Friday's Girl

by Charlotte Bingham

When the famous portrait artist Napier Todd stumbles across Edith Hanson scrubbing floors, he is immediately struck by her beauty. Within a few weeks Napier and Edith are married and she moves into his large country house ? much to the envy of the other maids. From the outset the marriage is troubled and Edith falls seriously ill. Napier takes her to the idyllic Cornish fishing village of Newbourne to convalesce where Edith meets Celandine.

Celandine Benyon is a struggling artist who moved to Paris to seek inspiration and fell in love with another painter, Sheridan Montague Robertson. The couple eloped to Gretna Green after Celandine was disowned by her mother, and together they set up home in Newbourne.

Celandine tries to help Edith with her marriage. However, although her advice succeeds beyond Edith's wildest dreams, it also causes tragic repercussions. And with the dangerously attractive Alfred Talisman waiting in the wings, it seems that both girls? happiness may well be ruined.


From the Paperback edition.

Genres: Fiction

439 pages, Paperback

First published August 1, 2005

About the author

The Honourable Charlotte Mary Thérèse Bingham was born on 29 June 1942 in Haywards Heath, Sussex, England, UK. Her father, John Bingham, the 7th Baron Clanmorris, wrote detective stories and was a secret member of MI5. Her mother, Madeleine Bingham, née Madeleine Mary Ebel, was a playwright. Charlotte first attended a school in London, but from the age of seven to 16, she went to the Priory of Our Lady's Good Counsel school in Haywards Heath. After she left school, she went to stay in Paris with some French aristocrats with the intention of learning French. She had written since she was 10 years old and her first piece of work was a thriller called Death's Ticket. She wrote her humorous autobiography, called Coronet Among the Weeds, when she was 19, and not long before her twentieth birthday a literary agent discovered her celebrating at the Ritz. He was a friend of her parents and he took off the finished manuscript of her autobiography. In 1963, this was published by Heinemanns and was a best seller.

In 1966, Charlotte Bingham's first novel, called Lucinda, was published. This was later adapted into a TV screenplay. In 1972, Coronet Among the Grass, her second autobiography, was published. This talked about the first ten years of her marriage to fellow writer Terence Brady. They couple, who have two children, later adapted Coronet Among the Grass and Coronet Among the Weeds, into the TV sitcom No, Honestly. She and her husband, Terence Brady, wrote three early episodes of Upstairs, Downstairs together, Board Wages, I Dies from Love and Out of the Everywhere. They later wrote an accompanying book called Rose's Story. They also wrote the episodes of Take Three Girls featuring Victoria (Liza Goddard). In the 1970s Brady and Bingham wrote episodes for the TV series Play for Today, Three Comedies of Marriage, Yes, Honestly and Robin's Nest. During the 1980s and 1990s they continued to write for the occasional TV series, and in 1993 adapted Jilly Cooper's novel Riders for the small screen. Since the 1980s she has become a romance novelist. In 1996 she won the Romantic Novel of the Year Award from the Romantic Novelists' Association.

Reviews

[Annalee · Rating 3 out of 5]

I was afraid this was going to be a bit too Catherine-Cookson-like, a bit 'Women's Fiction-y' and although Bingham does have a slight whiff of the Barbara Cartland about her writing style I managed to enjoy the book. I think what held my attention despite the plethora of beautiful women and handsome men was the art theme running through the book. I like books that feature art and artists so this is what kept me reading.

[Prapti Panda · Rating 3 out of 5]

Read this as part of a course on women's literature and contemporary representations of historical women's suffrage.

While the writing style holds promise, the author unfortunately did not exploit the potential to explore the complex themes she introduced, and left the male characters especially one-dimensional. The language was stitled (part of which was intentional, I understand) but it stopped me from connecting better with the story. Historical fiction does not have to be written in an antiquated manner, but if the writer desires to do so, it would be much more immersive if there had been consistency in the style.

What I did like however was the choice of art to address women's position in society and their objectification. And the Cornwall setting made for a splendid backdrop.

[Outlander · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a fairly good read and a bit different from the usual Charlotte story, saved by the female American character and almost spoiled by some of the male characters. Set in Paris, Cornwall, etc with artists everywhere along with intrigue. An interesting story that I finished in 2 days, but it left me angry with the male egos that needed to be massaged and catered for. No more clues, go read it for yourself and see what you think. 3 stars for readability.

[GenX · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great story !

[Clare Hamilton · Rating 3 out of 5]

An enjoyable read but I felt the ending was quite rushed.

[Gillie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great Chick Lit - good bedtime read - happy ending and all that... not too sloppy..