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Final Demand
From the bestselling author of The Best Exotic Marigold HotelNatalie is a girl who should be going somewhere. Beautiful, bright and ambitious, she’s stuck in a dead-end job in the accounts department of Nu-Line Telecommunications, living her life through wild weekends and yearning for something more.When she sees a chance to change her life, she takes it.After all, it’s only a minor crime.Nobody’s going to get hurt. But other people do get hurt, because Natalie’s actions do have consequences – tragic consequences. Poignant and beautifully written, Final Demand is a cautionary tale about the battle between greed and love, about human hopes and our own frailty in the face of temptation.
240 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 2005
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About the author
Deborah Moggach
50 books570 followersDeborah Moggach is a British writer, born Deborah Hough on 28 June 1948. She has written fifteen novels to date, including The Ex-Wives, Tulip Fever, and, most recently, These Foolish Things. She has adapted many of her novels as TV dramas and has also written several film scripts, including the BAFTA-nominated screenplay for Pride & Prejudice. She has also written two collections of short stories and a stage play. In February 2005, Moggach was awarded an honorary Doctor of Letters degree by her Alma Mater, the University of Bristol . She is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature, a former Chair of the Society of Authors, and is on the executive committee of PEN.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 81 reviews
May 26, 2019
Is there such a thing as a victimless crime?
Deborah Moggach never writes the same story twice, and this one is as singular and unexpected as all the others I’ve read. Her particular skill is to make her characters so fully-fledged with all their human fallibility, that we can’t help feeling an ambivalent ‘there but for the grace of god’ admittance of empathy when they eventually get their comeuppance. The title is clever wordplay exploiting the connection of a ‘final demand’ notice served for non-payment of a bill with that of a plea for justice to be done.
Deborah Moggach never writes the same story twice, and this one is as singular and unexpected as all the others I’ve read. Her particular skill is to make her characters so fully-fledged with all their human fallibility, that we can’t help feeling an ambivalent ‘there but for the grace of god’ admittance of empathy when they eventually get their comeuppance. The title is clever wordplay exploiting the connection of a ‘final demand’ notice served for non-payment of a bill with that of a plea for justice to be done.
June 19, 2017
When I was offered this book to read for review from the publisher, I didn't hesitate. I had just finished Tulip Fever, which I had devoured. Tulip Fever was not really my style of book, but I had read it because of the upcoming movie. I fell in love with the author's style of writing, so knew that I wanted to read Final Demand.
I was reading some other reviews on this book and saw it called Chick Lit and "a light read". I disagree. This book is not a light read. To me, it was more of a psychological drama. There is not a lot of physical action in the book. It is told from a few different points of view, with Natalie, the protaganist, being the main one. She has heard of a scheme to pilfer customer's checks and thinks she has the perfect cover. She will just divert some of the money from the larger companies bills to cover the individual customer's bills - so that the customer's bills appear to be paid, and she then deposits their checks into her own account. The extent that she goes to get the scheme going is outrageous though, and you will have to read the book to find out what she does.
On one afternoon though, the computers go down before she has a chance to transfer money to cover the customer's bills. She doesn't think anything of it and figures she will do it the next day - except that she forgets. This is the small ripple that will affect not only her life, but the customer's lives as well.
I love the way that the author gets inside the heads of the characters. In this way, you see all of their flaws - even the ones that they don't think or know that they have. I also read my own meaning into the title - Final Demand. I always like to try to figure out why the author used that title. In this case, the obvious one is that Natalie was stealing the payments and this caused some customers to receive their final notice - or final demand for payment. I also thought it could reference what some of the characters went through, and what the final demand in their lives were because of their actions, or inactions.
Even though I generally like a book with a lot of action, I found this to be a very good read. The characters were well developed, and I thought they were believable. Someone in a review noted that this wasn't a believable crime - and I have to disagree. This is very much a believable scenario, but one you just don't hear as much about because of the violent crimes that over shadow the white collar ones.
If you haven't read anything by Deborah Moggach - this is a good place to start!
I was reading some other reviews on this book and saw it called Chick Lit and "a light read". I disagree. This book is not a light read. To me, it was more of a psychological drama. There is not a lot of physical action in the book. It is told from a few different points of view, with Natalie, the protaganist, being the main one. She has heard of a scheme to pilfer customer's checks and thinks she has the perfect cover. She will just divert some of the money from the larger companies bills to cover the individual customer's bills - so that the customer's bills appear to be paid, and she then deposits their checks into her own account. The extent that she goes to get the scheme going is outrageous though, and you will have to read the book to find out what she does.
