From Publishers Weekly
In bestselling British novelist Green's sixth novel, a less-than-perfect London marriage disintegrates stateside. Alice loves her husband, the dashing Joe Chambers, even though he works late and travels a lot—he can be so wonderful (when he's around) and she still can't believe he picked mousy little her. (Of course, he transformed her into a blonde-highlighted, Jimmy Choo–sporting sophisticate first.) Blind to Joe's incessant philandering—even after an office sex act gets him banished to New York—Alice accepts his guilt gifts and hopes for the best. She doesn't want to leave her London life, but she's always loved nature and the rustic life, so Joe buys, in addition to a Manhattan apartment, a house in fictional Highfield, Conn. As the prologue warns, it's not just any house; it belonged to (fictional) 1930s writer Rachel Danbury, whose novel
The Winding Road blew the lid off the town with its saga of infidelities. "Does history repeat itself?" Of course! Green tracks, in great detail, Joe's further infidelities, Alice's dissatisfactions, their fights and reconciliations; she also dips into the POVs of Josie Mitchell (Joe's lover) and Emily, Alice's best friend. Alice is mostly sympathetic, but for someone who thinks of herself as "a post-feminist child of a feminist," she sure bends over backward to please the snake she married. The one plot twist, involving Emily and her beau, Harry, is sweet but predictable. Green's style relies heavily on exposition, and while her prose is clean, her story is padded—kind of like one of those sexy bras that rat Joe likes.
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From Booklist
Alice Chambers has a life most women fantasize about. Married to Joe, a rich businessman who showers her with presents and takes her to exclusive London parties, Alice appears to have everything anyone could ever want. But before she was a glamorous wife, Alice was a shy wallflower who loved running her own catering business. Joe encouraged her to change her look and her interests, but at heart Alice dreams of a quiet life in the country. Joe, on the other hand, loves life in the city, especially the bevy of beautiful women who catch his eye. Joe wants to be faithful to Alice, but he just can't help himself. When Josie, a beautiful, sophisticated colleague finally gives into his advances, Joe is thrilled, until an ill-advised romp in the office reveals their affair. Joe's bosses promptly transfer him to New York. Alice, who doesn't know the reason behind the transfer, is upset until Joe promises her the country house she's always longed for. But as Alice starts to rediscover her old self, she and Joe grow farther and farther apart, and Alice finds herself attracted to the unlikeliest person--her best friend's boyfriend. This novel is as charming as Green's
Jemima J (2000) and
Mr. Maybe (2001), proving her mastery of the chick-lit genre.
Kristine HuntleyCopyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved
