Lowering her
voice so that the three police officers couldn’t hear, Grace whispered,
‘Harriet, could you just moan a bit more like that? You know, pretend you’re in
labour as opposed to being in lust, otherwise I’m going to end up with a damned
great parking fine…’
Sypnosis
So begins a year
of madness for Harriet as she goes into labour in Harvey Nichols’ men’s knicker
department at exactly the same moment she sets eyes on Alex Hamilton.
Grace, giving birth only
two months after Harriet, has her own craziness to contend with and, as both
women hurtle down totally unexpected and very different paths, they flounder in
a maelstrom of passion and confusion, perilously clinging on as the chain of
events threatens not only their comfortable, ordinary lives but also their very
existence…
The Author
Julie Houston is
Yorkshire born and bred. She lives in Huddersfield where her novels are set and
her only claims to fame are that she taught at ‘Bridget Jones’ author Helen
Fielding’s old school, her neighbour is ‘Chocolat’ author Joanne Harris and her
friend is about to marry Tracy Emin’s cousin! Oh, and she was rescued by Frank
Bough when, many years ago, she was ‘working as a waitress in a cocktail bar’
at the Kensington Hilton in London.
After University, where she
studied Education and English
Literature, she taught for many
years as a junior school teacher. As a newly qualified teacher, broke and
paying off her first mortgage, she would spend every long summer holiday
working on different Kibbutzim in Israel. After teaching for a few years she
decided to go to New Zealand to work and taught in Auckland for a year before
coming back to this country.
She now teaches part time, and
still loves the buzz of teaching junior-aged children. She has been a
magistrate for the last thirteen years, and, when not distracted by ebay,
geneology (so time consuming but so interesting - she recently discovered her
husband is descended from the poet Shelley and the Duke of Milan!!) and
crosswords, she spends much of her time writing.
Review - **NO SPOILERS**
I was asked a while ago to review this book and am so glad I
finally got around to it. Unfortunately I didn’t read her first book Goodness,
Grace and Me but wish I had as I would have got to know the characters in
this book a bit more first, although I was able to follow who the characters
were, it would have been nice to already know who was married to who etc!!
Harriet, who is the main character, is married to Nick and has a
best friend called Grace. They have both recently had babies (Harriet having
twins) but what I loved about this book is that the author deals with the
serious subject of Post Natal Depression in a serious, but also very, very
funny way.
There were a few laugh out loud moments in the book and don’t want
to give anything away, but when Harriet falls whilst getting out of the bath
and injures her nether regions make me actually LOL!! Also naming the “Ducks”
was another funny moment!
I really liked the character of Harriet, but can’t help feeling
disappointed in her, but I guess that’s the point of a good author is that you
can like/dislike a character and they somehow feel real!
I will definitely read more of Julie Houston’s books and will
hopefully read her first one (wouldn’t be the first time I have read books in the
wrong order!). She is also a lovely person to know on Facebook and Twitter as
she always replies to your tweets etc! And the fact that she mentioned one of my favourite programmes The Peaky Blinders made it even better!!
For me, the only reason why I didn’t give this book 5 stars is
because I felt there were a bit too many characters and had to check sometimes
who was who, but apart from that a great read and some real laugh out loud
moments along with some very serious and, at times, sad moments. Well done
Julie2!!
****
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