On one afternoon though, the computers go down before she has a chance to transfer money to cover the customer's bills. She doesn't think anything of it and figures she will do it the next day - except that she forgets. This is the small ripple that will affect not only her life, but the customer's lives as well.
I love the way that the author gets inside the heads of the characters. In this way, you see all of their flaws - even the ones that they don't think or know that they have. I also read my own meaning into the title - Final Demand. I always like to try to figure out why the author used that title. In this case, the obvious one is that Natalie was stealing the payments and this caused some customers to receive their final notice - or final demand for payment. I also thought it could reference what some of the characters went through, and what the final demand in their lives were because of their actions, or inactions.
Even though I generally like a book with a lot of action, I found this to be a very good read. The characters were well developed, and I thought they were believable. Someone in a review noted that this wasn't a believable crime - and I have to disagree. This is very much a believable scenario, but one you just don't hear as much about because of the violent crimes that over shadow the white collar ones.
If you haven't read anything by Deborah Moggach - this is a good place to start!
July 4, 2011
I read Final Demand in one day and wanted there to be more chapters - a testament to Moggach's writing skills. The book takes an unexpected direction about halfway through which is a great surprise, and conjures up an extremely moving and evocative passage of writing. Her characters are instantly engaging and multi-layered - I particularly enjoyed the author's dry wit and quick, clean and wryly descriptive passages. Seeing the perspective of all the characters equally also greatly enhanced my enjoyment of the book. A great, thrilling, fast-paced read for an afternoon on the sofa with a blanket.
October 5, 2016
So good !!
This is the story of an ordinary girl - except she isn't ordinary, cause no- one is - and how her slip into stealing from her employers affect the world around her.
The characters are excellent . Good, bad, sad, disappointed, resigned, jealous, greedy, all the qualities that make up real humans. It's difficult to hate even Natalie because in the end, her story is too complex to be simply wicked.
I love this type of writing . Like peeling back the can on humanity :)
This is the story of an ordinary girl - except she isn't ordinary, cause no- one is - and how her slip into stealing from her employers affect the world around her.
The characters are excellent . Good, bad, sad, disappointed, resigned, jealous, greedy, all the qualities that make up real humans. It's difficult to hate even Natalie because in the end, her story is too complex to be simply wicked.
I love this type of writing . Like peeling back the can on humanity :)
October 27, 2017
3.5* rounded up.
When it is explained to Natalie how easy it is to alter the payee on a cheque made payable to, for example, the company in whose accounts department she works (NT), she seeks to marry a man whose last name begins with T. She will then add her last name to the payee line and cash the cheque. This part of the story, while seeming ridiculous, was very entertaining.
Natalie believes by an additional accounting step, she has made her theft a "victimless crime", but carelessness has consequences in the lives of others. The chapters from David and Sheila's point of view were sad, but became rather too much of the narrative; I found the novel stronger when we were inside Natalie's head. The point about there always being consequences was I suppose the "meaning" behind the story, although this was weakened by the fact that Natalie could so easily have avoided her careless mistake.
An interesting read, but it did leave me wondering if it had really been worth my time - I will, however, always be sure to write out the payee in full on my cheques.
When it is explained to Natalie how easy it is to alter the payee on a cheque made payable to, for example, the company in whose accounts department she works (NT), she seeks to marry a man whose last name begins with T. She will then add her last name to the payee line and cash the cheque. This part of the story, while seeming ridiculous, was very entertaining.
Natalie believes by an additional accounting step, she has made her theft a "victimless crime", but carelessness has consequences in the lives of others. The chapters from David and Sheila's point of view were sad, but became rather too much of the narrative; I found the novel stronger when we were inside Natalie's head. The point about there always being consequences was I suppose the "meaning" behind the story, although this was weakened by the fact that Natalie could so easily have avoided her careless mistake.
An interesting read, but it did leave me wondering if it had really been worth my time - I will, however, always be sure to write out the payee in full on my cheques.
