Friday Nights by Joanna Trollope.I like JT but this book didn’t entirely grab me. Perhaps there were too many characters, too many viewpoints: Paula – too impulsively selfish, Lindsay - too anxiously unselfish, her DJ sister – too punk, Blaise and Karen - too work-absorbed, and Eleanor the older single woman, kind but dry. Trouble is, though they were interesting at first, I didn’t really mind what happened to any of them. Not a lot did actually happen, but then theme rather than plot is the point of a JT novel, and she is a writer who likes to explore different aspects of modern life. She has researched the disco scene pretty well, as far as I could tell, and dipped her toes into spectator football - though I skipped some of this - and, of course, the children were charming and well drawn. As usual, there are insightful gems, but maybe there was too much unlikely self-analysis in the dialogue. Surely most working women don't have time for psychobabble.What was the book about? Female friendship, and the fact that men can disturb the balance. But it strikes me that most of the characters in this book didn’t have a huge amount in common with each other in the first place. Here is a Times review.
5 comments:
Love the flowers, Susie.
Oh, the lovely aconites! I've never succeeded in establishing them but now I've moved to a damp garden I'm hoping to do better. And I may be able to keep Snake's Head fritillaries instead of losing them after a couple of years.
I just finished that book as well. I liked most of her others much better.
Thank for visiting, ladies. I can't take much credit for the aconites as they seem to have been there for ever, a pleasant surprise every spring. I used to have crocuses but the mice ate them. Fortunately the kitten has now caught four - though has failed on the mole and rabbit front.
Moles and rabbits will come, Susie. Trust me.
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