Nights, 19 Apr 2008
How I wish I'd read Amazon readers' reviews of this novel before buying it. For weeks I've been forcing myself to 'give it another go' but time after time I've failed to become engrossed in the characters' lives. Such a disappointment from one of my favourite authors.

Best trollopw book I have read so far!!, 30 Mar 2008
This, for me, was a "can't put down" type of book!! I have read Joanna Trollope before, but have never emphasized with the characters so well, as I have in the latest, brilliants novel. The main character, Eleanor, is absolutely, quietly but stunningly brilliant as the one who really " who holds it all together"! Cannot praise it highly enough! Am now inspired to re-read and try even more Trollope!

So So, 26 Mar 2008
I think I was drawn to the title after reading the fabulous Friday Night Knitting Club. It started out with the promise of a good read but I managed to put it down - for days! I kept trying to get into it again and then just gave it a good go to finish. Still thought 'something' would happen until I reached the last few pages - it never did. It was OK but I wouldn't have missed anything if I hadn't picked it up to read.

Well written, as usual, 23 Apr 2008
Another well written novel by Ms Trollope, whose narrative flair manages to hold your attention even when you get annoyed by some of the narrow caricatures she presents. Clodagh comes across as the stereoptypical lesbian. But Trollopes books are full of stereotypes. Normally though they are of working class people, who are almost always portrayed as dull-witted, lecherous, or criminal, and sometimes all three. In Trollopes world, only the Upper Middle class do anything worthwhile; and even when they sin it's for noble reasons. Adulterous upper middle class husbands are free spirits; transfer their behaviour to working class men, and they are merely lechers. Similarly, lower class women are sluts, whereas promiscuity among upper middle class women is mere temperament.

Despite the kind of narrow minded shortcomings described above, I like her books. I can't wait to find out if she ever produces a sympathetic characterisation of a working class person. It seems unlikely!

Blue Peter Lesbians, 17 Feb 2007
Lesbian books are a rarer commodity then id like them to be, and so when i find out about this kind of book im much more inclined to like it then your average novel.

A Village Affair is a book about lesbians by someone who seems to have no understanding about the feelings involved in these sorts of relationships. It tells the story of Alice, a brattish and unlikeable character from page one, who begrudgingly moves to a cottage in an insular and prosperous village.

She meets Clodagh, another character i was completely indifferent yo, and the two of them begin an affair. But its so unconvincing - the way they get together for example, is frankly ridiculous.....

imagine this, a woman who (inexplicably and totally implausibly) knows nothing about lesbians and has never ever had any inclinations towards females...clodagh woos her by saying "but we all have a choice" !!!!

no build up, no tension, thats literally it...and then they begin an affair and her husband doesnt even get a second thought!!!!

this story had the potential of saying something important, not just about lesbians but about love - the choices it forces us to make and the disruptive consequences for anyone involved in an affair...

the affair itself continues until alice's husband finds out about it - even then its a dull and drama-free exchange where there are tears and a little bit of passion i guess, but generally its all a little flat and trollope doesnt really get her teeth into any of the human complexity...

her main focus in this novel seems to be the fall-out of the affair for alice's villagers... they condemn and belittle and it frustratingly becomes clear that they represent the views of the author...

in short, trollope has no sympathy for, and no understanding of her protagonists, and as such, they come across as self-indulgent, joyless bitches with no real affinity for one another....

if you want to read a book about the magic of love and inparticular the complex relationships women form with one another may i suggest anything by jeanette winterson, sarah waters or radclyffe hall.... this is a waste of time

A book true to Joanna Trollope's form, 11 Feb 2000
Joanna Trollope has once again proven her ability to portrait each character so well that it is impossible to take sides. She also shows that it is not always necessary to go into juicy detail. Her novels tell more about the status of women in British society than any thesis could. The ending of this book is not a happy ending in the American sense but a truly hopeful one, which makes this book very realistic and lets the reader identify themselves with the characters. Anyone who has ever been in a crisis knows how impossible it is to describe one's feelings as long as it is still going on. "A Village Affair" shows too how dependant we are on other people's opinion and how impossible it is to please everyone - including oneself. So when Alice breaks free it makes the reader feel very relieved.

"There are changes now but they won't last, we'll become used to them." , 26 Jun 2008
In Friday Nights Joanna Trollope mixes in a variety of women's social issues into a contemporary comedy of manners when a group of women meet to share their Friday nights together. Little do these women realize that when a stranger enters their fold that the delicate balance in the form of shared friendships and gentle confidences will eventually become challenged.

Finally retired after years working in the health industry in and around the Fulham area of London, Eleanor has a chance to refect on her life, that has been defined mostly by her work. Although Eleanor doesn't exactly regret the fact that she never married and had children, she's not necessarily prepared to face this consummate gap in her time. Its not until that crucial structure has gone, and that it has taken everyone at work with it, that she suddenly comes to the recognition that there is no domestic life to fall back on. Therefore, it comes as no surprise that she's quite keen to invite two young single mothers, Paula and Leslie over for Friday night drinks, along with pate, French bread, and chocolate.

Soon enough, three other women are attending: Blaise and her business partner Karen, both owners of Workwell, an agency that specializes in persuading organizations to change the way that they work; and Jude, Leslie's younger sister, who loves house music and wants one day to be a popular disc jockey. At the center of the group, Paula has weathered much of life's worries, especially with regard to the well being of her teenage son Toby. Now with a new flat, funded largely by the father of Toby, and her job managing a store specializing in uncompromising dark furniture from Indonesia, Paula is finally at a point where she can finds a measure of security.

Meanwhile, Linsday with "her white knuckle grip on life" tries to rise above her ramshackle childhood. Recently widowed with her son Noah to care for, she envies Paula's extraordinary energy, this life force and this urge that she has to thow herself into things even at the risk of drowning. When Linsday was suddenly widowed a few years ago only Paula was there. Her wayward sister Jules certainly offered no support or consolation and the memories of those hard years constantly make her flinch and cringe.

True to form Karen and Blaise are hard workers and have done their best to make their fledging business a success. Lately however, Karen has become ever more distracted with domestic life, with her two young girls, Poppy and Rose, and her artist husband Lucas who refuses to shoulder many of the financial burdens of the household. Blaise, by contrast, feels herself becoming ever more focused on her career, her different approach and attitude to work pulling her further apart from Karen rather than fusing the two of them together. From the very first page it is established that Blaise has far wider horizons than Karen whose loving family responsibities ultimately are her shackle.

When the author introduces a new character, Paula's new beau, the personal and enigmatic Jackson, this brittle dynamic is subtly altered and although these women would never admit it, there relationships with each other are destined to change. At first, Jackson's affability and charming ways seem an easy fit for the group - he's sympathetic towards Eleanor's hip pains, is even interested in financing Jules's bourgening music career even as he seems to want to make Paula happy by forging a companionable relationship with Toby. Indeed he wants to get to know the rest of the group in an easy and undemanding way that proves to be a powerful combination.

Jackson is a man not obviously encumbered by his personal past, and his curiously imaginative efforts to make himself one of the group are endearing at best. Soon enough, however, his presence is causing these women to question their marriages and their lives, their feelings for themselves, and more importantly for each other. Even as Eleanor sees something opaque about him, something quite puzzling that she can't quite put her finger on, the rest of the women are suddenly beginning to turning against each other, all of them floundering about in a swamp of ill-defined anger and resentment.

Clearly though the women have no choice but to keep soldiering on. Paula remains at the novel's heart, unquestionably enamored of Jackson, mainly because he liberates her from all "the little ropes of anxiety and self-discipline," that has kept the poor and battered Linsday tethered to a life of self-imposed orderliness. Indeed, all of Trollope's women - and men - are constantly battered by life's hopes and dreams, their identities defined by their marriages or their families - or in Eleanor and Blaise's case - their work. Meanwhile, they must all face the hard realisation that sometimes getting out of the situations they have made in life is difficult at best and impossible at worst.

Certainly, the wise and consoling Eleanor remains the den-mother of her brood friends as they move around in a type of dance, some leaving the circle and some returning to it. Continuing with her smartly held observations on the lives, loves, and travails of the British middle class, Trollope's themes of work, marriage, and family - while not unique - add much flavor to this novel. The result is a perfectly stewed brew of contemporary English manners involving a variety of appealing characters that have flung themselves into their particular emotions and into the lives of others, regardless of the inevitable outcomes. Mike Leonard June 2008


Relationship Saga, 26 May 2008
Just finished the latest Trollope novel.
Have read all her previous works, so eagerly await each new offering.
This is not her best, but its still very readable and slowly draws you in.
The characters are hit and miss - and some of the situations are way out of Trollopes comfort zone (reading about going to a Chelsea match made me wince - as a regular attender of League one football matches having Trollope write about Chelsea Football sums up totally whats wrong with Premiership football and her account is cringey).
Its worth a read, but no great emotional punches and i hope next time for better.


Friday Nights, 19 Apr 2008
How I wish I'd read Amazon readers' reviews of this novel before buying it. For weeks I've been forcing myself to 'give it another go' but time after time I've failed to become engrossed in the characters' lives. Such a disappointment from one of my favourite authors.

Best trollopw book I have read so far!!, 30 Mar 2008
This, for me, was a "can't put down" type of book!! I have read Joanna Trollope before, but have never emphasized with the characters so well, as I have in the latest, brilliants novel. The main character, Eleanor, is absolutely, quietly but stunningly brilliant as the one who really " who holds it all together"! Cannot praise it highly enough! Am now inspired to re-read and try even more Trollope!

So So, 26 Mar 2008
I think I was drawn to the title after reading the fabulous Friday Night Knitting Club. It started out with the promise of a good read but I managed to put it down - for days! I kept trying to get into it again and then just gave it a good go to finish. Still thought 'something' would happen until I reached the last few pages - it never did. It was OK but I wouldn't have missed anything if I hadn't picked it up to read.

"There are changes now but they won't last, we'll become used to them." , 26 Jun 2008
In Friday Nights Joanna Trollope mixes in a variety of women's social issues into a contemporary comedy of manners when a group of women meet to share their Friday nights together. Little do these women realize that when a stranger enters their fold that the delicate balance in the form of shared friendships and gentle confidences will eventually become challenged.

Finally retired after years working in the health industry in and around the Fulham area of London, Eleanor has a chance to refect on her life, that has been defined mostly by her work. Although Eleanor doesn't exactly regret the fact that she never married and had children, she's not necessarily prepared to face this consummate gap in her time. Its not until that crucial structure has gone, and that it has taken everyone at work with it, that she suddenly comes to the recognition that there is no domestic life to fall back on. Therefore, it comes as no surprise that she's quite keen to invite two young single mothers, Paula and Leslie over for Friday night drinks, along with pate, French bread, and chocolate.

Soon enough, three other women are attending: Blaise and her business partner Karen, both owners of Workwell, an agency that specializes in persuading organizations to change the way that they work; and Jude, Leslie's younger sister, who loves house music and wants one day to be a popular disc jockey. At the center of the group, Paula has weathered much of life's worries, especially with regard to the well being of her teenage son Toby. Now with a new flat, funded largely by the father of Toby, and her job managing a store specializing in uncompromising dark furniture from Indonesia, Paula is finally at a point where she can finds a measure of security.

Meanwhile, Linsday with "her white knuckle grip on life" tries to rise above her ramshackle childhood. Recently widowed with her son Noah to care for, she envies Paula's extraordinary energy, this life force and this urge that she has to thow herself into things even at the risk of drowning. When Linsday was suddenly widowed a few years ago only Paula was there. Her wayward sister Jules certainly offered no support or consolation and the memories of those hard years constantly make her flinch and cringe.

True to form Karen and Blaise are hard workers and have done their best to make their fledging business a success. Lately however, Karen has become ever more distracted with domestic life, with her two young girls, Poppy and Rose, and her artist husband Lucas who refuses to shoulder many of the financial burdens of the household. Blaise, by contrast, feels herself becoming ever more focused on her career, her different approach and attitude to work pulling her further apart from Karen rather than fusing the two of them together. From the very first page it is established that Blaise has far wider horizons than Karen whose loving family responsibities ultimately are her shackle.

When the author introduces a new character, Paula's new beau, the personal and enigmatic Jackson, this brittle dynamic is subtly altered and although these women would never admit it, there relationships with each other are destined to change. At first, Jackson's affability and charming ways seem an easy fit for the group - he's sympathetic towards Eleanor's hip pains, is even interested in financing Jules's bourgening music career even as he seems to want to make Paula happy by forging a companionable relationship with Toby. Indeed he wants to get to know the rest of the group in an easy and undemanding way that proves to be a powerful combination.

Jackson is a man not obviously encumbered by his personal past, and his curiously imaginative efforts to make himself one of the group are endearing at best. Soon enough, however, his presence is causing these women to question their marriages and their lives, their feelings for themselves, and more importantly for each other. Even as Eleanor sees something opaque about him, something quite puzzling that she can't quite put her finger on, the rest of the women are suddenly beginning to turning against each other, all of them floundering about in a swamp of ill-defined anger and resentment.

Clearly though the women have no choice but to keep soldiering on. Paula remains at the novel's heart, unquestionably enamored of Jackson, mainly because he liberates her from all "the little ropes of anxiety and self-discipline," that has kept the poor and battered Linsday tethered to a life of self-imposed orderliness. Indeed, all of Trollope's women - and men - are constantly battered by life's hopes and dreams, their identities defined by their marriages or their families - or in Eleanor and Blaise's case - their work. Meanwhile, they must all face the hard realisation that sometimes getting out of the situations they have made in life is difficult at best and impossible at worst.

Certainly, the wise and consoling Eleanor remains the den-mother of her brood friends as they move around in a type of dance, some leaving the circle and some returning to it. Continuing with her smartly held observations on the lives, loves, and travails of the British middle class, Trollope's themes of work, marriage, and family - while not unique - add much flavor to this novel. The result is a perfectly stewed brew of contemporary English manners involving a variety of appealing characters that have flung themselves into their particular emotions and into the lives of others, regardless of the inevitable outcomes. Mike Leonard June 2008


Relationship Saga, 26 May 2008
Just finished the latest Trollope novel.
Have read all her previous works, so eagerly await each new offering.
This is not her best, but its still very readable and slowly draws you in.
The characters are hit and miss - and some of the situations are way out of Trollopes comfort zone (reading about going to a Chelsea match made me wince - as a regular attender of League one football matches having Trollope write about Chelsea Football sums up totally whats wrong with Premiership football and her account is cringey).
Its worth a read, but no great emotional punches and i hope next time for better.


