Bliss

by Jill Tweedie

Shocking, funny, sexy, and wonderfully enjoyable, Jill Tweedie's first novel, a startlingly original adventure set in the jungles of South America and Fleet Street, EC4, explores the complex ways in which women are both victims and accomplices in the power games men play. Bliss is the story of beautiful Lady Clare La Fontaine, frivolous daughter of impoverished Lincolnshire nobility, who marries the President of Ventura, Raul de Toro y Plata, for his money; of gentle Alice, brought up on Clare's family estate and of Judith, ambitious investigative reporter. Bliss is the world Clare joins-a handsome husband, riches and the idle luxury of jetset life-but that Bliss soon reveals itself as a cruel irony which puts Clare's marriage in disarray.

540 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1984

About the author

Jill Tweedie was born in Egypt in 1936. One of the foremost women involved in the British feminist movement, she worked for many years as a columnist on The Guardian where her writing with its warmth, wit and emotional honesty spoke to thousands of women. She wrote regularly for newspapers and magazines and was twice made Woman Journalist of the Year.

Reviews

[Eve Marden · Rating 5 out of 5]

If you are considering reading this book - DO IT! I just finished it and couldn't put it down. Jill articualtes so many different nuances of the female experience so well. The reader is left torn between feeling sorry for and judging the protagonist... ironic because one of the underlying themes of the book is the gap in many enlightened women's lives between the idea that women should support one another and their day-to-day practice.
Women will definitely connect with this book on a deeper level than men. I can't recommend it enough.

[Lynda Kelly · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a freebie with a bookclub around 20 years ago as I recall.