This Honourable House

by Edwina Currie

Edwina Currie's third political novel, This Honourable House, opens with an election resulting in a victory for a party not dissimilar to New Labour. It follows with all the sex, spin, and scandal in any good political novel.

Genres: Fiction

432 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2001

Reviews

[Elizabeth Higginbotham · Rating 3 out of 5]

This Honourable House by Edwina Currie was purchased when I was in London in 2001, but it finally got read. I realize she has many books. It was initially slow going because there are many characters, but it provides insights about government in the UK. There are members of Parliament, Cabinet members as well as key leaders. It is early in this new century, so there is still much about Margaret Thatcher, but new leadership is showing and trying to hold on. There are also scandals about sexual encounters, but on the personal level and in the press, since the press seems more attracted to these stories than politics and policies.

Few of the characters are redeemable, which is interesting. Also, Currie tends to sketch them rather than present them as fully developed. Only as the plot develops do we learn key parts of individual’s histories. People’s pasts are important, as Frank who began in a working-class community where many of his mates did crime, but he became a policeman. Now a politician with a Cabinet position, but his early pals did not develop as he did, so when his ex-wife makes noise, people seek to redeem his name in ways that spiral out of control.

One of the traits that many of these now successful people have, some from wealth and others who have climbed up the ladder, is the unwillingness to be honest with themselves. The hide what are seen as faults and their past, but the reality catches up with them and changes the course of the lives they had planned. I feel like I am reading a lot of books about secrets, but the political background here is interesting. I did learn something about the working of government and the press in the UK.

[Lynne · Rating 4 out of 5]

Excellent. Has it all as you would expect from Edwina Currie. Will be reading her other books. Good writer. Easy to read intrigue

[Gail Marchant · Rating 3 out of 5]

Fictional story of life in parliament
According to Edwina it is not based on anyone but I could not help comparing with MPs of the past

[Lynn Hutchinson · Rating 2 out of 5]

It was quite interesting with all the scandals you might expect from MP’s, but the ending was very feeble!

[Val Penny · Rating 1 out of 5]

I picked this up from my local library just before it was moved to a different branch.

It is Edwina Currie’s third political novel. This Honourable House, opens with an election resulting in a victory for a party not dissimilar to New Labour. It follows with all the sex, spin, and scandal in any good political novel. Unfortunately, this is not a good political novel, nor, indeed, a good novel of any sort.

Save a tree, if you feel the need to read it get it on kindle. Otherwise, give it a body swerve and read something worthwhile or that you might enjoy!

[David Gill · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed it and had great fun trying to attach real names to the various MP's. It portrayed well the uncaring attitude of the tabloids, and the problems facing MP's in relation to their marriages, sex lives and sexual orientation.