Sydney and Charlie have the perfect marriage. They must have because everyone keeps telling them so. In fact, Sydney's whole life is sussed. Two adorable(ish) children, one adoring(ish) husband, one nanny, one cleaner, one lovely house. And latterly a glamorous job, albeit part time and quite possibly nepotistically come by.
What's not to be ecstatic about? And then a new couple move in across the a very perfect, impeccable, tiny stranger with a Gwyneth Paltrow accent, and a man Sydney hasn't seen since she was 20. Sydney has never admitted to herself that Dylan broke her heart. But when she sees him again she begins to wonder...
Lisa Armstrong writes for an English audience who r aware of the politics, the who's who of British fashion, acting & music, the journalists, ... rendering the book tough to understand for anyone who isn't aware. There's very frequent usage of French... it's not too much fun when u need to refer to Google too often just to understand what exactly is meant by these phrases. I did like the characters n the very real-life situations they went through. Especially loved the ending. Just as it should've been. :-)
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
Picked this up on holiday in some random stack of books in the Airbnb. That abrupt ending, after sloughing through such a long bloody book, left me feeling so meh. Wanted an easy, light romantic frolic and what I got was highbrow, chick lit with only a tot of romantic fluff. Overall engaging and funny, at times poignant. No regrets. Except that the ending left me feeling a bit cheated after all the time I invested.
I didn't think I was going to bother with this one at first - I had to give it rather more than my 50-page test -, but it picked up as it went & I found it quite amusing in the end, so I'm glad I soldiered on. Not great, but entertaining enough, & not your usual girl-gets-dumped-finds-new-life-new-man scenario. I liked little ray of hope for Sydney & Charlie at the end, neither one faultless, & both starting to think.
cover: Sydney has the perfect life... She must have because everyone keeps telling her so. Two adorable(ish) children, one adoring(ish) husband, one (almost) lovely house. And latterly a stimulating job, although she hasn't fully revealed the true nature of it to her husband.
What's not to be ecstatic about? There's just one tiny problem. Sydney's past, which is so imperfect she's conveniently filed most of it in a box labelled Amnesia. Two tiny problems if you count her sex life, which is relegated to just below taking the dog for his flea injections.
Three tiny problems if you count Dylan, the boyfriend she hasn't seen since university. Even people with perfect lives can't control everything. When Dylan and his very spiky, very young and not at all saggy new wife buy the house across the road, the Amnesia box opens, unleashing all the secrets she has kept safely buried for almost eighteen years.
Threw up a few surprises but why do all the women in chick lit books have to work in publishing/magazines? Is that all British women do? At least the husband had a boring job (although of course he was the top tax lawyer in Britain).
This is one of my go-to books for good old comfort reading. The characters are so likeable, the humour is smart and the subject matter is dealt with fairly lightly. I just enjoy the experience of spending time in Sydney's calm, considered mind with its sharp observations.
3.5 Pleasant read, engaging characters. Though there were a couple of twists, there was nothing too surprising in the plot. A good book for a day of relaxation.