Reviewed by Maggie Perkovic Thurs 1st April on show.
I am a great fan of Joanna Trollope but this novel is disappointing.
Chrissie always believed that Richie loved her, had loved her for all the twenty three years they had been together, loved their three daughters Tamsin, Dilly and Amy and had a happy life in their house in Highgate and their happy, lively existence.
Richie having been the entertainer of some repute and some fame, and even now in his later years he still had a great fan base.Chrissie was his manager and organised his shows and life, so when the book opens on his death we witness a complete collapse of their life as they knew it.
All very sad and understandable but when the will is read their is a problem.
Richie was married many years ago and had a son Scott, now grown up, and the fact of them never having divorced puts a lot of angst in the way of this previously settled little group.
Margaret, his wife of the early days, also finds his death and the surprising contents of his will awake memories long suppressed and a past life returning to haunt her and her son Scott.
The link between the two families is Amy, youngest daughter of Chrissie and Richie who wants to include this 'Other Family' in all that is going on, and who is in the middle of her exams which will lead her to university, if thats what she wants.
The premise is good but I found the biggest let down is we never get to see what sort of man Richie was. He is described by the second family as the best father ever etc. But even with his first family I never got a picture of the complete man and artist.
The author does a great job of promoting the Newcastle area from whence this Richie sprang, and attempts to join the London family to The Great Northen Complex is attempted. But it doesn't work for me.
Review by Maggie P
Showing posts sorted by relevance for query Joanna Trollope. Sort by date Show all posts
Showing posts sorted by relevance for query Joanna Trollope. Sort by date Show all posts
Monday, 5 April 2010
Saturday, 10 January 2009
Joanna Trollope - Friday Nights
Review by Maggie Perkovic on 8th Jan 2009 show.
This author, Joanne Trollope, is one of those that I always look forward to.
Rather like Maeve Binchey, I feel she is an old friend; one I can trust to write something absorbing with characters I can really care about.
The media publicised this book as one which exposes the life of the DJ and how the music affects our young people but that was only a small element of the story. Elderly and retired Eleanor, watches the young women in her street both with young children, one widowed and one living in a flat paid for by her married lover. She feels compassion for them and starts to invite them to her place on a Friday night for wine and a meal. Gradually the two extend to more until there are six female friends, different ages and circumstances some with children and one who is indeed a DJ, all meeting with Eleanor who is a true friend to all of them. She is never judgemental, always supportive but also willing to advise when requested.
Of course things never stay the same, especially when a man is introduced into the mix.
This book is highly recommended. Her research is meticulous, both on nightclubs and on football, which becomes the hobby of one of the children and therefore of interest to the elderly Eleanor but presented in a very acceptable was that even I was intrigued by it! When I purchased this book another lady was also enquiring about it in the shop so I think it will be a bestseller.
This author, Joanne Trollope, is one of those that I always look forward to.
Rather like Maeve Binchey, I feel she is an old friend; one I can trust to write something absorbing with characters I can really care about.
The media publicised this book as one which exposes the life of the DJ and how the music affects our young people but that was only a small element of the story. Elderly and retired Eleanor, watches the young women in her street both with young children, one widowed and one living in a flat paid for by her married lover. She feels compassion for them and starts to invite them to her place on a Friday night for wine and a meal. Gradually the two extend to more until there are six female friends, different ages and circumstances some with children and one who is indeed a DJ, all meeting with Eleanor who is a true friend to all of them. She is never judgemental, always supportive but also willing to advise when requested.
Of course things never stay the same, especially when a man is introduced into the mix.
This book is highly recommended. Her research is meticulous, both on nightclubs and on football, which becomes the hobby of one of the children and therefore of interest to the elderly Eleanor but presented in a very acceptable was that even I was intrigued by it! When I purchased this book another lady was also enquiring about it in the shop so I think it will be a bestseller.
Sunday, 4 October 2009
Caroline Harvey (Joanna Trollope) - Parson Harding's Daughter.
Review on show by Maggie Perkovic, Sept 24th '09.
This is an interesting early book by JT. Written in 1979 it tells of the sad family of Parson Harding who lost his wife at an early stage and is left to rear the children, five in all, by himself.
In 1775 opportunities for women were few and far between so with the older sister more or less in charge of the household the older boy ready to follow in the navy, Caroline was without a calling as it were.
Although their parents had been very good looking, the family of Hardings were amazingly plain and our heroine Caroline, has a long thin face and angular body and is so shy and reserved her personality appears crushed inside her.
They are all under the patronage of Lady Lennox, the lady of the manor, who is guardian to a disreputable member of her family, called Johnnie Gates and decides that Caroline should be the one to travel to India and marry the said Johnnie, in the hopes it would stop him drinking and wasting his money, such as it is. Caroline who knew Johnnie when they were both much younger and decides that her future at present is so limited, India may be a welcome change and she accepts the offer.
