Alexa

by Andrea Newman

Christine is a musician who marriage has dulled her life.In answer to a call for help, her friend Alexa, the successful novelist, arrives in the household only to tangle with husband, Paul.With compassionate realism, Andrea Newman, author of "Bouquet Of Barbed Wire" and "Mackenzie", unravels the problems of three wounded people.

189 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1968

About the author

Andrea Newman (born 7 February 1938 in Dover, Kent) is an English author.

An only child, she taught at a grammar school after graduating with a degree in English from the Westfield College, University of London. A film version of her 1967 novel Three Into Two Won't Go, with a screenplay by Edna O'Brien, was released in 1969. It stars Rod Steiger and Claire Bloom, and was directed by Peter Hall.

Newman adapted her sixth novel A Bouquet of Barbed Wire (1969) for London Weekend Television (LWT) in 1976, as a seven-part serial. Newman recalled her work in 2010 at the time when it was being remade: "I never set out to shock, just to tell a story about an imaginary family, but I imagine most people would still disapprove of hitting your pregnant wife and having sex with her mother." The dramatisation was a popular success; its sequel, Another Bouquet, followed in 1977.

Another similar novel, Mackenzie, was dramatized by the BBC in 1980, starring Jack Galloway, Lynda Bellingham and Tracey Ullman. This adaptation was followed by Alexa (1968 – adapted for the BBC, 1982), A Sense of Guilt (1988 – adapted for the BBC, 1990), and An Evil Streak (1977 – adapted for LWT, 1999). In 2001, Newman was the writer for the television drama Pretending to Be Judith.

Her other novels include A Share of the World (1964), Mirage (1965), The Cage (1966) and A Gift of Poison (1991). A book of 15 short stories, Triangles, was published in 1990. It has been remarked that a frequent theme in Andrea Newman's novels is that with the advent of a baby, the family disintegrates.

Reviews

[Mark · Rating 5 out of 5]

Originally published in 1968 (I have the 1982 reprint, re-published for the BBC serial adaption), this centres on three characters - Alexa King, a free-spirited writer from London, her friend Christine, an ex-concert pianist who now lives in deepest Essex, has two children and loves being pregnant but is otherwise bored and disillusioned and Paul, her husband, a teacher who is stuck in a rut. Answering a letter that is basically a plea for help to regain her sanity, Alexa moves in with her friend for a while but it’s not long before an attraction is obvious between her and Paul. When Christine moves to Alexa’s flat for a week, leaving the two of them alone, things happen which will change everything.
I bought this, intrigued by the title and cover and thoroughly enjoyed it - I was aware of Newman but hadn’t heard of the novel or TV series (though I’d like to see that now). The characters all leap off the page, fully formed, from Alexa’s cool self-confidence and big city awareness to Christine’s slow depressive sink into drudgery, while Paul was, by turn, in command and under Alexa’s spell. The writing (and pace) is brisk, with a lot of clipped sentences that contrast starkly with some beautifully wordy passages and as the novel builds to the conclusion (which isn’t at all what I expected) it almost becomes chillier (and clinical), like the Essex countryside Alexa gloomily looks at from her window. Like a snapshot into Alexa’s life, we hear of things prior to the novel as if we were party to them - her friend Lucas and Shelley and boyfriends Robert and Tony (back in London briefly, she is turned on by a letter from Robert and wants a shag, so gets together with Tony who, we come to understand, physically hurt her) - which is both disorientating and exciting. I really enjoyed this, I loved the cold tones it was written in (even if it is sometimes very warm, such as Alexa’s relationship with her mum and Christine) and I’d very much recommend it.

[Cheryl Briggs · Rating 1 out of 5]

I found this in a charity shop & saw it was by the writer of Bouquet of Barbed Wire ,also a book but I remembered the tv mini series years ago so I thought this might be ok.
Maybe on tv it was better but as a book it's so boring.
A married woman's friend comes to stay as the wife is struggling to look after her two small children. The friend then suggests the wife stay at her flat for some peace & quiet while she stays there with the children AND the husband .(who does that??!)
Surprise.....they have an affair, he confesses, the wife forgives her friend!
Still, it was something to read on the bus & it only cost me 30p! It's going to be donated back ASAP.

[David Mundy · Rating 5 out of 5]

A great writer, having the ability to engage the reader in relationship situations, in very clear, expressive and uncluttered prose. I sense an honesty and integrity, an absence of the pretensions and verbal exhibitionism many writers - including very good ones - are prone to. On the other hand she has a lightness about her - not too dour and "kitchen sink". I've found all her books enjoyable and worthwhile, and "Alexa", very much of its sixties era but still very readable, doesn't disappoint.

[Sandra · Rating 3 out of 5]

Always good for a romp, Andrea Newman, and this far-fetched enough (from my life, at least!) to be thoroughly, and briefly entertaining. And satisfying.

[Elsie · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love this book. My well-worn copy is tucked into again every 8 years or so, and as I get older I appreciate it in different ways. It is unfailingly a 5-star read.

[Roz Morris · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love Andrea Newman's writing. She's so perceptive about characters crossing moral boundaries and making them likable - in this case a flirty, oversexed writer who fancies her friend's husband.

[Lynnie · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed rereading this novel from the 60s. (and the mention of a Mary Quant suit!)