- Paperback: 416 pages
- Publisher: Arrow (July 25 2000)
- Language: English
- ISBN-10: 0099410184
- ISBN-13: 978-0099410188
- Product Dimensions: 13 x 2.5 x 19.7 cm
- Shipping Weight: 281 g
- Average Customer Review: 3.8 out of 5 stars See all reviews (45 customer reviews)
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: #446,572 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
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Product Details |
Product Description
From Publishers Weekly
Had Maxted published this sharp, witty tale of a British woman's love life and real life before the Bridget Jones phenomenon, Fielding's novel might have been noted as a pale comparison. Written in a hip, readable, often poignant and always funny style, protagonist Helen Bradshaw's story is set in modern-day London, where the 20-something editorial assistant comes to terms with her father's death and her own life. The plot spans one year, beginning with the day Helen learns of her father's fatal heart attack. Helen struggles with faithless boyfriend, Jasper; her self-centered but sexy landlord, Marcus; and her solipsistic "best friend," Michelle. Meanwhile, her demanding and unsupportive boss at GirlTime magazine cracks the whip. A complex part of Helen's healing process is repairing her relationship with her overbearing mother, Cecilia, who, though she mourns her husband inconsolably, eventually finds new direction in her life. Helen discovers real love in the patient and humorous veterinarian, Tom, and she learns enough about real friendship to hold onto her loyal, true buddies Lizzy, Luke and Tina, saving the latter's life in the process. As she stumbles from one crisis to another, Helen is always likable, even if the decisions she makes often make the reader want to give her a good shake. Although the narrative tackles many issues, from the loss of a parent to the horrors of domestic violence, Maxted's bouncy, upbeat tone never falters. Revealing a touch for comic timing and versatility, she paints scenes of hilarious pratfalls, biting sarcasm and heart-wrenching pathos. While comparison between this work and Fielding's is unavoidable, Maxted's laugh-out-loud debut novel will come out ahead. (June)
Copyright 2000 Reed Business Information, Inc.
Copyright 2000 Reed Business Information, Inc.
From Library Journal
Maxted, contributing editor to Cosmopolitan UK, has a quick wit and creates amusing characters in her first novel. Helen, the thirtyish heroine, is a features writer for a trendy women's magazine. She's reeling with grief at the sudden death of her father, and her stress is compounded by the neediness of her mother and grandmother. Helen has plenty more on her plate--she is being evicted from her apartment, she is trying to save a friend who is being abused by her fianc?, and her neurotic cat suffers a series of psychosomatic ailments. Behind the hilarious one-liners, there's a serious theme: it's tough for a young person to "be in charge" when a parent dies. Unfortunately, the appeal of this likable, if nonessential, novel will be limited in the United States by its many British colloquialisms. In addition, the book is far too long and loaded with slapstick scenes; its episodic content would have worked better as linked short stories. For larger collections.
-Joyce W. Smothers, Monmouth Cty. Lib., Manalapan, NJ
Copyright 2000 Reed Business Information, Inc.
-Joyce W. Smothers, Monmouth Cty. Lib., Manalapan, NJ
Copyright 2000 Reed Business Information, Inc.
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Most helpful customer reviews
5.0 out of 5 stars
Fun and light!,
This review is from: Getting Over It (Paperback)
I really enjoyed reading "Getting over It," it was fun and light, easy to read and very easy to fall in love with all the characters. The author successfully delineates each character and you immediately feel like you know them. They felt very familiar, in a good way! I hope the author continues to write about the trials and tribulations of being young and finding your way in the world. This book definitely left me wanting more!
5.0 out of 5 stars
One of My Favorite Books!,
By
This review is from: Getting Over It (Paperback)
I absolutely loved this book! By fluke, I bought it in the airport to read on my vacation without really knowing anything about it. It didn't take long for Maxted to make me laugh & pull me into her story so much that I had an impossible time putting it down! Personally, I thought it was funnier than Bridget Jones (I found because there was so much hype surrounding that book, that Bridget just couldn't live up to my expectations).Getting Over It, however, made me laugh out loud and went above and beyond what I had hoped for in a light and funny chick-lit read. If you like romantic comedy/chick-lit and are looking for a fun, fresh book, then don't hesitate: get ahold of Getting Over It as soon as you can...I would reccommend it to anybody! :)
3.0 out of 5 stars
A Bridget Jones with extra tics, not enough charm,
By Cara Kaiser (New York, NY United States) - See all my reviews
This review is from: Getting Over It (Paperback)
Flailing, farting, wriggling, whining, squeaking, shrieking, sulking, squealing, and bleating. Drinking tequila till she wets herself. Reacting to a death in the family with histrionic self-pity, then failing to produce a drop of sensitivity toward either her fellow mourners or her improbably tolerant coterie of friends. Mucking up- again and again and AGAIN, for reasons as slapstick as an average "Three's Company" episode- her chances for love with a saintly, gorgeous veterinarian. Sound lovably quirky? Exhausting is more like it. Sound funny? Well, yes, parts of it are a riot. But this book's protagonist, Londoner Helen, who is 26 going on 5, is one of the most maddening characters I have ever come across. I couldn't ever really like her, even when I sympathized with her problems. She was just too self-absorbed, too cartoonishly silly; very little else comes across, try though the author might. Then there's her mother. Is she supposed to be an object of pity? Infuriating? Funny? Probably all three, but in truth, I couldn't tell. She never cohered into a person I recognized, and making her a (talented) kindergarten teacher strains credulity. There is no way a woman who behaves like this one does- unable or unwilling to care for her own young child, for Pete's sake!- would have chosen such a profession. Indeed, most of the book's characters are insufficiently imagined. Why make Marcus such a hissy-fitting gay stereotype, when he's supposed to be a womanizer? Exactly what would make the wise Lizzy dote so tenaciously on the feckless and often unkind Helen? There's a reliance here on grindingly obvious, "Just when you thought you were safe- here comes another catastrophe!" plotting; and an uneasy tone results from trying to graft serious "issues" and even gratuitous scenes of brutality onto the screwball infrastructure. Yet, there were a few nice, original moments, like the poetic Chinese ritual Helen uses to help reconcile herself to her father's death. I loved some of the dialogue- who can resist the phrase "enormous great plonking plonker"? Or calling an eyepopping sum of money "650 squids"? For those who loved Bridget Jones, this book will supply something approximating that book's rollicking humor and vivid sense of place. What it will mostly do, however, is make you appreciate anew how endearing, and convincing, a comic creation Bridget really is.
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