May 12, 2014
It took me a while to warm to this book, being put off initially by the sheer unlikeliness of the situations and the unlikeability of the main character. Although I ended up getting drawn into the story I would regard it more as a modern morality tale than as a standard novel.
March 8, 2021
Natalie commits what she thinks is a victimless crime, but it actually has far- reaching consequences.
I haven't read a Deborah Moggach book for a long time and this was up there with her best, a real page-turner.
I haven't read a Deborah Moggach book for a long time and this was up there with her best, a real page-turner.
November 4, 2017
"Final Demand" is an engrossing contemporary urban thriller, quite unlike Deborah Moggach's other novels. That alone interested me, for so many authors tend to write the same book over and again. Set in her native England, Moggach gives us the flavor - may I say flavour? - of her native tongue in both turn of phrase and choice of words. You don't have to know them, for they're easy enough to transpose into American English, but they make the novel great fun to read.
The lead character, Natalie, who lives in Leeds, Yorkshire, is positioned against the Big Bad Corporation, a vast, impersonal telecom which she believes takes unfair advantage of her - therefore she will return the attitude in kind. She devises a clever scheme to skim money, not unlike the salami-slicing technique which has enjoyed notoriety in both books and movies in the past.
While she succeeds, it is a great cost to others, not necessarily herself, and it becomes difficult to think of her as a noble Robin Hood vs. The System. The cost grows and grows, and with it Moggach's skillful warp and weft of a story about the shallow and often selfish materialism that pervades Western civilization.
For Natalie, the final demand turns out to be quite high; how could it be otherwise? Yet Moggach keeps us turning pages to learn what happens to her. The conclusion is as powerful, and engrossing, and one might even say surprising, as the story when it began.
The lead character, Natalie, who lives in Leeds, Yorkshire, is positioned against the Big Bad Corporation, a vast, impersonal telecom which she believes takes unfair advantage of her - therefore she will return the attitude in kind. She devises a clever scheme to skim money, not unlike the salami-slicing technique which has enjoyed notoriety in both books and movies in the past.
While she succeeds, it is a great cost to others, not necessarily herself, and it becomes difficult to think of her as a noble Robin Hood vs. The System. The cost grows and grows, and with it Moggach's skillful warp and weft of a story about the shallow and often selfish materialism that pervades Western civilization.
For Natalie, the final demand turns out to be quite high; how could it be otherwise? Yet Moggach keeps us turning pages to learn what happens to her. The conclusion is as powerful, and engrossing, and one might even say surprising, as the story when it began.
June 17, 2016
Final Demand didn't sweep me off my feet at first. I was quite skeptical about the protagonist's obsession with a rather foolish idea which involves duping her company to pay off her debts. However, the lack of a convincing premise is compensated with well-crafted characters and compelling writing. The point about how our seemingly harmless actions can manifest into a full blown disaster is made powerfully. Deborah's narrative style, I felt has all the qualities of being a page-turner but somehow misses the bull's eye.
All in all, an easy, intriguing read if you keep your expectations tucked into a chest-drawer.
All in all, an easy, intriguing read if you keep your expectations tucked into a chest-drawer.
October 7, 2017
Dead phone. Dead affairs. Dead daughter. Dead marriage. All these "deaths" are the consequence of one self-centered young woman who doesn't think stashing a few company checks into her own account could be of any harm. Her strong sexual urges, and determination to live the good life any way she can get it,are even enough to break the heart of her herpetologist husband.The writing is very good, and the descriptions of people and places are excellent. And the final demand? It's a surprise ending to a rapid read. By the way, I should have had an inkling of the descriptions when I saw review by Cosmopolitan.
November 3, 2008
Strange to find a novel set in Leeds and especially set in South Leeds where I work. I enjoyed the beginning and middle but when the focus switched to the father of the murdered girl I felt the pace dropped slightly and the ending wa a bit too rushed bot overall it kept me turning the pages
February 24, 2020
Deborah Moggach constantly reinvents herself with her books and this is another super read. I didn't warm to the main character but that takes nothing away from the writing and the desire to keep turning the pages to find out what happens. A wonderful author and a very good read.
August 22, 2016
3.5 stars.
October 18, 2015
Quite compelling but meh.
