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Around the Houses
"Tales of the city to make you shake, weep and giggle out loud. I'm already looking forward to the next one."-Patricia Duncker Anna's having a baby, the father's gay, her lover's a woman and she still hasn't told her parents. Her best friend Ruby is 40 and fondling every man she can. Across the road Greg is pining for Acorn, the eco-poet who abandoned him with their baby. Into all this walks Shirley. She's left her provincial home and desperately needs a but Pearl, her mother, is coming too.
184 pages, Paperback
First published December 1, 2002
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Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews
July 10, 2010
I remember years ago being at the lesbian book show in York. One of the writers there that year was Amanda Boulter - talking about her new book 'Around the Houses' she read from it. She mentioned how she had wanted to make it into a kind of British version of 'Tales of the City'. Well, I have FINALLY got around to reading it. I really enjoyed this book, fell in with the lives of the characters right from the start. Amanda really made me feel part of all their goings on... She has created the same kind of alternative family as those in the 'Tales' series of books, which I really liked. There is also a nod to 'Tales of the City' with some of the names she used, ie Anna and Madrigal. Amanda has used the same trick of short and sweet chapters that take you from one story to the next but as with Armistead they all convene together at the end!
I highly recommend this book, and have just ordered the follow up 'Back Around the Houses'
I highly recommend this book, and have just ordered the follow up 'Back Around the Houses'
September 11, 2008
Decent characters but this felt quite dated; there's mention of Tony Blair but it feels rather 80s. Maybe I've just forgotten how much we've moved on in terms of gay rights in the last 10 years.
July 9, 2009
It's Croydon. CROYDON. >:-(
March 1, 2014
Not as terrible as I expected from the first couple of chapters. Ended up being a sweet, if daft and inconsequential, novel. Not sure how it'll go down at bookclub though.
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews