Shire Hell

Notting Hell Trilogy #2

by Rachel Johnson

Shire Hell is the hilarious sequel to Rachel Johnson's brilliant novel Notting Hell in which Mimi and Ralph have managed to escape the city and move to the idyllic Dorset countryside, but have they moved out of the frying pan and into the fire? **Winner of the Literary Review 's infamous Bad Sex in Fiction Award in 2008** Mimi and Ralph have left social climbing, pushy parenting and their marital problems behind them in London, and moved west to the bucolic green depths of the country. Or so they though. Yes, there's mud and masses of fresh air, plenty of handsome hayseeds and there's Rose, Mimi's new best friend and Dorset's answer to Martha Stewart. But what should be Shire Heaven is, it turns out, just as tricky to navigate as Notting Hell. There's low-level conflict between the racehorses in vintage/Diesel/Ralph Lauren and the brood mares in Barbour/Boden, there's guerrilla warfare between the landowners and eco-warriors and naked hostility between Old Money, New Money and No Money. Yes, in Honeybourne, if you don't 1. A landscaped garden with 1,000 acres (minimum) of prime land2. A helipad for your trophy guests3. An organic farm shop selling sixteen sorts of home-made sausages4. Four pony-mad polo-playing children5. A Literary Festival in your mini-stately6. A bottom that looks smackable in jodhpurs Then, well...you're Mimi, basically. And that's just the start of her problems. Mimi also has a secret. But can she keep it? Rachel Johnson is known for her wickedly funny novels The Mummy Diaries and Notting Hell ; also available from Penguin is her first non-fiction book A Diary of a Lady .

Genres: Chick Lit, Fiction, British Literature

320 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2008

About the author

Rachel Johnson is a British editor, journalist, television presenter and author based in London. She lives in Notting Hill, London with her husband. They have three adult children.

Librarian’s note: There is more than one author in the Goodreads database with this name.

Reviews

[Charlotte · Rating 1 out of 5]

With lines like "she looks a bit like a Home counties suicide bomber in a burqa" in the first few chapters of this book I should have stopped reading. But it is for a reading challenge (book bingo: book with a steamy scene) and this book won the Literary Review's Bad Sex in Fiction Award in 2008, so I thought it might be fun. It was not.

It's not so much that I don't relate to the characters (ex Notting Hill posh ladies, now trying to become countrified), but more that the style of writing is so Tahani, but without the underlying sincerity and depth. Name dropping is all very well to enlighten you as to the wealth of the character, or their shallow nature, but in this book name dropping lists are so consistently used as description that I wonder if the author was using them to meet her word count. Where another author might have used a few succint words to describe a character, or setting, this book seems to find it necessary to use a paragraph. I have a pet hate of multiple metaphors, things like "her eyes were the blue of the ocean, the azure of a perfect summer day, deeper than twilight, brighter than my mother in laws neon blue sneakers" (that's my example btw, not in this book), and they abound in this book.

I didn't take many notes while reading as to be honest I just wanted to get to the end. I'm not entirely sure what the plot was. The sex scene was definitely 'steamy' but that's about all the praise I can give. Such a shame. I don't like giving bad reviews, but I wouldn't want others to suffer through this book without knowing what they were letting themselves in for.

[Alyssa · Rating 2 out of 5]

Probably not my favorite British novel ever. I appreciated learning some new words that we don't use in American English, however, the story was overwhelmed with lots of references to fashion, pop culture and famous people from the UK that just didn't mean anything to me.

While the plot line was mildly interesting and the transition between the voices of different characters gave it flavor, over all I found the book bland and a little passe.

[Cybèle · Rating 2 out of 5]

Gave up halfway through - just wasn't enjoying this.

[Keith Murphy · Rating 1 out of 5]

Worst book this year. What was was supposed to be funny about a load of designer idiots parading around in the shires is quite frankly, beyond me. I must have gone to the wrong school.
I was rather hoping that I would get a perspective on a family, that has bought chaos and disaster to the UK, that would show them in a better light.
Trite and shallow rubbish I'm afraid.

[Manon · Rating 2 out of 5]

Je ne m'attendais pas à beaucoup apprécier cette lecture vu ce que j'avais pensé du premier. Les personnages sont toujours aussi difficiles à apprécier et l'intrigue avait peu d'intérêt à mes yeux mais bon, je suis contente de l'avoir lu quand même. Je n'irai néanmoins pas plus loin que ça.

[Isobel · Rating 3 out of 5]

Easy read. Amazing how dated these books become!

[Emma · Rating 1 out of 5]

It appears churning out intolerable tosh runs in this family.

[Julie · Rating 2 out of 5]

The book tries too hard to be funny for my taste. The storyline is ok as is the writing itself, but just doesn’t give me the warm and fuzzy feelings that I want from chick lit unfortunately.

[JoAnna May · Rating 1 out of 5]

Utter nonsensical rubbish, peppered with racism, which is really to be expected from the sister of Boris Johndon.

[Alice · Rating 4 out of 5]

Mlle Alice, pouvez-vous nous raconter votre rencontre avec Le Diable Vit à la Campagne?

"J'avais lu l'année dernière Le Diable Vit à Notting Hill qui ne m'avait pas complètement convaincu, mais dont l'héroïne m'avait attendrie et j'avais donc bien envie de la retrouver."

Dites-nous en un peu plus sur son histoire...


"Mimi a quitté Notting Hill et ses voisins perfides, pour la campagne. Elle se voit donc contrainte d'apprendre de nouveaux codes de vie, tout aussi compliqués que ceux qui régentaient son ancienne existence."

Mais que s'est-il exactement passé entre vous?


"Pour toute passionée de l'Angleterre, ces livres sont tout de même délectables, présentant de véritables chroniques de la vie sur place et d'une palette d'habitants certainement très caricaturaux mais pour le moins amusants. Dans le premier tome, j'avais déploré le manque d'histoire réel avec un début et une fin et je dois dire qu'ici, je l'ai moins ressenti ou alors, je m'habitue à l'écriture de Rachel Johnson peut-être. En tous cas, ce fut une lecture appréciable, un genre de Desperate Housewives de la campagne anglaise."

Et comment cela s'est-il fini?


"J'ai l'impression d'avoir retrouvé une bonne copine et je serais ravie d'avoir de nouveau de ses nouvelles. Malgré tout, je trouve qu'une fois encore, on lui fait avaler bien des couleuvres à cette pauvre Mimi et qu'elle est d'une indulgence incroyable, pour ne pas dire complètement irréaliste! S'il y a un troisième tome, il serait temps qu'elle tape du poing sur la table, et fort avec ça!"



http://booksaremywonderland.hautetfor...

[Mary BookHounds · Rating 3 out of 5]

I absolutely loved the first in this series, Notting Hell, so as you can imagine I was a little disappointed with this one. Shire Hell is Notting Hell except everything takes place in the country. There are the same characters with the same issues and just a few of the clever quips I loved in Notting Hell. One label does stand out when Mimi describes trophy wives as "atrophy wives" when she is discussing the minds of these women. It was a decent read but didn't get me as excitied as the first one I read by this author.

[Anne]

I quit reading this after 100 pages, when I still could not figure out if anything was going on, or if I was supposed to be invested in the story. The entire thing came across as stream of conciousness writing of a couple of women who I THINK disliked their lives in the English countryside, but I wasn't entirely sure. Lesson for future book selections: If a book requires a listing in the beginning of all the characters, and a glossary in the back, it's probably not written well enough to be worth reading.

[HollyR Chew · Rating 3 out of 5]

I love European-based books because of the literary style, the exploration of customs and cultures, and the off-beat sense of humor most European writers possess. This book delivered on all these things, but it was so WORDY. Maybe that's a good thing to some readers, but I just wanted to know what was going to happen next and, admittedly, skipped paragraphs at a time if there was no action. I do love a sweet ending, however, and at the end of this novel I indeed found myself "in a good place."

[Sue · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book did not capture me at all. The alternating character chapters are tedious and after about 50 pages into it, I still have no idea what the story or plot is. Disappointing since I usually enjoy anything set in the UK.

[Emma · Rating 2 out of 5]

To me, it was much easier to read than the first one (I haven't said it was better, mind you). Probably because I was already familiar with many of the characters. And it was... okay, I guess. I've read it quickly without getting bored to tears but without much fun/interest either.

[Mark Farley · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another glorious, society of errors romp from Rachel Johnson, our local author of 'Notting Hell' this time celebrating those collection of god awful and privileged folk we know and love who have extra houses to play with in the countryside with their horses and collection terribly clever offspring.

[Stephanie · Rating 4 out of 5]

I loved this book as much as I loved Notting Hell. Again, it's a great peek into the lives of the wealthy British if you are into that sort of thing.

[Kathryn · Rating 1 out of 5]

This is dreadful, but has a few funny parts.

[Soelo · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good story, but the long descriptions of what everyone wore got a bit old.

[Amy · Rating 3 out of 5]

a little too graphic for my taste

[Cheryl · Rating 2 out of 5]

How tiresome the over-priveledged can be.

[Manon]

Give up in the middle of the book and this doesn't happen to me often

[LaDawn · Rating 1 out of 5]

Simply gave up.

[Pamela McLeod · Rating 2 out of 5]

About as awful as the first book, but I can't not finish what I've started

[Linda · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is not as good as her previous book Notting Hell, however I did find many funny passages..

[Agoaye Martin · Rating 1 out of 5]

Pfiouuuu que c'était chiant !!
Un roman sans intérêt sur des potins de bourgeois de la campagne anglaise... Une vitrine d'histoires vaudevillesques sur fond de chasse à courre...
Inutile à souhait !