Friday Nights, 19 Apr 2008
How I wish I'd read Amazon readers' reviews of this novel before buying it. For weeks I've been forcing myself to 'give it another go' but time after time I've failed to become engrossed in the characters' lives. Such a disappointment from one of my favourite authors.

Best trollopw book I have read so far!!, 30 Mar 2008
This, for me, was a "can't put down" type of book!! I have read Joanna Trollope before, but have never emphasized with the characters so well, as I have in the latest, brilliants novel. The main character, Eleanor, is absolutely, quietly but stunningly brilliant as the one who really " who holds it all together"! Cannot praise it highly enough! Am now inspired to re-read and try even more Trollope!

So So, 26 Mar 2008
I think I was drawn to the title after reading the fabulous Friday Night Knitting Club. It started out with the promise of a good read but I managed to put it down - for days! I kept trying to get into it again and then just gave it a good go to finish. Still thought 'something' would happen until I reached the last few pages - it never did. It was OK but I wouldn't have missed anything if I hadn't picked it up to read.

Well written, as usual, 23 Apr 2008
Another well written novel by Ms Trollope, whose narrative flair manages to hold your attention even when you get annoyed by some of the narrow caricatures she presents. Clodagh comes across as the stereoptypical lesbian. But Trollopes books are full of stereotypes. Normally though they are of working class people, who are almost always portrayed as dull-witted, lecherous, or criminal, and sometimes all three. In Trollopes world, only the Upper Middle class do anything worthwhile; and even when they sin it's for noble reasons. Adulterous upper middle class husbands are free spirits; transfer their behaviour to working class men, and they are merely lechers. Similarly, lower class women are sluts, whereas promiscuity among upper middle class women is mere temperament.

Despite the kind of narrow minded shortcomings described above, I like her books. I can't wait to find out if she ever produces a sympathetic characterisation of a working class person. It seems unlikely!

Blue Peter Lesbians, 17 Feb 2007
Lesbian books are a rarer commodity then id like them to be, and so when i find out about this kind of book im much more inclined to like it then your average novel.

A Village Affair is a book about lesbians by someone who seems to have no understanding about the feelings involved in these sorts of relationships. It tells the story of Alice, a brattish and unlikeable character from page one, who begrudgingly moves to a cottage in an insular and prosperous village.

She meets Clodagh, another character i was completely indifferent yo, and the two of them begin an affair. But its so unconvincing - the way they get together for example, is frankly ridiculous.....

imagine this, a woman who (inexplicably and totally implausibly) knows nothing about lesbians and has never ever had any inclinations towards females...clodagh woos her by saying "but we all have a choice" !!!!

no build up, no tension, thats literally it...and then they begin an affair and her husband doesnt even get a second thought!!!!

this story had the potential of saying something important, not just about lesbians but about love - the choices it forces us to make and the disruptive consequences for anyone involved in an affair...

the affair itself continues until alice's husband finds out about it - even then its a dull and drama-free exchange where there are tears and a little bit of passion i guess, but generally its all a little flat and trollope doesnt really get her teeth into any of the human complexity...

her main focus in this novel seems to be the fall-out of the affair for alice's villagers... they condemn and belittle and it frustratingly becomes clear that they represent the views of the author...

in short, trollope has no sympathy for, and no understanding of her protagonists, and as such, they come across as self-indulgent, joyless bitches with no real affinity for one another....

if you want to read a book about the magic of love and inparticular the complex relationships women form with one another may i suggest anything by jeanette winterson, sarah waters or radclyffe hall.... this is a waste of time

A book true to Joanna Trollope's form, 11 Feb 2000
Joanna Trollope has once again proven her ability to portrait each character so well that it is impossible to take sides. She also shows that it is not always necessary to go into juicy detail. Her novels tell more about the status of women in British society than any thesis could. The ending of this book is not a happy ending in the American sense but a truly hopeful one, which makes this book very realistic and lets the reader identify themselves with the characters. Anyone who has ever been in a crisis knows how impossible it is to describe one's feelings as long as it is still going on. "A Village Affair" shows too how dependant we are on other people's opinion and how impossible it is to please everyone - including oneself. So when Alice breaks free it makes the reader feel very relieved.

"There are changes now but they won't last, we'll become used to them." , 26 Jun 2008
In Friday Nights Joanna Trollope mixes in a variety of women's social issues into a contemporary comedy of manners when a group of women meet to share their Friday nights together. Little do these women realize that when a stranger enters their fold that the delicate balance in the form of shared friendships and gentle confidences will eventually become challenged.

Finally retired after years working in the health industry in and around the Fulham area of London, Eleanor has a chance to refect on her life, that has been defined mostly by her work. Although Eleanor doesn't exactly regret the fact that she never married and had children, she's not necessarily prepared to face this consummate gap in her time. Its not until that crucial structure has gone, and that it has taken everyone at work with it, that she suddenly comes to the recognition that there is no domestic life to fall back on. Therefore, it comes as no surprise that she's quite keen to invite two young single mothers, Paula and Leslie over for Friday night drinks, along with pate, French bread, and chocolate.

Soon enough, three other women are attending: Blaise and her business partner Karen, both owners of Workwell, an agency that specializes in persuading organizations to change the way that they work; and Jude, Leslie's younger sister, who loves house music and wants one day to be a popular disc jockey. At the center of the group, Paula has weathered much of life's worries, especially with regard to the well being of her teenage son Toby. Now with a new flat, funded largely by the father of Toby, and her job managing a store specializing in uncompromising dark furniture from Indonesia, Paula is finally at a point where she can finds a measure of security.

Meanwhile, Linsday with "her white knuckle grip on life" tries to rise above her ramshackle childhood. Recently widowed with her son Noah to care for, she envies Paula's extraordinary energy, this life force and this urge that she has to thow herself into things even at the risk of drowning. When Linsday was suddenly widowed a few years ago only Paula was there. Her wayward sister Jules certainly offered no support or consolation and the memories of those hard years constantly make her flinch and cringe.

True to form Karen and Blaise are hard workers and have done their best to make their fledging business a success. Lately however, Karen has become ever more distracted with domestic life, with her two young girls, Poppy and Rose, and her artist husband Lucas who refuses to shoulder many of the financial burdens of the household. Blaise, by contrast, feels herself becoming ever more focused on her career, her different approach and attitude to work pulling her further apart from Karen rather than fusing the two of them together. From the very first page it is established that Blaise has far wider horizons than Karen whose loving family responsibities ultimately are her shackle.

When the author introduces a new character, Paula's new beau, the personal and enigmatic Jackson, this brittle dynamic is subtly altered and although these women would never admit it, there relationships with each other are destined to change. At first, Jackson's affability and charming ways seem an easy fit for the group - he's sympathetic towards Eleanor's hip pains, is even interested in financing Jules's bourgening music career even as he seems to want to make Paula happy by forging a companionable relationship with Toby. Indeed he wants to get to know the rest of the group in an easy and undemanding way that proves to be a powerful combination.