July 23, 2017
It starts slowly but then builds up to a great climax,
March 22, 2019
Really good read and very well written
March 9, 2025
Great little read, dark, twisty and original
September 10, 2025
3.5 stars
It's not a nice or happy story, but I really enjoyed it. Fast-paced with some depth in the characters. The plot is fairly straightforward without being too predictable. Touches on how what may seem an innocent bending of the rules can often have broader, significant, unintended consequences.
It's not a nice or happy story, but I really enjoyed it. Fast-paced with some depth in the characters. The plot is fairly straightforward without being too predictable. Touches on how what may seem an innocent bending of the rules can often have broader, significant, unintended consequences.
October 1, 2018
Deborah Moggach's novel, Final Demand, is a redemptive tale with a tight character driven mystery at its core. Natalie is a thirty-something Brit living in Leeds, an industrial city outside of London. She feels entitled to a life well beyond the means provided by her low skill position in the Accounts Department at a telecommunications firm, Nu Tel. Natalie is a crafty one, looking out for number one, and always scheming. She's not overly successful. Her failings are manifest, as her greed often allows temptation to overwhelm her moral compass, which isn't pointing true north in any event. Her back story makes all this plausible.
Natalie devises a scheme to defraud Nu Tel. Essentially, as she opens envelopes with bill payments from NuTel's customers, she's going to steal checks made out to N. T., pay those bills with funds from large corporate accounts, alter the checks to be made out to her and then deposit them into accounts she controls. The only victim in this crime would be the corporations with their large accounts. So, where's the fun?
Natalie's last name doesn't start with a T. But, her Hindu friend, Farida, is entering an arranged marriage. So, why not arrange a marriage with someone who's last name starts with a T?
She does make those arrangements. Her method was not quite in the manner of a respectable Hindi household. But, the outcome was what she needed, even if the unwitting groom would suffer.
There's not much conflict in the development of this part of the story. If you're not curious about this young woman then the novel will be tedious.
Natalie is a careless criminal. There comes a time when she neglects to cover three of the checks she's appropriating with corporate funds. This is Moggach's opportunity to add three distinct paths to her p!otline and three sets of new charscters. She shows us three seemingly serendipitous moments facilitated by Natalie's criminal enterprise. One resulting in unexpected joy, one benign event and the third precipitating dire consequences.
Moggach's chooses to introduce these three threads but only follow one to its conclusion. That story is of consequence but I wish she could have found a means to run the other two plotlines, as well.
Moggach's writing includes some nice turns of phrases. "Sometimes words chased ahead of you; they waited, patiently, for you to catch up to them." Colin, Natalie's husband, is an amateur herpetologist. She makes great use of metaphor and simile to compare Natalie with the cold-blooded amphibians and reptiles Colin works so hard to nourish, cherish and love.
The American reader needs to be prepared for that separation we can feel due to the differences we have in our shared language. "Final Demand" is their way of saying a bill is being submitted for final payment. The double entendre in the title, though evident to the British reader, may come later for the American reader.
Natalie devises a scheme to defraud Nu Tel. Essentially, as she opens envelopes with bill payments from NuTel's customers, she's going to steal checks made out to N. T., pay those bills with funds from large corporate accounts, alter the checks to be made out to her and then deposit them into accounts she controls. The only victim in this crime would be the corporations with their large accounts. So, where's the fun?
Natalie's last name doesn't start with a T. But, her Hindu friend, Farida, is entering an arranged marriage. So, why not arrange a marriage with someone who's last name starts with a T?
She does make those arrangements. Her method was not quite in the manner of a respectable Hindi household. But, the outcome was what she needed, even if the unwitting groom would suffer.
There's not much conflict in the development of this part of the story. If you're not curious about this young woman then the novel will be tedious.
Natalie is a careless criminal. There comes a time when she neglects to cover three of the checks she's appropriating with corporate funds. This is Moggach's opportunity to add three distinct paths to her p!otline and three sets of new charscters. She shows us three seemingly serendipitous moments facilitated by Natalie's criminal enterprise. One resulting in unexpected joy, one benign event and the third precipitating dire consequences.
Moggach's chooses to introduce these three threads but only follow one to its conclusion. That story is of consequence but I wish she could have found a means to run the other two plotlines, as well.
Moggach's writing includes some nice turns of phrases. "Sometimes words chased ahead of you; they waited, patiently, for you to catch up to them." Colin, Natalie's husband, is an amateur herpetologist. She makes great use of metaphor and simile to compare Natalie with the cold-blooded amphibians and reptiles Colin works so hard to nourish, cherish and love.
The American reader needs to be prepared for that separation we can feel due to the differences we have in our shared language. "Final Demand" is their way of saying a bill is being submitted for final payment. The double entendre in the title, though evident to the British reader, may come later for the American reader.
December 5, 2019
3.50 - 3.75 stars.
While not the author's best book, it's still an entertaining fast moving read about a young women who moves into the world of white collar crime.
She has a grievance of sorts towards the telecommunications company she works for and decides to steal money originating from customers' cheques (checks) that are for the payment of their telephone bills.
She thinks this is a minor crime that isn't really going to hurt anybody but in fact her actions do eventually affect the lives of numerous people around the country, especially for a family in Manchester.
I presume this tale is set around the late 1990's or so, a time when there were probably a few people who still paid their bills by cheques(checks) instead of by credit card/online and when there still a few (if only a few) people who didn't, as yet, have a cell/mobile phone.
I feel it's important to consider or surmise this as it is a feature of the story line.
Whilst the book is gripping from start to finish, I felt that some aspects of the book defied credibility, the quick as lightning marriage of Natalie and Colin, and how Colin the husband didn't seem to question all that diligently his wife on where she was getting all the money she was spending at the time.
On another page it was said the song "Love Me Do" was at number one when it never got that high in the charts anywhere.
Still, I was able to put these and a few other quibbles aside and enjoy a good story.
The third book I've read from this author, and I liked all three.
While not the author's best book, it's still an entertaining fast moving read about a young women who moves into the world of white collar crime.
She has a grievance of sorts towards the telecommunications company she works for and decides to steal money originating from customers' cheques (checks) that are for the payment of their telephone bills.
She thinks this is a minor crime that isn't really going to hurt anybody but in fact her actions do eventually affect the lives of numerous people around the country, especially for a family in Manchester.
I presume this tale is set around the late 1990's or so, a time when there were probably a few people who still paid their bills by cheques(checks) instead of by credit card/online and when there still a few (if only a few) people who didn't, as yet, have a cell/mobile phone.
I feel it's important to consider or surmise this as it is a feature of the story line.
Whilst the book is gripping from start to finish, I felt that some aspects of the book defied credibility, the quick as lightning marriage of Natalie and Colin, and how Colin the husband didn't seem to question all that diligently his wife on where she was getting all the money she was spending at the time.
On another page it was said the song "Love Me Do" was at number one when it never got that high in the charts anywhere.
Still, I was able to put these and a few other quibbles aside and enjoy a good story.
The third book I've read from this author, and I liked all three.
February 3, 2022
In Final Demand, Deborah Moggach’s gritty novel of intrigue and suspense, a young woman solves her money woes with a cheque-cashing scam that, to her brash, egocentric way of thinking, is okay because it’s a “victimless crime.” In her early thirties, Natalie Bingham is smart, attractive, and working a boring, dead-end job in the accounts department of NuLine Telecommunications. Chronically dissatisfied, she bitterly resents NuLine and feels the job is beneath her, but she needs the money, desperately. Natalie loves money. She loves material comforts. She loves to buy things and go clubbing. But since Natalie’s slacker boyfriend doesn’t earn very much and her own salary is insufficient to cover expenses, the pressure of living beyond her means is starting to become unbearable. Then a casual remark by a co-worker twigs her to an opportunity staring her in the face. The more she thinks about it, obsesses over it, the clearer it becomes that the plan is perfect. It might be against the law, but if she’s careful the risk will be minimal, no one will get hurt, and she’ll get her revenge on NuLine. When her boyfriend suddenly moves out, Natalie, realizing she’s on the brink of financial ruin, decides to set her plan in motion. But Natalie’s big problem, besides being selfish and shamelessly unprincipled, is that she’s not careful, and it turns out people do get hurt. Moggach spends most of this gripping, swiftly paced novel with Natalie: we witness the scheming, the conniving, and get the excuses and justifications from her twisted young entitled woman’s perspective. But Moggach also shares the stories of Natalie’s victims, people who suffer the misfortune of crossing her path, who fall prey to her scam and suffer life-altering consequences just for being trusting or easily duped, or simply unlucky. In Final Demand Moggach creates numerous indelible characters whose fates matter in the process of telling a sordid tale of irresponsible and callous greed. The book is compelling and memorable if deeply unsettling; despite our repugnance at Natalie’s attitude and actions, we’re drawn into her unscrupulous, self-centred perspective, all the way to the unexpected ending.
