Sophie King

Four rather different people register at an online community offering advice to mothers. The number of characters is quite confusing at first, but although they're all a bit two-dimensional, their circumstances are distinct enough for me to keep them separate in my mind, at least most of the time. The writing is good, the story quite nicely paced, with regular switches between each of the viewpoint characters.

Some quite serious issues are covered in the course of this book, and I found it quite difficult to put down at times, despite not finding any of the people particularly sympathetic.

Worth reading once if you like women's fiction. Apparently updated since it was first published in 2006 with the new title 'Love is a Secret'.

Longer review here: https://suesbookreviews.blogspot.com/2022/05/mumshome-by-sophie-king.html… (mehr)

Really enjoyed this one - deals with some of the grittier aspects of parenting, not just a light and fluffy read although it is very readable and not easy to put down.

A divorced single mother with a disabled daughter, a mother of three with a part time job and a husband she no longer trusts, a father (with an absent mother) struggling to cope with his two children and working from home and an a very young 'expectent mum' all register with mums@home website to find and give advice and sometimes to simply to unload.… (mehr)

I installed myself all ready to read a good book and I ended up reading a great book!

Our main character Lucy is looking to "do" something a little different and to meet some new people. The solution? she and her friends alternate the responsibility of holding a dinner party at each other's houses.

This is actually a creative idea I thought. It can make for some interesting stories to tell - and I was right.

What follows is a hilarious, moving and completely unexpected turn of events - as the dinner parties go on, Lucy's well thought out plan completely unravels and in the course of this unravelling, we find out that in life - even the best plans goes awry!

I particularly loved the scenes with Lucy and her sister - and I thought the scenes where Lucy tries to match up her sister - with, as it turns out, a loser are hopelessly hilarious.

The writing is touching and author King brings a down home, comfy feelings to her dinner party descriptions. Its as though you are actually in the kitchen - in the corner listening to everything first hand.

Although this novel touches on some sensitive issues - particularly those of brokenhearts - I ended up with feeling very pleased and very good after reading this novel.

This is written by someone in the UK, so some of the terminology left me scratching my head at times, but so what? It was worth it - I really, really enjoyed this terric book.

Now, if only I could have a dinner party with so much action going on at the same time!… (mehr)