Jackson is a man not obviously encumbered by his personal past, and his curiously imaginative efforts to make himself one of the group are endearing at best. Soon enough, however, his presence is causing these women to question their marriages and their lives, their feelings for themselves, and more importantly for each other. Even as Eleanor sees something opaque about him, something quite puzzling that she can't quite put her finger on, the rest of the women are suddenly beginning to turning against each other, all of them floundering about in a swamp of ill-defined anger and resentment.

Clearly though the women have no choice but to keep soldiering on. Paula remains at the novel's heart, unquestionably enamored of Jackson, mainly because he liberates her from all "the little ropes of anxiety and self-discipline," that has kept the poor and battered Linsday tethered to a life of self-imposed orderliness. Indeed, all of Trollope's women - and men - are constantly battered by life's hopes and dreams, their identities defined by their marriages or their families - or in Eleanor and Blaise's case - their work. Meanwhile, they must all face the hard realisation that sometimes getting out of the situations they have made in life is difficult at best and impossible at worst.

Certainly, the wise and consoling Eleanor remains the den-mother of her brood friends as they move around in a type of dance, some leaving the circle and some returning to it. Continuing with her smartly held observations on the lives, loves, and travails of the British middle class, Trollope's themes of work, marriage, and family - while not unique - add much flavor to this novel. The result is a perfectly stewed brew of contemporary English manners involving a variety of appealing characters that have flung themselves into their particular emotions and into the lives of others, regardless of the inevitable outcomes. Mike Leonard June 2008


Relationship Saga, 26 May 2008
Just finished the latest Trollope novel.
Have read all her previous works, so eagerly await each new offering.
This is not her best, but its still very readable and slowly draws you in.
The characters are hit and miss - and some of the situations are way out of Trollopes comfort zone (reading about going to a Chelsea match made me wince - as a regular attender of League one football matches having Trollope write about Chelsea Football sums up totally whats wrong with Premiership football and her account is cringey).
Its worth a read, but no great emotional punches and i hope next time for better.


Friday Nights, 19 Apr 2008
How I wish I'd read Amazon readers' reviews of this novel before buying it. For weeks I've been forcing myself to 'give it another go' but time after time I've failed to become engrossed in the characters' lives. Such a disappointment from one of my favourite authors.

Best trollopw book I have read so far!!, 30 Mar 2008
This, for me, was a "can't put down" type of book!! I have read Joanna Trollope before, but have never emphasized with the characters so well, as I have in the latest, brilliants novel. The main character, Eleanor, is absolutely, quietly but stunningly brilliant as the one who really " who holds it all together"! Cannot praise it highly enough! Am now inspired to re-read and try even more Trollope!

So So, 26 Mar 2008
I think I was drawn to the title after reading the fabulous Friday Night Knitting Club. It started out with the promise of a good read but I managed to put it down - for days! I kept trying to get into it again and then just gave it a good go to finish. Still thought 'something' would happen until I reached the last few pages - it never did. It was OK but I wouldn't have missed anything if I hadn't picked it up to read.

makes you think!, 23 Apr 2008
I have tried to read this novel before, with litle success. However, I now find myself in similar situation with Edie and Russell amd can emphasise with Edie's feelings of loss. The conclusion was somewhat of a surprise to me, but has made me re-think my own situation. Commended for "empty-nesters"!

Generally enjoyable, 12 Feb 2008
That title probably sounds as though I am damning this book with faint praise - which in a way I am. It was certainly an easy read and I rather like that bumbling along style which is in a similar tradition to Anne Tyler... There were bits of the book that I really enjoyed - the relationship between Rosa and Laszlo for one -but I felt really she overpopulated it with characters who didn't really do an awful lot. A bit like real life I suppose. There were things that completely annoyed me though - for example the focus on the woman (Ruth) earning more than the man (Matthew) and that being a significant problem for their relationship - it felt a bit as though I was reading a book set in the 80s rather than a current novel. Surely those things are no longer real issues? If you like Joanna Trollope I'm sure you'll like this but it's hardly going to set the world alight....

Middling, 26 Nov 2007
It's a pleasant story, told at a leisurely pace. It's not gripping and the characters are unabsorbing and rather stereotypical. The prose is very good, as always. I'd recommend this undemanding and slightly superficial novel for a holiday or train journey, but would warn readers that they might finish it feeling unsated.

Sophisticated, 30 Jul 2007
Another excellently written book from Joanna Trollope. As already said by a previous reviewer, this story is very much in the vein of her last two or three books. Second Honeymoon revolves around a couple whose three children have grown up and flown the nest; Russell is happy about this wanting to have his wife to himself again, but Edie is not. Just when Russell thought that the second honeymoon period of life was starting, all three children, and an additional lodger, move back home. The description of emotions is beautifully written but I felt it was lacking a strong storyline - hence four stars. It is certainly a lovely book and a sophisticated read but it is not gripping.


Nice easy read, 14 Jun 2007
This is a nice easy holiday read, and on the whole up to her usual standard. Plot and characters are sympathetic and believable, and the story runs smoothly. One complaint: please please please, Ms Trollope, could you find another way of describing someone having a drink. "Taking a swallow" of wine, tea or whatever (and you use this in all your books) just doesn't work. In this book someone takes a "savouring swallow", which is even worse.

"There are changes now but they won't last, we'll become used to them." , 26 Jun 2008
In Friday Nights Joanna Trollope mixes in a variety of women's social issues into a contemporary comedy of manners when a group of women meet to share their Friday nights together. Little do these women realize that when a stranger enters their fold that the delicate balance in the form of shared friendships and gentle confidences will eventually become challenged.

Finally retired after years working in the health industry in and around the Fulham area of London, Eleanor has a chance to refect on her life, that has been defined mostly by her work. Although Eleanor doesn't exactly regret the fact that she never married and had children, she's not necessarily prepared to face this consummate gap in her time. Its not until that crucial structure has gone, and that it has taken everyone at work with it, that she suddenly comes to the recognition that there is no domestic life to fall back on. Therefore, it comes as no surprise that she's quite keen to invite two young single mothers, Paula and Leslie over for Friday night drinks, along with pate, French bread, and chocolate.

Soon enough, three other women are attending: Blaise and her business partner Karen, both owners of Workwell, an agency that specializes in persuading organizations to change the way that they work; and Jude, Leslie's younger sister, who loves house music and wants one day to be a popular disc jockey. At the center of the group, Paula has weathered much of life's worries, especially with regard to the well being of her teenage son Toby. Now with a new flat, funded largely by the father of Toby, and her job managing a store specializing in uncompromising dark furniture from Indonesia, Paula is finally at a point where she can finds a measure of security.

Meanwhile, Linsday with "her white knuckle grip on life" tries to rise above her ramshackle childhood. Recently widowed with her son Noah to care for, she envies Paula's extraordinary energy, this life force and this urge that she has to thow herself into things even at the risk of drowning. When Linsday was suddenly widowed a few years ago only Paula was there. Her wayward sister Jules certainly offered no support or consolation and the memories of those hard years constantly make her flinch and cringe.

True to form Karen and Blaise are hard workers and have done their best to make their fledging business a success. Lately however, Karen has become ever more distracted with domestic life, with her two young girls, Poppy and Rose, and her artist husband Lucas who refuses to shoulder many of the financial burdens of the household. Blaise, by contrast, feels herself becoming ever more focused on her career, her different approach and attitude to work pulling her further apart from Karen rather than fusing the two of them together. From the very first page it is established that Blaise has far wider horizons than Karen whose loving family responsibities ultimately are her shackle.

When the author introduces a new character, Paula's new beau, the personal and enigmatic Jackson, this brittle dynamic is subtly altered and although these women would never admit it, there relationships with each other are destined to change. At first, Jackson's affability and charming ways seem an easy fit for the group - he's sympathetic towards Eleanor's hip pains, is even interested in financing Jules's bourgening music career even as he seems to want to make Paula happy by forging a companionable relationship with Toby. Indeed he wants to get to know the rest of the group in an easy and undemanding way that proves to be a powerful combination.

Jackson is a man not obviously encumbered by his personal past, and his curiously imaginative efforts to make himself one of the group are endearing at best. Soon enough, however, his presence is causing these women to question their marriages and their lives, their feelings for themselves, and more importantly for each other. Even as Eleanor sees something opaque about him, something quite puzzling that she can't quite put her finger on, the rest of the women are suddenly beginning to turning against each other, all of them floundering about in a swamp of ill-defined anger and resentment.

Clearly though the women have no choice but to keep soldiering on. Paula remains at the novel's heart, unquestionably enamored of Jackson, mainly because he liberates her from all "the little ropes of anxiety and self-discipline," that has kept the poor and battered Linsday tethered to a life of self-imposed orderliness. Indeed, all of Trollope's women - and men - are constantly battered by life's hopes and dreams, their identities defined by their marriages or their families - or in Eleanor and Blaise's case - their work. Meanwhile, they must all face the hard realisation that sometimes getting out of the situations they have made in life is difficult at best and impossible at worst.

Certainly, the wise and consoling Eleanor remains the den-mother of her brood friends as they move around in a type of dance, some leaving the circle and some returning to it. Continuing with her smartly held observations on the lives, loves, and travails of the British middle class, Trollope's themes of work, marriage, and family - while not unique - add much flavor to this novel. The result is a perfectly stewed brew of contemporary English manners involving a variety of appealing characters that have flung themselves into their particular emotions and into the lives of others, regardless of the inevitable outcomes. Mike Leonard June 2008


Relationship Saga, 26 May 2008
Just finished the latest Trollope novel.
Have read all her previous works, so eagerly await each new offering.
This is not her best, but its still very readable and slowly draws you in.
The characters are hit and miss - and some of the situations are way out of Trollopes comfort zone (reading about going to a Chelsea match made me wince - as a regular attender of League one football matches having Trollope write about Chelsea Football sums up totally whats wrong with Premiership football and her account is cringey).
Its worth a read, but no great emotional punches and i hope next time for better.


Friday Nights, 19 Apr 2008
How I wish I'd read Amazon readers' reviews of this novel before buying it. For weeks I've been forcing myself to 'give it another go' but time after time I've failed to become engrossed in the characters' lives. Such a disappointment from one of my favourite authors.

Best trollopw book I have read so far!!, 30 Mar 2008
This, for me, was a "can't put down" type of book!! I have read Joanna Trollope before, but have never emphasized with the characters so well, as I have in the latest, brilliants novel. The main character, Eleanor, is absolutely, quietly but stunningly brilliant as the one who really " who holds it all together"! Cannot praise it highly enough! Am now inspired to re-read and try even more Trollope!

So So, 26 Mar 2008
I think I was drawn to the title after reading the fabulous Friday Night Knitting Club. It started out with the promise of a good read but I managed to put it down - for days! I kept trying to get into it again and then just gave it a good go to finish. Still thought 'something' would happen until I reached the last few pages - it never did. It was OK but I wouldn't have missed anything if I hadn't picked it up to read.

Well written, as usual, 23 Apr 2008
Another well written novel by Ms Trollope, whose narrative flair manages to hold your attention even when you get annoyed by some of the narrow caricatures she presents. Clodagh comes across as the stereoptypical lesbian. But Trollopes books are full of stereotypes. Normally though they are of working class people, who are almost always portrayed as dull-witted, lecherous, or criminal, and sometimes all three. In Trollopes world, only the Upper Middle class do anything worthwhile; and even when they sin it's for noble reasons. Adulterous upper middle class husbands are free spirits; transfer their behaviour to working class men, and they are merely lechers. Similarly, lower class women are sluts, whereas promiscuity among upper middle class women is mere temperament.

Despite the kind of narrow minded shortcomings described above, I like her books. I can't wait to find out if she ever produces a sympathetic characterisation of a working class person. It seems unlikely!

Blue Peter Lesbians, 17 Feb 2007
Lesbian books are a rarer commodity then id like them to be, and so when i find out about this kind of book im much more inclined to like it then your average novel.

A Village Affair is a book about lesbians by someone who seems to have no understanding about the feelings involved in these sorts of relationships. It tells the story of Alice, a brattish and unlikeable character from page one, who begrudgingly moves to a cottage in an insular and prosperous village.

She meets Clodagh, another character i was completely indifferent yo, and the two of them begin an affair. But its so unconvincing - the way they get together for example, is frankly ridiculous.....

imagine this, a woman who (inexplicably and totally implausibly) knows nothing about lesbians and has never ever had any inclinations towards females...clodagh woos her by saying "but we all have a choice" !!!!

no build up, no tension, thats literally it...and then they begin an affair and her husband doesnt even get a second thought!!!!

this story had the potential of saying something important, not just about lesbians but about love - the choices it forces us to make and the disruptive consequences for anyone involved in an affair...

the affair itself continues until alice's husband finds out about it - even then its a dull and drama-free exchange where there are tears and a little bit of passion i guess, but generally its all a little flat and trollope doesnt really get her teeth into any of the human complexity...

her main focus in this novel seems to be the fall-out of the affair for alice's villagers... they condemn and belittle and it frustratingly becomes clear that they represent the views of the author...

in short, trollope has no sympathy for, and no understanding of her protagonists, and as such, they come across as self-indulgent, joyless bitches with no real affinity for one another....

if you want to read a book about the magic of love and inparticular the complex relationships women form with one another may i suggest anything by jeanette winterson, sarah waters or radclyffe hall.... this is a waste of time

A book true to Joanna Trollope's form, 11 Feb 2000
Joanna Trollope has once again proven her ability to portrait each character so well that it is impossible to take sides. She also shows that it is not always necessary to go into juicy detail. Her novels tell more about the status of women in British society than any thesis could. The ending of this book is not a happy ending in the American sense but a truly hopeful one, which makes this book very realistic and lets the reader identify themselves with the characters. Anyone who has ever been in a crisis knows how impossible it is to describe one's feelings as long as it is still going on. "A Village Affair" shows too how dependant we are on other people's opinion and how impossible it is to please everyone - including oneself. So when Alice breaks free it makes the reader feel very relieved.

"There are changes now but they won't last, we'll become used to them." , 26 Jun 2008
In Friday Nights Joanna Trollope mixes in a variety of women's social issues into a contemporary comedy of manners when a group of women meet to share their Friday nights together. Little do these women realize that when a stranger enters their fold that the delicate balance in the form of shared friendships and gentle confidences will eventually become challenged.