October 29, 2017
Set in England, it revolves around the ripple effect of the female protagonist’s embezzlement scheme. The line, “He had stepped into a world of criminality, a world fraught with danger, and all because he had fallen in love” reminded me of, “Into the depths of the criminal world, I followed her” in Miserable Lie by The Smiths. A few engrossing passages illustrating the author’s way with words (literally) were:
“Where have all the words gone? There was so much to say and yet, now that the end had arrived, nothing to say at all.”
“Sometimes words chased ahead of you; they waited, patiently, for you to catch up with them.”
And all the world’s a (dismantled) stage:
“It was as if the stage set of their life had been dismantled and all that was left, cruelly exposed to the cold light of day, were bits of cardboard. That was all there had been, all the time.”
Typo alert on page 85:
“She put her put her arms around him”
“Where have all the words gone? There was so much to say and yet, now that the end had arrived, nothing to say at all.”
“Sometimes words chased ahead of you; they waited, patiently, for you to catch up with them.”
And all the world’s a (dismantled) stage:
“It was as if the stage set of their life had been dismantled and all that was left, cruelly exposed to the cold light of day, were bits of cardboard. That was all there had been, all the time.”
Typo alert on page 85:
“She put her put her arms around him”
July 1, 2020
Oh what a tangled web we weave, when first we practice to deceive.
Natalie is a clever young woman with ambition, but she is stuck in a boring, dead end job and can only dream of better things. After a chance conversation with a workmate, during a cigarette break huddled outside, Natalie hatches a plan, a fraudulent plan which will increase her bank balance and give her the life she deserves. No-one will ever find out, will they ? However, there is only one obstacle to this new found wealth, the first letter of Natalie's surname. Not deterred, Natalie sets off on a plan to rectify this.
How true is the above quote from Sir Walter Scott in 1808. Natalie's lies and dishonesty initiate problems with a domino effect of complications, which spiral out of control. They have a profound effect on Natalie's life and the lives of people she does not even know.
I enjoyed this novel but did find the end to be quite sudden.
Natalie is a clever young woman with ambition, but she is stuck in a boring, dead end job and can only dream of better things. After a chance conversation with a workmate, during a cigarette break huddled outside, Natalie hatches a plan, a fraudulent plan which will increase her bank balance and give her the life she deserves. No-one will ever find out, will they ? However, there is only one obstacle to this new found wealth, the first letter of Natalie's surname. Not deterred, Natalie sets off on a plan to rectify this.
How true is the above quote from Sir Walter Scott in 1808. Natalie's lies and dishonesty initiate problems with a domino effect of complications, which spiral out of control. They have a profound effect on Natalie's life and the lives of people she does not even know.
I enjoyed this novel but did find the end to be quite sudden.
June 17, 2017
I won a copy of this book from a Goodreads Giveaway. I was super excited to read it. All in all, it's an intriguing story. I really wanted to see how everything would resolve. It was a good view of how selfish actions can have consequences that are unexpected, and far reaching.
This is definitely one of those stories where you can't help but despise the main character. No pity, no real redeeming qualities. And I'm sure we've all met someone like her in our lives. All the characters were very real, people. I could clearly see them, and they were so well crafted.
There are some questions I would have liked answered. The ending felt rushed. There could easily have been a few more chapters to make the book feel more complete. But maybe that was part of the point? Selfish, greedy actions will leave you unsatisfied in the end?
This is definitely one of those stories where you can't help but despise the main character. No pity, no real redeeming qualities. And I'm sure we've all met someone like her in our lives. All the characters were very real, people. I could clearly see them, and they were so well crafted.
There are some questions I would have liked answered. The ending felt rushed. There could easily have been a few more chapters to make the book feel more complete. But maybe that was part of the point? Selfish, greedy actions will leave you unsatisfied in the end?
June 24, 2025
the tragedy this book has… it really makes you sit with the thought that sometimes, one person’s decision to make their life a little better can completely destroy someone else’s. Natalie-a young, beautiful woman just trying to survive, struggling to make ends meet-comes up with this idea. a harmless little scam at work, just to get some extra cash. nothing crazy. nothing that would hurt anyone… or so she thinks.
