Gifted and Talented

by Wendy Holden

Welcome to Branston College ... We are an academic institution in the heart of an ancient university town. Our architecture might not feature dreaming spires, but the central dome nonetheless casts a characterful shadow. Amenities include a distinctive subterranean bar and a newly renovated garden where you can observe local wildlife. Diana is starting a new life as gardener at Branston, a challenging restoration project which allows her to indulge a love of delphiniums beneath the disconcerting gaze of dishy but remote Richard, the recently widowed College Master. A new term brings new students, among them It Girl Amber, darling of the gossip columns and dead ringer for inclusion in the university's notorious elite society. As lustful teenagers and crabby tutors run riot in Diana's garden, her peaceful haven is trampled, and then a blast from the past threatens to ruin a new romance. Can anything save Diana's hard-won happiness, let alone her herbaceous borders?

Genres: Chick Lit, Romance, Contemporary, Fiction

448 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2012

About the author

Wendy Holden grew up in Yorkshire, and studied English at Girton College, Cambridge. She worked in magazines for many years before joining Tatler's in 1997 as deputy editor, and later moved to the Mail on Sunday’s You magazine, which she left in 2000 to concentrate on writing. She regularly writes features for newspapers and magazines on a range of social, topical and lifestyle subjects and is also a television and radio contributor.

She has now published ten novels, Gallery Girl, Beautiful People, Bad Heir Day, Pastures Nouveaux, Fame Fatale, Azur Like It, The Wives of Bath, The School for Husbands, Filthy Rich, Farm Fatale, Gossip Hound, Simply Divine, all top 10 bestsellers.

Holden is married, and lives in England with her family.

Reviews

[Emelie Landenberg · Rating 1 out of 5]

GAH this book was so frustrating I had to write my first ever review! I picked it up because it seemed fun and lighthearted. The blurb seemed to describe a grown up story with a little drama involved - instead I got to read a story where every new character was dumber than the previous one! They are all exceedingly whiney, melodramatic and unbelievable.

Frankly, if I had met Isabel or Olly in real life I would have slapped them in the face. They barely had a redeeming quality between the two of them and were a nightmare to read about!

The author had moments of clarity, trying to go against stereotypes of people living on council estates and single parents, which is admirable, but it's amusing how in the end the only character that made me laugh out loud was Sarah, the nemesis!

This is not a book I would recommend to anyone who enjoys keeping their IQ up, since I actually feel dumber from having read it at all.

[Dieuwertje Janssen · Rating 2 out of 5]

2,5 ster, het boek is niet echt speciaal qua plot. Verder kwam ik er de eerste 200 pagina's (!!) moeilijk in, en op het einde werd het juist te snel afgeraffeld.. Niet perse een aanrader dus.

[Babe Rainbow · Rating 2 out of 5]

Fairly good overall, but the teenager plot ruined it for me. Why didn't anyone get her professional help? And what's his face's truth-telling to her was blatantly ridiculous.

Especially when he told her she was "wasting her looks", which threw up A LOT of questions for me, i.e.:

1. If being a hermit goth is "wasting your looks" what is "making proper use of your looks"?
2. Why is being a hermit goth "wasting your looks"? Hermitcy seems like it could be a pretty good use of your "looks" seeing as you get to enjoy them all by yourself all the time. Being a goth seems like a similarly good use of your "looks" since you get to express yourself and also attract people with similar interests. Indeed, many goths have based successful careers on their goth looks. I fail to see how this is wasting anything. I especially fail to see how going outside, not being a goth, and having a dog is a better use of "looks", as this is not elaborated on.
3. If looks can be wasted, does that mean they run out? When? How? How will you know?
4. What will you do when you can no longer make good use of your looks? Will this be the proper time to become a hermit goth?

None of this is explained in the book, and tbh, if anyone I knew told anyone, ever (let alone a teenager) that they were "wasting their looks" I would backhand them into the last century. After getting some answers, of course.

[Samantha · Rating 2 out of 5]

I think the reason I didn't really get into this is that I didn't like the characters. The only person I had any empathy for was Diana. Everyone else seemed to make the most ridiculous decisions, and my hope that Isabel was to be a great character evaporated quite quickly. I had to press on as I wanted to know what would happen with Diana, but otherwise I didn't feel driven on by the plot.

[M · Rating 1 out of 5]

I had to suppress my lack of belief that an author is capable of producing and selling (!) such a badly researched book... Worms that can see colour? Undergrad tutors in Oxford called “supervisors”? (!!!) Any OXFORD collage accepting a “celebrity” without any prior outstanding educational record? Oh my... And it gets worse...