On arriving in India she finds that her future husband is already in the throes of living a life where work is minimal and enjoyment paramount, and only agrees to marry her to secure his inheritance from Lady Lennox.
Her life in India where she receives no money from her husband, and is treated worse than a servant is horrific but by an enormous effort and strength of character she makes a reasonable life for herself until a tragedy occurs and she finally finds a chance of happiness.
It is well written with an interesting look at life in colonial India, not quite a bodice ripper but her later books were less dramatic.
It won the Romantic Novelists Association award for 'best historical novel of the year'.
This is an interesting early book by JT. Written in 1979 it tells of the sad family of Parson Harding who lost his wife at an early stage and is left to rear the children, five in all, by himself.
In 1775 opportunities for women were few and far between so with the older sister more or less in charge of the household the older boy ready to follow in the navy, Caroline was without a calling as it were.
Although their parents had been very good looking, the family of Hardings were amazingly plain and our heroine Caroline, has a long thin face and angular body and is so shy and reserved her personality appears crushed inside her.
They are all under the patronage of Lady Lennox, the lady of the manor, who is guardian to a disreputable member of her family, called Johnnie Gates and decides that Caroline should be the one to travel to India and marry the said Johnnie, in the hopes it would stop him drinking and wasting his money, such as it is. Caroline who knew Johnnie when they were both much younger and decides that her future at present is so limited, India may be a welcome change and she accepts the offer.
On arriving in India she finds that her future husband is already in the throes of living a life where work is minimal and enjoyment paramount, and only agrees to marry her to secure his inheritance from Lady Lennox.
Her life in India where she receives no money from her husband, and is treated worse than a servant is horrific but by an enormous effort and strength of character she makes a reasonable life for herself until a tragedy occurs and she finally finds a chance of happiness.
It is well written with an interesting look at life in colonial India, not quite a bodice ripper but her later books were less dramatic.
It won the Romantic Novelists Association award for 'best historical novel of the year'.
Saturday, 14 May 2011
Joanna Trollope - DAUGHTERS IN LAW
review by Maggie Perkovic on show 5th May 2011
THIS IS A VERY WELL WRITTEN BOOK ABOUT FAMILIES, WHICH THIS AUTHOR DOES VERY WELL!!!!
RACHEL LOVES BEING AT THE CENTRE OF HER
LARGE FAMILY.
SHE HAS DEVOTED HERSELF TO BRINGING UP HER
THREE SONS, TWO OF WHOM ARE MARRIED, AND
THE YOUNGEST IS ABOUT TO DO TH SAME.
SHE LOVES TO ENTERTAIN THEM IN THEIR
CHILDHOOD HOME ON THE WIDE, BIRD HAUNTED
COAST OF SUFFOLK.
HER HUSBAND ANTHONY A SKILLED ARTIST OF
WILD LIFE, IN PARTICULAR BIRDS IS HAPPY TO
WELCOME THEM HOME, BUT HE UNDERSTANDS
THAT THEY ALL HAVE THEIR OWN LIVES TO LIVE,
AND NEED TO BREAK THE MATERNAL BONDS.
EDWARD THE ELDEST SON HAS A SWEDISH WIFE
WHO WORKS IN A LABORATORY, AND A SEVEN
YEAR OLD DAUGHTER, AND HE RESENTS HIS
MOTHER EXPECTING HIM TO DROP EVERYTHING TO
HELP WITH SOME PROBLEMS HIS MIDDLE BROTHER
HAS.
RALPH, THIS BROTHER, IS FINDING HE NEEDS TO
MOVE ON TO BETTER EMPLOYMENT TO SUPPORT
HIS RATHER FEY WIFE, AND HIS ADORABLE SONS,
TODDLERS STILL.
LUKE WHO IS ABOUT TO GET MARRIED IS SO IN
LOVE WITH HIS FIANCE THAT HE ALLOWS HER TO
OVERRULE HIS MOTHER, WHICH HAS NEVER
HAPPENED BEFORE. THE STORY UNFOLDS IN A GRIPPING AND REALISTIC WAY AS THEY ALL QUESTION OLD ASSUMPTIONS AND RACHEL REALISES THAT THE WIVES ARE BECOMING MORE IMPORTANT TO HER SONS THAN SHE IS.
ALL MOTHERS IN LAW AND ALL DAUGHTERS IN LAW WILL RECOGNISE THEMSELVES IN THIS BOOK.
I LOVED IT AND HEARTILY RECOMMEND IT!!!
by Mags
THIS IS A VERY WELL WRITTEN BOOK ABOUT FAMILIES, WHICH THIS AUTHOR DOES VERY WELL!!!!
RACHEL LOVES BEING AT THE CENTRE OF HER
LARGE FAMILY.
SHE HAS DEVOTED HERSELF TO BRINGING UP HER
THREE SONS, TWO OF WHOM ARE MARRIED, AND
THE YOUNGEST IS ABOUT TO DO TH SAME.