Finally retired after years working in the health industry in and around the Fulham area of London, Eleanor has a chance to refect on her life, that has been defined mostly by her work. Although Eleanor doesn't exactly regret the fact that she never married and had children, she's not necessarily prepared to face this consummate gap in her time. Its not until that crucial structure has gone, and that it has taken everyone at work with it, that she suddenly comes to the recognition that there is no domestic life to fall back on. Therefore, it comes as no surprise that she's quite keen to invite two young single mothers, Paula and Leslie over for Friday night drinks, along with pate, French bread, and chocolate.

Soon enough, three other women are attending: Blaise and her business partner Karen, both owners of Workwell, an agency that specializes in persuading organizations to change the way that they work; and Jude, Leslie's younger sister, who loves house music and wants one day to be a popular disc jockey. At the center of the group, Paula has weathered much of life's worries, especially with regard to the well being of her teenage son Toby. Now with a new flat, funded largely by the father of Toby, and her job managing a store specializing in uncompromising dark furniture from Indonesia, Paula is finally at a point where she can finds a measure of security.

Meanwhile, Linsday with "her white knuckle grip on life" tries to rise above her ramshackle childhood. Recently widowed with her son Noah to care for, she envies Paula's extraordinary energy, this life force and this urge that she has to thow herself into things even at the risk of drowning. When Linsday was suddenly widowed a few years ago only Paula was there. Her wayward sister Jules certainly offered no support or consolation and the memories of those hard years constantly make her flinch and cringe.

True to form Karen and Blaise are hard workers and have done their best to make their fledging business a success. Lately however, Karen has become ever more distracted with domestic life, with her two young girls, Poppy and Rose, and her artist husband Lucas who refuses to shoulder many of the financial burdens of the household. Blaise, by contrast, feels herself becoming ever more focused on her career, her different approach and attitude to work pulling her further apart from Karen rather than fusing the two of them together. From the very first page it is established that Blaise has far wider horizons than Karen whose loving family responsibities ultimately are her shackle.

When the author introduces a new character, Paula's new beau, the personal and enigmatic Jackson, this brittle dynamic is subtly altered and although these women would never admit it, there relationships with each other are destined to change. At first, Jackson's affability and charming ways seem an easy fit for the group - he's sympathetic towards Eleanor's hip pains, is even interested in financing Jules's bourgening music career even as he seems to want to make Paula happy by forging a companionable relationship with Toby. Indeed he wants to get to know the rest of the group in an easy and undemanding way that proves to be a powerful combination.

Jackson is a man not obviously encumbered by his personal past, and his curiously imaginative efforts to make himself one of the group are endearing at best. Soon enough, however, his presence is causing these women to question their marriages and their lives, their feelings for themselves, and more importantly for each other. Even as Eleanor sees something opaque about him, something quite puzzling that she can't quite put her finger on, the rest of the women are suddenly beginning to turning against each other, all of them floundering about in a swamp of ill-defined anger and resentment.

Clearly though the women have no choice but to keep soldiering on. Paula remains at the novel's heart, unquestionably enamored of Jackson, mainly because he liberates her from all "the little ropes of anxiety and self-discipline," that has kept the poor and battered Linsday tethered to a life of self-imposed orderliness. Indeed, all of Trollope's women - and men - are constantly battered by life's hopes and dreams, their identities defined by their marriages or their families - or in Eleanor and Blaise's case - their work. Meanwhile, they must all face the hard realisation that sometimes getting out of the situations they have made in life is difficult at best and impossible at worst.

Certainly, the wise and consoling Eleanor remains the den-mother of her brood friends as they move around in a type of dance, some leaving the circle and some returning to it. Continuing with her smartly held observations on the lives, loves, and travails of the British middle class, Trollope's themes of work, marriage, and family - while not unique - add much flavor to this novel. The result is a perfectly stewed brew of contemporary English manners involving a variety of appealing characters that have flung themselves into their particular emotions and into the lives of others, regardless of the inevitable outcomes. Mike Leonard June 2008


Relationship Saga, 26 May 2008
Just finished the latest Trollope novel.
Have read all her previous works, so eagerly await each new offering.
This is not her best, but its still very readable and slowly draws you in.
The characters are hit and miss - and some of the situations are way out of Trollopes comfort zone (reading about going to a Chelsea match made me wince - as a regular attender of League one football matches having Trollope write about Chelsea Football sums up totally whats wrong with Premiership football and her account is cringey).
Its worth a read, but no great emotional punches and i hope next time for better.


Friday Nights, 19 Apr 2008
How I wish I'd read Amazon readers' reviews of this novel before buying it. For weeks I've been forcing myself to 'give it another go' but time after time I've failed to become engrossed in the characters' lives. Such a disappointment from one of my favourite authors.

Best trollopw book I have read so far!!, 30 Mar 2008
This, for me, was a "can't put down" type of book!! I have read Joanna Trollope before, but have never emphasized with the characters so well, as I have in the latest, brilliants novel. The main character, Eleanor, is absolutely, quietly but stunningly brilliant as the one who really " who holds it all together"! Cannot praise it highly enough! Am now inspired to re-read and try even more Trollope!

So So, 26 Mar 2008
I think I was drawn to the title after reading the fabulous Friday Night Knitting Club. It started out with the promise of a good read but I managed to put it down - for days! I kept trying to get into it again and then just gave it a good go to finish. Still thought 'something' would happen until I reached the last few pages - it never did. It was OK but I wouldn't have missed anything if I hadn't picked it up to read.

makes you think!, 23 Apr 2008
I have tried to read this novel before, with litle success. However, I now find myself in similar situation with Edie and Russell amd can emphasise with Edie's feelings of loss. The conclusion was somewhat of a surprise to me, but has made me re-think my own situation. Commended for "empty-nesters"!

Generally enjoyable, 12 Feb 2008
That title probably sounds as though I am damning this book with faint praise - which in a way I am. It was certainly an easy read and I rather like that bumbling along style which is in a similar tradition to Anne Tyler... There were bits of the book that I really enjoyed - the relationship between Rosa and Laszlo for one -but I felt really she overpopulated it with characters who didn't really do an awful lot. A bit like real life I suppose. There were things that completely annoyed me though - for example the focus on the woman (Ruth) earning more than the man (Matthew) and that being a significant problem for their relationship - it felt a bit as though I was reading a book set in the 80s rather than a current novel. Surely those things are no longer real issues? If you like Joanna Trollope I'm sure you'll like this but it's hardly going to set the world alight....

Middling, 26 Nov 2007
It's a pleasant story, told at a leisurely pace. It's not gripping and the characters are unabsorbing and rather stereotypical. The prose is very good, as always. I'd recommend this undemanding and slightly superficial novel for a holiday or train journey, but would warn readers that they might finish it feeling unsated.

Sophisticated, 30 Jul 2007
Another excellently written book from Joanna Trollope. As already said by a previous reviewer, this story is very much in the vein of her last two or three books. Second Honeymoon revolves around a couple whose three children have grown up and flown the nest; Russell is happy about this wanting to have his wife to himself again, but Edie is not. Just when Russell thought that the second honeymoon period of life was starting, all three children, and an additional lodger, move back home. The description of emotions is beautifully written but I felt it was lacking a strong storyline - hence four stars. It is certainly a lovely book and a sophisticated read but it is not gripping.


Nice easy read, 14 Jun 2007
This is a nice easy holiday read, and on the whole up to her usual standard. Plot and characters are sympathetic and believable, and the story runs smoothly. One complaint: please please please, Ms Trollope, could you find another way of describing someone having a drink. "Taking a swallow" of wine, tea or whatever (and you use this in all your books) just doesn't work. In this book someone takes a "savouring swallow", which is even worse.

Another great read by this author, 20 Oct 2007
I find read reading Joanna Trollope is like watching a really good television drama. You feel involved and absorbed and a couple of hours fly by. She is such an easy read, the words, the characterization, the story just flow and all too soon you've finished the book.

This is a story about relationships (as are all the books I've read by this author, but that's not a bad thing) and the effect those relationships have on those around them. Trollope doesn't do love stories, she does human stories, her characters are all people we've known at some point in our lives, you may even spot yourself in there somewhere.

I enjoyed reading The Best of Friends by Joanna Trollope, 12 Jun 2004
I enjoyed reading The Best of Friends by Joanna Trollope, this is the first book I've read by Joanna Trollope although I do know she has written more.

I think that Joanna is good at describing - for example the hotel and also how the characters behaved. Sophy of course was very upset that her parents had split up, hence the conversation in the novel with Vi her gran.

Incidentally I thought the relationship between Vi and Dan was very good, until of course the death of the gentleman.

I think if the character had not been (if you'll excuse the pun) killed off then I think the characters Vi and Dan could have had a novel to themselves.

I saw an interview on Breakfast on BBC 1 with Joanna Trollope and I thought she was very good.

I remember that Joanna's novel THE CHOIR was on TV some years ago, I enjoyed the TV adaptation but I wasn't keen on the novel.

In the case of THE BEST OF FRIENDS I cannot recall it being on TV, if not I'm sorry I missed it, if however its going to come on TV then I will look forward to it.

A good novel and I recommend it.

Good for all ages, 18 Jul 2001
This book had a wide range of characters that makes it suitable for all ages. As a teenager, I found Sophy's (Gina's daughter) story compelling, yet the affection of Vi and Dan compiled with the problems of the middle generation made it hard to put down.

Childrens' reactions to their parents marital breakup., 03 Dec 2000
I have read and enjoyed other novels by Ms. Trollope but this portrayal of the complicated relationships of modern family life struck me close to home. The story depicts so well the difficulties as well as the joys of married family life. Above all it reveals so clearly the effect of parental behavior on their children. No moralising. Thoroughly credible and convincing characters both adult and juvenile. I enjoyed it so much that I am buying a copy for my eldest daughter with the hope that if she finds it as rewarding as I did, she may pass it on to her siblings.

Trollope does it again, 19 Apr 2000
I couldn't put it down! Joanna Trollope writes some of the best midlife 'coming of age' novels. The characters in this like in all her books, are real and multi-dimensional. If you don't see yourself in her characters, you see your sister or best friend. Her female characters are underdogs in some form, who triumph in the end.

"There are changes now but they won't last, we'll become used to them." , 26 Jun 2008
In Friday Nights Joanna Trollope mixes in a variety of women's social issues into a contemporary comedy of manners when a group of women meet to share their Friday nights together. Little do these women realize that when a stranger enters their fold that the delicate balance in the form of shared friendships and gentle confidences will eventually become challenged.

Finally retired after years working in the health industry in and around the Fulham area of London, Eleanor has a chance to refect on her life, that has been defined mostly by her work. Although Eleanor doesn't exactly regret the fact that she never married and had children, she's not necessarily prepared to face this consummate gap in her time. Its not until that crucial structure has gone, and that it has taken everyone at work with it, that she suddenly comes to the recognition that there is no domestic life to fall back on. Therefore, it comes as no surprise that she's quite keen to invite two young single mothers, Paula and Leslie over for Friday night drinks, along with pate, French bread, and chocolate.

Soon enough, three other women are attending: Blaise and her business partner Karen, both owners of Workwell, an agency that specializes in persuading organizations to change the way that they work; and Jude, Leslie's younger sister, who loves house music and wants one day to be a popular disc jockey. At the center of the group, Paula has weathered much of life's worries, especially with regard to the well being of her teenage son Toby. Now with a new flat, funded largely by the father of Toby, and her job managing a store specializing in uncompromising dark furniture from Indonesia, Paula is finally at a point where she can finds a measure of security.

Meanwhile, Linsday with "her white knuckle grip on life" tries to rise above her ramshackle childhood. Recently widowed with her son Noah to care for, she envies Paula's extraordinary energy, this life force and this urge that she has to thow herself into things even at the risk of drowning. When Linsday was suddenly widowed a few years ago only Paula was there. Her wayward sister Jules certainly offered no support or consolation and the memories of those hard years constantly make her flinch and cringe.

True to form Karen and Blaise are hard workers and have done their best to make their fledging business a success. Lately however, Karen has become ever more distracted with domestic life, with her two young girls, Poppy and Rose, and her artist husband Lucas who refuses to shoulder many of the financial burdens of the household. Blaise, by contrast, feels herself becoming ever more focused on her career, her different approach and attitude to work pulling her further apart from Karen rather than fusing the two of them together. From the very first page it is established that Blaise has far wider horizons than Karen whose loving family responsibities ultimately are her shackle.

When the author introduces a new character, Paula's new beau, the personal and enigmatic Jackson, this brittle dynamic is subtly altered and although these women would never admit it, there relationships with each other are destined to change. At first, Jackson's affability and charming ways seem an easy fit for the group - he's sympathetic towards Eleanor's hip pains, is even interested in financing Jules's bourgening music career even as he seems to want to make Paula happy by forging a companionable relationship with Toby. Indeed he wants to get to know the rest of the group in an easy and undemanding way that proves to be a powerful combination.

Jackson is a man not obviously encumbered by his personal past, and his curiously imaginative efforts to make himself one of the group are endearing at best. Soon enough, however, his presence is causing these women to question their marriages and their lives, their feelings for themselves, and more importantly for each other. Even as Eleanor sees something opaque about him, something quite puzzling that she can't quite put her finger on, the rest of the women are suddenly beginning to turning against each other, all of them floundering about in a swamp of ill-defined anger and resentment.

Clearly though the women have no choice but to keep soldiering on. Paula remains at the novel's heart, unquestionably enamored of Jackson, mainly because he liberates her from all "the little ropes of anxiety and self-discipline," that has kept the poor and battered Linsday tethered to a life of self-imposed orderliness. Indeed, all of Trollope's women - and men - are constantly battered by life's hopes and dreams, their identities defined by their marriages or their families - or in Eleanor and Blaise's case - their work. Meanwhile, they must all face the hard realisation that sometimes getting out of the situations they have made in life is difficult at best and impossible at worst.

Certainly, the wise and consoling Eleanor remains the den-mother of her brood friends as they move around in a type of dance, some leaving the circle and some returning to it. Continuing with her smartly held observations on the lives, loves, and travails of the British middle class, Trollope's themes of work, marriage, and family - while not unique - add much flavor to this novel. The result is a perfectly stewed brew of contemporary English manners involving a variety of appealing characters that have flung themselves into their particular emotions and into the lives of others, regardless of the inevitable outcomes. Mike Leonard June 2008


Relationship Saga, 26 May 2008
Just finished the latest Trollope novel.
Have read all her previous works, so eagerly await each new offering.
This is not her best, but its still very readable and slowly draws you in.
The characters are hit and miss - and some of the situations are way out of Trollopes comfort zone (reading about going to a Chelsea match made me wince - as a regular attender of League one football matches having Trollope write about Chelsea Football sums up totally whats wrong with Premiership football and her account is cringey).
Its worth a read, but no great emotional punches and i hope next time for better.


