Losing It

by Jane Asher

A man who has everything, a girl who has nothing, and a woman who has to fight to keep what's hers. Everyone has something to lose! Judy Thornton thinks her husband must be losing his mind. How has Charlie's casual friendship with the fat, lonely girl in the local supermarket, become an obsession that turns the mild, bumbling barrister into an unpredictable stranger? Stacey Salton needs to lose half her bodyweight. Until then she can't begin to live, and she'll do anything, and use anyone, to succeed. Suddenly, in the chaos that turns the Thornton family upside-down, it's Judy who has everything to lose! In this compassionate and compelling story no one remains unaffected -- and it takes some surprising revelations to help them see what you have to lose in order to win.

351 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2002

Reviews

[Karina · Rating 2 out of 5]

My hubby's family is from London, so I'm always willing to give an author from London a chance, especially as some have a witty fabulous sense of humor that has me often chuckling aloud as I read.
Not so with this book. I haven't previously read any of Asher's work--but the writing style was v dry & a bit of a drag to read. The plot was well-thought out & had it been better written would have made for a gripping story as the obese girl slowly takes advantage of the situation. As it was, I only finished this one out of sheer curiosity as to the ending.

[Nicki · Rating 1 out of 5]

What absolute utter rubbish! Completely unbelievable, drawn out and tedious plot, really badly written, unconvincing, unlikeable characters, ridiculous outcome. The only thing that kept me going to half way was wanting to know what Judys secret was. But I then had to flick through until I found it. Big yawn. How can someone write this and think it’s good?

[Renita D'Silva · Rating 4 out of 5]

Beautiful and harrowing

[Brynhild Svanhvit · Rating 1 out of 5]

Una novela bastante convencional sobre cómo la armonía de una familia consolidada y feliz vuela en pedazos cuando papá deja el hogar para liarse con una cajera de supermercado notablemente obesa y se arruina para pagarle una operación de balón gástrico. Simple y sin pretensiones, para pasar el rato o practicar vocabulario de conversaciones cotidianas, que fue el propósito con el que yo lo leí.

[Cara · Rating 1 out of 5]

Absolutely awful!

[Barbara Elsborg · Rating 2 out of 5]

Oh dear. The writing was lovely but I couldn't swallow the plot. I don't think it was necessarily implausible but I did find it so unlikely, I just couldn't run with it. Everyone was so messed up in their head (that last reveal about Judy - well I hadn't seen that coming) that it felt a really hard book to read. No light hearted moments, no joy at all. If it hadn't ended how it did (and even that seemed unlikely) - I'd have had to go and weep in a corner. Not what I was in the mood for.

[Jen Manning · Rating 3 out of 5]

Vulgar, about a middle aged man who becomes obsessed with the local obese checkout clerk and leaves his family. Set in England.

[Karen · Rating 1 out of 5]

Didn't like this one at all and couldn't be bothered to finish it.

[Monica · Rating 1 out of 5]

The worst book I've ever read. Funny and pathetic

[Niki · Rating 1 out of 5]

Stupid.

[Jean · Rating 2 out of 5]

I got this book by mistake, had ordered Valerie Bertonelli's bio from library. Oh well.

[Norah · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting, unconvincing, unbelievable story-line, though the fascinating insights into the mind of a morbidly obese person are thought-provoking.

[Jacquie · Rating 1 out of 5]

Terrible! Thank goodness I didn't waste my time reading this, I listened to it on audio CD.
Ridiculous plot about a married man who becomes infatuated with the obese checkout girl at the local supermarket.
Thats pretty much all that needs to be said really. The whole plot was awful & I carried on to see if the ending woukd be any better......it wasn't.
Just terrible.