My wife is an avid reader, consuming books like some people consume Fish 'n Chip suppers, and she bought a copy of this book on the basis that it would be a witty and well-written read, particularly having been suitably impressed by the review quotes on the cover of the book. Miss French is a popular comedienne, and this added to her anticipation of a good read.
What a pity then that, after struggling through the first few chapters she finally decided to consign the book where it belonged, in the nearest trash-can.
The problem is not particularly the story-line. After all, she never got into the book enough to discover what it was. No, the problem was that the number of obscenities, commencing with the first sentence of Chapter One, and continuing on from that, made this book a non-starter as far as she was concerned.
Even as I write, I can hear the shouts of protest that this is hailed as a No 1 Bestseller, and also that people use obscenities in everyday language nowadays. Both of these facts are true to one degree or another, but that doesn't make them any more acceptable. Maybe Miss French uses the sort of language that she writes in her everyday conversation, I don't know. Certainly, I hear parents of very small children cursing and swearing, both at them and in front of them, but this does not make it acceptable in any sense at all.
How sad that this book has become a Best Seller, but I wonder how many of those purchasers thought that it deserved to be. Whatever the answer both my wife and I are absolute in our condemnation of this book as a trashy write and a worthless read.
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