Friday Nights, 19 Apr 2008
How I wish I'd read Amazon readers' reviews of this novel before buying it. For weeks I've been forcing myself to 'give it another go' but time after time I've failed to become engrossed in the characters' lives. Such a disappointment from one of my favourite authors.

Best trollopw book I have read so far!!, 30 Mar 2008
This, for me, was a "can't put down" type of book!! I have read Joanna Trollope before, but have never emphasized with the characters so well, as I have in the latest, brilliants novel. The main character, Eleanor, is absolutely, quietly but stunningly brilliant as the one who really " who holds it all together"! Cannot praise it highly enough! Am now inspired to re-read and try even more Trollope!

So So, 26 Mar 2008
I think I was drawn to the title after reading the fabulous Friday Night Knitting Club. It started out with the promise of a good read but I managed to put it down - for days! I kept trying to get into it again and then just gave it a good go to finish. Still thought 'something' would happen until I reached the last few pages - it never did. It was OK but I wouldn't have missed anything if I hadn't picked it up to read.

Well written, as usual, 23 Apr 2008
Another well written novel by Ms Trollope, whose narrative flair manages to hold your attention even when you get annoyed by some of the narrow caricatures she presents. Clodagh comes across as the stereoptypical lesbian. But Trollopes books are full of stereotypes. Normally though they are of working class people, who are almost always portrayed as dull-witted, lecherous, or criminal, and sometimes all three. In Trollopes world, only the Upper Middle class do anything worthwhile; and even when they sin it's for noble reasons. Adulterous upper middle class husbands are free spirits; transfer their behaviour to working class men, and they are merely lechers. Similarly, lower class women are sluts, whereas promiscuity among upper middle class women is mere temperament.

Despite the kind of narrow minded shortcomings described above, I like her books. I can't wait to find out if she ever produces a sympathetic characterisation of a working class person. It seems unlikely!

Blue Peter Lesbians, 17 Feb 2007
Lesbian books are a rarer commodity then id like them to be, and so when i find out about this kind of book im much more inclined to like it then your average novel.

A Village Affair is a book about lesbians by someone who seems to have no understanding about the feelings involved in these sorts of relationships. It tells the story of Alice, a brattish and unlikeable character from page one, who begrudgingly moves to a cottage in an insular and prosperous village.

She meets Clodagh, another character i was completely indifferent yo, and the two of them begin an affair. But its so unconvincing - the way they get together for example, is frankly ridiculous.....

imagine this, a woman who (inexplicably and totally implausibly) knows nothing about lesbians and has never ever had any inclinations towards females...clodagh woos her by saying "but we all have a choice" !!!!

no build up, no tension, thats literally it...and then they begin an affair and her husband doesnt even get a second thought!!!!

this story had the potential of saying something important, not just about lesbians but about love - the choices it forces us to make and the disruptive consequences for anyone involved in an affair...

the affair itself continues until alice's husband finds out about it - even then its a dull and drama-free exchange where there are tears and a little bit of passion i guess, but generally its all a little flat and trollope doesnt really get her teeth into any of the human complexity...

her main focus in this novel seems to be the fall-out of the affair for alice's villagers... they condemn and belittle and it frustratingly becomes clear that they represent the views of the author...

in short, trollope has no sympathy for, and no understanding of her protagonists, and as such, they come across as self-indulgent, joyless bitches with no real affinity for one another....

if you want to read a book about the magic of love and inparticular the complex relationships women form with one another may i suggest anything by jeanette winterson, sarah waters or radclyffe hall.... this is a waste of time

A book true to Joanna Trollope's form, 11 Feb 2000
Joanna Trollope has once again proven her ability to portrait each character so well that it is impossible to take sides. She also shows that it is not always necessary to go into juicy detail. Her novels tell more about the status of women in British society than any thesis could. The ending of this book is not a happy ending in the American sense but a truly hopeful one, which makes this book very realistic and lets the reader identify themselves with the characters. Anyone who has ever been in a crisis knows how impossible it is to describe one's feelings as long as it is still going on. "A Village Affair" shows too how dependant we are on other people's opinion and how impossible it is to please everyone - including oneself. So when Alice breaks free it makes the reader feel very relieved.

"There are changes now but they won't last, we'll become used to them." , 26 Jun 2008
In Friday Nights Joanna Trollope mixes in a variety of women's social issues into a contemporary comedy of manners when a group of women meet to share their Friday nights together. Little do these women realize that when a stranger enters their fold that the delicate balance in the form of shared friendships and gentle confidences will eventually become challenged.

Finally retired after years working in the health industry in and around the Fulham area of London, Eleanor has a chance to refect on her life, that has been defined mostly by her work. Although Eleanor doesn't exactly regret the fact that she never married and had children, she's not necessarily prepared to face this consummate gap in her time. Its not until that crucial structure has gone, and that it has taken everyone at work with it, that she suddenly comes to the recognition that there is no domestic life to fall back on. Therefore, it comes as no surprise that she's quite keen to invite two young single mothers, Paula and Leslie over for Friday night drinks, along with pate, French bread, and chocolate.

Soon enough, three other women are attending: Blaise and her business partner Karen, both owners of Workwell, an agency that specializes in persuading organizations to change the way that they work; and Jude, Leslie's younger sister, who loves house music and wants one day to be a popular disc jockey. At the center of the group, Paula has weathered much of life's worries, especially with regard to the well being of her teenage son Toby. Now with a new flat, funded largely by the father of Toby, and her job managing a store specializing in uncompromising dark furniture from Indonesia, Paula is finally at a point where she can finds a measure of security.

Meanwhile, Linsday with "her white knuckle grip on life" tries to rise above her ramshackle childhood. Recently widowed with her son Noah to care for, she envies Paula's extraordinary energy, this life force and this urge that she has to thow herself into things even at the risk of drowning. When Linsday was suddenly widowed a few years ago only Paula was there. Her wayward sister Jules certainly offered no support or consolation and the memories of those hard years constantly make her flinch and cringe.

True to form Karen and Blaise are hard workers and have done their best to make their fledging business a success. Lately however, Karen has become ever more distracted with domestic life, with her two young girls, Poppy and Rose, and her artist husband Lucas who refuses to shoulder many of the financial burdens of the household. Blaise, by contrast, feels herself becoming ever more focused on her career, her different approach and attitude to work pulling her further apart from Karen rather than fusing the two of them together. From the very first page it is established that Blaise has far wider horizons than Karen whose loving family responsibities ultimately are her shackle.

When the author introduces a new character, Paula's new beau, the personal and enigmatic Jackson, this brittle dynamic is subtly altered and although these women would never admit it, there relationships with each other are destined to change. At first, Jackson's affability and charming ways seem an easy fit for the group - he's sympathetic towards Eleanor's hip pains, is even interested in financing Jules's bourgening music career even as he seems to want to make Paula happy by forging a comp