But that’s the thing. we never really know where one choice will lead. what seems small to us could be the final blow for someone else. as the story goes on, you’re left wondering—will natalie finally get the peaceful, safe life she’s chasing? or will her actions end up ruining someone else’s world? or worse… take their life altogether?
It’s heavy, haunting even, but so real. and it leaves you thinking long after the last page.
But that’s the thing. we never really know where one choice will lead. what seems small to us could be the final blow for someone else. as the story goes on, you’re left wondering—will natalie finally get the peaceful, safe life she’s chasing? or will her actions end up ruining someone else’s world? or worse… take their life altogether?
It’s heavy, haunting even, but so real. and it leaves you thinking long after the last page.
November 9, 2022
3.5 stars. I had a little bit of an issue getting into the book in the beginning. I found it to be very slow. But as I kept reading the plot thickened. I throughly enjoyed this book :) the characters were smart and cunning and emotional so I enjoyed them a lot. Nathalie was a BITCH but I’m glad she understood her wrong doings in the end and took responsibility. I am sad we didn’t get to find out who the killer was, and I think there was some plot holes around the killer because there were hints about them throughout the book and we never find out who it is. My heart goes out to Colin and David - they deserved better ! & Chloe was my favorite - such a sweet girl, deserved better. A heart breaking novel , pretty entertaining. :)
September 16, 2017
This is a weird one. I found the first quarter
of the book amusing, a lark, despite a rather
farcical premise to the actions of the protagonist.
But I wanted to see where it went.
However, then the book focuses on other
(new) characters, and I found them UNinteresting.
Drab even. Who cared for them?
The two sets of characters do come together
eventually but not before this book that began
as a romp turned pretty sad and depressing.
And then a good bit of the actual ending is
really, really dumb. It shouldn't be a spoiler
for me to say who asks for a bath from
basically a total stranger and then gives it
to them?! Amazing,
Don't bother with this one.
of the book amusing, a lark, despite a rather
farcical premise to the actions of the protagonist.
But I wanted to see where it went.
However, then the book focuses on other
(new) characters, and I found them UNinteresting.
Drab even. Who cared for them?
The two sets of characters do come together
eventually but not before this book that began
as a romp turned pretty sad and depressing.
And then a good bit of the actual ending is
really, really dumb. It shouldn't be a spoiler
for me to say who asks for a bath from
basically a total stranger and then gives it
to them?! Amazing,
Don't bother with this one.
January 20, 2018
What happens when you commit a white collar crime? Especially against a large corporation. After all, they can absorb the loss, right? So begins the premise of this very readable book by Deborah Moggach. There’s not much negative to say about this one: well drawn, painstakingly honest characters vividly brought to life by a very talented author. The dissolution of a marriage portrayed was so real, so accurate, and so raw I was astonished by it. My only complaint was in the ending, I feel too many authors want to give a relatively happy one at the cost of reality. Other than that, I definitely recommend this book.
April 23, 2018
Brief but powerful, this fairly short novel follows the repercussions of Natalie's fraudulent plan. But how someone as attractive, bright and strong, as she is, having to resort to crime is beyond me. But it is an entertaining and pacy story with clever, precise and witty writing: "If the brewery had it's way ..... this last genuine local would be revamped into some themed Slug and Lettuce bollocks ....".
I liked it when the author referred to Colin's mother (a family of Yorkshire farmers) "had no truck with displays of feeling" but "fiercely loved her son". It resonated with my own childhood. A note to the editor: "Love Me Do" never reached number one.
I liked it when the author referred to Colin's mother (a family of Yorkshire farmers) "had no truck with displays of feeling" but "fiercely loved her son". It resonated with my own childhood. A note to the editor: "Love Me Do" never reached number one.
March 20, 2020
I really liked this book! It grabs you from the beginning and not to be too cliche, but it is a page turner. I think I was supposed to feel sympathy or empathy or something for Natalie because of her dysfunctional childhood, but I really didn't. I did find the character fascinating, and I could totally see this as a movie. There were a few places where I felt like characters were introduced and I had trouble figuring out how they fit into the story, but overall it was well written and interesting. My biggest issue was that the ending was just not as satisfying as I would have liked, not exactly sure how I would have ended, but it definitely need a little more oomph.
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