I’m not even going to mention that I got well exposed to the familiar sensation of irritation when the characters time and again acted like idiots. All of them. And they were often contradicting themselves too. There were moments when I wanted to strangle them one by one for being so appallingly stupid, indecisive or simply unrealistic. I get - and often enjoy if well written - a caricature of a particular “type” of a person. It, however, has to have some semblance of reality, some connection with what is likely. Otherwise my suspension of disbelief snaps and I end up staring at a very naive version of what a comedy (even parody) may be like, wondering if the author really thinks me that stupid.

The only thing I’m giving a star for is the occasional funny sentence, and a nice turn of a phrase here and there. Plotting and characters - minus one. Lyricism and a sense of humour - plus two. One star is the result.

I’m only past half way, charmed like a snake by someone playing a hypnotic (I.e. “lack-of-connection-with-reality” inducing) melody, swaying between a play and a pause button. I simply can’t believe what I’m hearing (yes, it’s an audio)! It’s perhaps an educational exercise of how not to write a plot and develop characters. Or am I just fascinated by how bad it is? Boils down to the same. I’m unlikely to try the author again.

Oh, well, I guess I’m still listening in a diminishing hope that things will improve, that the author has tricked me into some in-joke and I will laugh at my lack of wit at the end of it all, at some grand revelation of my own thickness. Unlikely, but I’d so very much like to be pleasantly surprised...

Instead, I’ve just encountered a woman writhing naked on someone else’s bed (claiming she just mistook the room!) in an attempt to seduce that someone after forcing herself into his house under false pretences. Just like that. It’s forced, it’s not funny, and it’s rather pointless because it lacks any subtlety on the side of the author, adds nothing to the 2D characters, and, most annoyingly, the man is incapable of anything more decisive than telling her to go to her room, and then he just keeps tolerating her and her antics as if that was normal. Someone in a college leadership role and so dull?

Anyway, you get the point.

[Do_81 · Rating 2 out of 5]

The characters were so over the top I just couldn't get into it. How they interacted was not believable for me. The two main female characters are pushovers to a level where I was getting very impatient, especially since the writer describes how the one pays for her date all the time. I feel the reader doesn't need everything spelled out like that.
The different story-lines had potential but didn't come to fruition.

[Miki Jacobs · Rating 4 out of 5]

Entertaining froth. Centred around Branston University. The new master, Richard, is more interested in his research than in his students. He is only working there as it was a means to get away from the States after his wife died. When he meets Diana, the College's new gardener, his heart starts to melt. Unfortunately, the path of true love doesn't run smoothly and the waters are well and truly muddled by a collection of other people and events. An easy read.

[Jobeth Bastable · Rating 1 out of 5]

I can read anything, but this book was hard work, I've enjoyed her other books as well. Characters are so stupid and childish, I didn't care for any of them, I nearly gave up reading the book, but carried on as I was half way through.

This is the worst review I have given. But its not all bad, there are some funny turn of phrases which enjoyed.

[Lainey Anderson · Rating 3 out of 5]

So disappointed

I love Wendy Holden and have enjoyed all of her books...but this no. I felt she was recycling previous characters in new names and situations. Particularly Jasper and Amber. I will look forward to her next effort..

[Elaine · Rating 3 out of 5]

A love triangle at a university. Not a very unique plot.

[Angela Peixoto · Rating 4 out of 5]

A typical book in the Wendy Holden fashion. Very enjoyable and a real comedy of manners based on the going-ons in certain British Universities. Well worth it!

[Lois Cook · Rating 3 out of 5]

Fairly good read. Good story line, it seemed to fizzle out very quickly at the end, which was quite sad.

[Heather Wileman · Rating 2 out of 5]

Not a good read, badly disjointed throughout and a stunted and awkward ending.

[Rory · Rating 1 out of 5]

I really tried hard to like it but couldn't get into any of the characters or story.

[Jenn · Rating 1 out of 5]

Totally predictable, with characters that were both boring and over the top. No nuance. No creativity. Just... not worth your time.

[Best Crime Books & More · Rating 4 out of 5]

I don’t want this to sound harsh but I have to be honest. In the early days of Wendy Holden I was a huge fan, but then something happened and her books seemed to lack their usual zest. The last two releases she had made weren’t like her older style books and I began to wonder whether Wendy’s usual style books would ever return. Her latest release Gifted and Talented has been her first since 2011 and I didn’t expect too much. Luckily for me, it seems that Wendy has made her comeback and produced a book far more like her older books which I loved. If I am to be totally truthful, they still aren’t quite as good as they used to be but are definitely a vast improvement on the last two!

Isabel is a shy girl who is leaving home to head to university and is going to experience life standing on her own two feet for the first time. I was a little apprehensive as I didn’t particularly warm to her. However, next we get introduced to Olly who has recently graduated and is trying to work out what comes next. He was an absolute treasure of a character and I instantly liked him.

Along with these two youngsters we meet infamous Amber who only wants to party and soon latches on to Isabel for all the wrong reasons. Shortly after Amber follows Jasper de Borchy, whose name says is all really! He is the glamorous leader of the Bullinger Club and a heartthrob to boot, which makes Isabel’s life difficult to say the least. Diana and her young daughter Rosie are new in town. I instantly liked Diana and Rosie and really felt for them as they started their life over. Diana has fallen from grace and following her divorce has gone from a life of relative luxury to one where she is a single parent struggling to make ends meet. Richard is the new College Head and a man with many issues. He is a recent widower and is determined not to allow happiness of any sort into his life.

Collectively an interesting bunch of characters, and although Diana and Isabel seem to take the lead I was a lot more interested in Diana. Even though I was more drawn to her I loved the setting and the story flowed easily. I felt like Wendy Holden was truly back in the game and read the book over two days. Yes there was a certain predictability about it all, but I still loved the book and would definitely recommend it to people. I still think there is more to come from Wendy, you need only to look at her older books to see she has some serious talent. This book isn’t quite back at that level but definitely shows her back on form and producing another easy and enjoyable read.

[Felicity Terry · Rating 2 out of 5]

Set on a university campus - what at times felt like a 1950's campus - and telling the connected stories of several different individuals, students and staff alike. Overall an easy read, dare I say a novel perhaps best suited to a long flight or the pool side? As it was I had several issues with Gifted & Talented ..

1. A readable enough yarn, just not nearly as witty as it seemed to think it was but then what it humorous to one person isn't necessarily so to the next.

2. Some more interesting than others, by the time I'd waded through the chapters featuring characters I failed to engage with (which amounted to most of them) and got back to the chapters relating to characters such as Diana, her nine year old daughter, and her relatively amusing 'salt of the earth' neighbours, I'd sometimes lost the thread of their story.

3. Ah yes, those 'salt of the earth, social housing dwelling neighbours ... to say nothing of the obnoxious, spoilt, little rich girl. Urgh! Full of stereotypes and cliches, all of them horribly patronising.

Hmm! Originally a book I rated as 'it was OK', I'm beginning to think I was probably a little generous.

Copyright: Tracy Terry @ Pen and Paper.

[June Jones · Rating 4 out of 5]

enjoyable read

[Jess Donn · Rating 1 out of 5]

Quite honestly the only character likeable in this whole book is the 9-year old daughter. I honestly preferred the adult storyline to the teenage/university student story line which had a pathetic love triangle. It was a mess, but surprisingly an enjoyable mess.

If you want something light and fluffy that you can speed read on the beach without a care in the world then this is a moderately good book for that.

[Taryn · Rating 3 out of 5]

Ok but not great. I like a fluffy, light and happy-ending book every now and then, however this one didn't delve deeply into the characters enough for me to be invested in their happiness. Some of the threads seemed superfluous and on the whole it was just a bit drab. Quick and easy though and nice to be reminded of my university days (although they were a lot less eventful!)

[Hannah · Rating 3 out of 5]

It was okay, but I found the portrayal of the romances to be a little superficial and the end seemed to run out of steam, as if it was supposed to be a longer novel. Not sure if the events with the nemesis was supposed to be funny; they ended up being more mortifying than amusing. The author seems to be compared to Jilly Cooper a lot, I think I prefer Jilly's humour.

[Helen Kollin Fichtel · Rating 1 out of 5]

Awful. Absolutely crap. Badly written, wooden, two-dimensional characters, unlikely plots...This was like someone's first novel, written straight out of writing school.
Will definitely NOT be reading anything else by this author.

[Tiina · Rating 2 out of 5]

Although I was expecting an easy to consume novel, this was too fluffy. There were many characters, and not enough going on around them. The main character was really wet and annoying. And, after having gone on and on, the book then ended really abruptly.

[Sophie Patrikios · Rating 1 out of 5]

Used to find like Wendy Holden, like a lightweight Jilly Cooper (I know). Maybe I've changed or maybe she has but this book is just crap.

[Sue · Rating 3 out of 5]

A fast, amusing read, lots of puns on names and a fairly predictable but satisfactory denouement. A deep story it is not, but enjoyable it is.

[Deadly Microbe · Rating 1 out of 5]

You know what you thought might happen at the end of page 1?

Well, it did.

Life is too short for books like this.

[Louise Clare · Rating 5 out of 5]

i enjoyed this book.thought it was a nice easy read!amusing and didnt require much brain stress!

[Penny Little · Rating 3 out of 5]

Easy to read with a feel good factor. Once the characters have been introduced you know what is going to happen but sometimes you just need a non-taxing book.

[Bethany · Rating 3 out of 5]

I liked it, it was an easy 'holiday' read. Isabelle got up my nose a bit and I could've given her a shake a few times but perhaps that's because it's easy to be wise from a distance..

[Rosie Benjamin · Rating 2 out of 5]

It was an easy read but I felt like it lead to nothing. It was very predictable. Disappointing...