SHE LOVES TO ENTERTAIN THEM IN THEIR
CHILDHOOD HOME ON THE WIDE, BIRD HAUNTED
COAST OF SUFFOLK.
HER HUSBAND ANTHONY A SKILLED ARTIST OF
WILD LIFE, IN PARTICULAR BIRDS IS HAPPY TO
WELCOME THEM HOME, BUT HE UNDERSTANDS
THAT THEY ALL HAVE THEIR OWN LIVES TO LIVE,
AND NEED TO BREAK THE MATERNAL BONDS.
EDWARD THE ELDEST SON HAS A SWEDISH WIFE
WHO WORKS IN A LABORATORY, AND A SEVEN
YEAR OLD DAUGHTER, AND HE RESENTS HIS
MOTHER EXPECTING HIM TO DROP EVERYTHING TO
HELP WITH SOME PROBLEMS HIS MIDDLE BROTHER
HAS.
RALPH, THIS BROTHER, IS FINDING HE NEEDS TO
MOVE ON TO BETTER EMPLOYMENT TO SUPPORT
HIS RATHER FEY WIFE, AND HIS ADORABLE SONS,
TODDLERS STILL.
LUKE WHO IS ABOUT TO GET MARRIED IS SO IN
LOVE WITH HIS FIANCE THAT HE ALLOWS HER TO
OVERRULE HIS MOTHER, WHICH HAS NEVER
HAPPENED BEFORE. THE STORY UNFOLDS IN A GRIPPING AND REALISTIC WAY AS THEY ALL QUESTION OLD ASSUMPTIONS AND RACHEL REALISES THAT THE WIVES ARE BECOMING MORE IMPORTANT TO HER SONS THAN SHE IS.
ALL MOTHERS IN LAW AND ALL DAUGHTERS IN LAW WILL RECOGNISE THEMSELVES IN THIS BOOK.
I LOVED IT AND HEARTILY RECOMMEND IT!!!
by Mags
Monday, 5 April 2010
show 1st April 2010
My guests today are: Malcolm Martland, Babs Simpson, Maggie Perkovic & unfortunately no Brian Lowen as he’s gone to the mainland so we won’t hear his review of Peter James ‘The Truth’ today. Well this is the show before Easter weekend, what are you guys doing, do you still buy easter eggs/chocolate? With Friday, Monday and the weekend off I look forward to sitting down with my head in a book…..maybe a cuppa tea and a bit of chocci to go with it tho. I’ve gotta say Malcolm, its thanks to you that I started to read the first in the trilogy of Stieg Larsson (Girl With the Dragon Tattoo) thank you very much, I have been engrossed in it, it’s a thinking persons crime thriller, I don’t want it to end!!
Anyway, stick around and listen to the reviews of Kurt Wallander, Rachel Hore (that’s spelt Hore), and Joanna Trollope, plus if we have time a Harlan Coben.
I will be looking at those top 10 books of the decade too, so join us after the ads and the weather on the bookshow .
Whats in the bestsellers today - well top three are Stieg Larsson!
Malcolm & Babs favourite 'Love reading book of the decade': The Book Thief by Markus Zusak and Maggies was: The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini.
Anyway, stick around and listen to the reviews of Kurt Wallander, Rachel Hore (that’s spelt Hore), and Joanna Trollope, plus if we have time a Harlan Coben.
I will be looking at those top 10 books of the decade too, so join us after the ads and the weather on the bookshow .
Whats in the bestsellers today - well top three are Stieg Larsson!
Malcolm & Babs favourite 'Love reading book of the decade': The Book Thief by Markus Zusak and Maggies was: The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini.
Thursday, 1 October 2009
show Sept 24th '09
My guests this week were Peter Lawrence and Maggie Perkovic. Books reviewed were
How I live Now by Meg Rosoff - Possibly one of the most talked about books of the year, Meg Rosoff’s novel for young adults is the winner of the Guardian Children’s Fiction Prize 2004. Heralded by some as the next best adult crossover novel since Mark Haddon’s The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time.
(a blast from the past): Parson Hardings Daughter by Caroline Harvey (aka Joanna Trollope)
Colm Tóibín’s beautiful Brooklyn (a worthy successor to Henry James)
The Girl of his Dreams by Donna Leon (If you like tough action crime thrillers, you won't like this).
We also discussed briefly the Man Booker nominations and looked at the top ten bestselling books
How I live Now by Meg Rosoff - Possibly one of the most talked about books of the year, Meg Rosoff’s novel for young adults is the winner of the Guardian Children’s Fiction Prize 2004. Heralded by some as the next best adult crossover novel since Mark Haddon’s The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time.
(a blast from the past): Parson Hardings Daughter by Caroline Harvey (aka Joanna Trollope)
Colm Tóibín’s beautiful Brooklyn (a worthy successor to Henry James)
The Girl of his Dreams by Donna Leon (If you like tough action crime thrillers, you won't like this).
We also discussed briefly the Man Booker nominations and looked at the top ten bestselling books
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