Tiger Eyes

by Shirley Conran

After a disastrous first marriage which left her with two children to support, young painter Plum is now married to Breeze, a dangerously attractive transatlantic art dealer. When Plum intercepts an international art fraud syndicate, she follows a dangerous trail of forged paintings from London to New York to Los Angeles to Sydney to Paris.

Genres: Fiction

Mass Market Paperback

First published January 1, 1994

About the author

Shirley Conran is the ex-wife of British designer, restaurateur, retailer and writer Sir Terence Conran. She is the mother of designers Sebastian Conran and Jasper Conran. A bestselling author in her own right whose most memorable books include Lace and Superwoman.

She was educated at the University of Portsmouth. In addition to novel writing, she wrote regularly for The Observer newspaper's women's page and was the first women's editor of The Observer Colour Magazine and women's editor of The Daily Mail newspaper where she launched the weekly women's magazine 'Femail'. She also has great experience as a designer in textiles and as a colour consultant - she had her own paint range. She handled the publicity for the Women in Media Campaign devoted to sex discrimination legislation. She was on the selection committee of the Council of Industrial Design for eight years. She also has been a columnist for Vanity Fair (magazine).

Shirley Conran is well known for having said: "First things first, second things never".

She was successfully treated for skin cancer several years ago.

She has homes in France and London.

Reviews

[Sharon · Rating 4 out of 5]

I was pleasantly surprised by this book – judging it by its pretty naff cover and the factor that it is written by the ex wife of Sir Terrance Conran – I wondered if it got its break more because of who she was rather than any talent, but as a chic-lit novel this was an exciting read, with good character development, a lot of feminist-women psychology and a couple of good plots. Excuse it its cheesy descriptive terms, a bit of an unbelievable ending to both plots and just suspend your belief - as you are so often asked to do in these kinds of novels – and I think you’ve got an entertaining little holiday read.

Firstly we are following the life of abstract artist Plum. She is currently in a fairly unhappy second marriage to entrepreneur art dealer Breeze, but the book flashes back to her younger life and her unsuccessful first marriage leaving her with two young boys to support and her struggle to make it as a single parent in the art world, along with her two friends. This is where Breeze stepped in, took control of her, and whisked her to fame. But Plum feels like she has never really had control of her own life, and never made decisions for herself – and this is one element of the book, following the story of Plum, growing as a character, and trying to find out what she really wants in life.

The second plot is the adrenaline fueled and dangerous one of art fraud. The art world is quite interestingly portrayed in this book, if a little bit “documented” but and I personally enjoyed learning a little bit about it, such as the Italian Biennale Plum is working towards. This runs alongside the thrill of the danger she puts herself in while trying to uncover who is fraudulently copying paintings.

Then the twist comes and it is all a bit beyond belief, but by that time you’re into the story well enough, and you’ve taken to Plum enough, to be able to excuse it all and just roll with it and enjoy!

[Ushlah · Rating 1 out of 5]

I have never heard or read any novels from this author & this was my first novel and hopefully this will be the last …..But as I bought this book from a sale because of the cover picture …Ha Ha Ha…. I know…so thought of reading it… The book was boring….maybe for some people this could have been a nice novel…. I think it took me more than 2-3 months to finish this (I even stopped reading this book & later gave another chance to it & started again because I didn’t have a book to read at that time) because of the lack of excitement but at some points it was kind of …you know ….10 – 20 % okay… where the main character of this book who is a married woman (Plum) with 2 kids & she’s a painter & where she accidentally captures an international art fake organization and when she follows a risky trail of fake paintings around the world…
It was nothing there…I’m still thinking why I read it……

[Ochena · Rating 4 out of 5]

i learned that people should not take life for granted.

[Tania · Rating 2 out of 5]

randomly chosen from my piles of books scattered about the house. book 36 of 2011 - aim 133 books in 2011.

[Plum-crazy · Rating 2 out of 5]

I read alot of this type of books in the early 1980's, "Lace", "Scruples" etc & really enjoyed them at the time & this book to me had very much the same 1980's glam feel to it - even though the copywrite date was 1994!
Plum , a great name for the heroine :o), is a painter married to an art dealer. While at a friends home, she discovers that a painting is a fake & her friends husband makes a bet that Plum can't prove it to be so, thus leading to Plum flying round the world on a mission to prove that she is right...& how easily it all comes together for her! At the same time she's seeking "personal freedom & trying to find herself" - all very 1980's.

I didn't find this to be the "rollicking good read" or even "an up-date on what women really want from life" as the blurb says (or maybe it was what women wanted 20 odd years ago but not in my opinion!) Sadly I didn't find this Plum to be a convincing or even a particulary likeable character, the plot was cliched & predictable...maybe I've just outgrown this style.

[Michelle · Rating 5 out of 5]

I am still try to get into this book!!!

[Faith · Rating 3 out of 5]

Tiger Eyes is my third Shirley Conran book. While sadly not as iconic as Lace, it wasn't as much of a let down as Lace II.

The first 100 pages were fun, classy, and entertaining. Then the narration got a bit waffly and I skimmed the next 170 pages. Then things started picking up again.

The reveal about the painting was underwhelming and confusing. Honestly the premise of the story overall wasn't too strong. It didn't feel like there were many stakes.

The ending was very messy but at least the very ending was nice.

[Pandelis Mitsis · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wonderful reading.

This one of the books I started reading without expectations, in the best case I was expecting to pass my time. I was happily surprised by a plot that grabs your attention and does not let go until you reach the last page.

As a novel it combines many things: adventure, humor and romance. The insights into the art of modern painting and the realm of forfeiting classic art was a great bonus.

In all, this is one of the books that has remained in my library for over 25 years, I re-read twice and I totally recommend it to anyone who wants to have a pleasant escape from everyday life or just to enjoy a good read.

[Megan · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book was pretty disappointing, because I ADORED Lace. Shirley Conran is a goddess of early chick-lit and I'm usually so into it, but I just could't be bothered to keep picking up Tiger Eyes. Even having read more than half the book I have no desire to see what happens at the end.

A resounding "MEH" from me.

[Jo · Rating 3 out of 5]

Very slow to get going but did improve, not a page turner.

[Jacqueline]

Tijgerogen

[Kayleigh Marie · Rating 1 out of 5]

40 pages in and it's just not capturing me at all.

[Siri · Rating 1 out of 5]

So disappointing - hard to believe that the same author wrote the unputdownable Savages and Lace. I only read till the end because I was hoping for an amazing plot twist.