How Hard Can It Be? – Allison Pearson

Kate Reddy is counting down the days until she is fifty, but not in a good way. Fifty, in Kate’s mind, equals invisibility. And with hormones that have her in shackles, teenage children who need her there but won’t talk to her and ailing parents who aren’t coping, Kate is in the middle of a sandwich that she isn’t even allowed to eat because of the calories.

She’s back at work after a big break at home, because somebody has to bring home the bacon now that her husband Rich has dropped out of the rat race to master the art of mindfulness. But just as Kate is finding a few tricks to get by in her new workplace, her old client and flame Jack reappears – complicated doesn’t even begin to cover it.

This is a coming of age story for turning fifty. It’s about so much more than a balancing act; it’s about finding out who you are and what you need to feel alive when you’ve got used to being your own last priority. And every page will leave you feeling that there’s a bit of Kate Reddy in all of us.

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How Hard Can It Be? is a real treat and you may find yourself laughing out loud and crying in equal measure.

Kate Reddy is not without a few problems – teenagers and their problems (do you even know what a ‘belfie’ is?); an old house in need of upgrading and almost constant attention from Piotr the builder; a ‘drop out’ husband trying to find himself by studying mindfulness; ageing and ailing parents; trying to get back into work after years away; a big birthday (50) looming; and the menopause is approaching along with the forgetfulness that often accompanies it.  Modern parenting is definitely not easy.

She had once been a successful fund manager and now really needs to get back into the workplace and start earning to support the family. To give herself a chance of getting a job she knocks a few years off her age (and the ages of her children) and gets a bit creative with her CV.

She ends up getting a job at her old workplace where no one recognises her, the company having changed hands twice while she’s been away and her old colleagues long gone.  Her boss and colleagues are all so much younger and less experienced but she keeps quiet about her earlier successful career there.

Of course it seems her boss is trying to set her up to fail.  She gets the difficult clients and there are clashes with work and family life (and a few dilemmas).  It’s definitely not easy juggling work and the demands of family life and trying to keep everyone happy.

I think everyone will identify with at least a part of Kate.  I celebrated the big birthday long ago (and the big one after that). I was never really a career person; my children are grown up with children of their own and yet I can still recognise and sympathise with Kate’s predicament.

It’s brilliantly written and very funny but also quite sad.  Kate is a wonderfully vivid character, in fact all the characters (good and ‘bad’) have their parts to play.  It’s a really good, entertaining read.  I loved it.
How Hard Can it Be? was published on 21 September 2017.

[My thanks to NetGalley and the publishers for providing me with a review copy]

Beneath a Burning Sky by Jenny Ashcroft

When twenty-two-year-old Olivia is coerced into marriage by the cruel Alistair Sheldon she leaves England for Egypt, his home and the land of her own childhood. Reluctant as she is to go with Alistair, it’s in her new home that she finds happiness in surprising places: she is reunited with her long-estranged sister, Clara, and falls – impossibly and illicitly – in love with her husband’s boarder, Captain Edward Bertram.

Then Clara is abducted from one of the busiest streets in the city. Olivia is told it’s thieves after ransom money, but she’s convinced there’s more to it. As she sets out to discover what’s happened to the sister she’s only just begun to know, she falls deeper into the shadowy underworld of Alexandria, putting her own life, and her chance at a future with Edward, the only man she’s ever loved, at risk. Because, determined as Olivia is to find Clara, there are others who will stop at nothing to conceal what’s become of her . . .

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I enjoy a good thriller and I also like well-written romantic fiction especially historical so Beneath a Burning Sky ticks all the boxes for me. There is mystery, intrigue, illicit romance, abduction, lies, betrayal, murder. The story takes place in 1890s Alexandria when Egypt was still under British occupation and begins with an abduction then takes us back to a few months earlier.

22 year old Olivia has been brought to Alexandria by her husband Alistair who, you find out very quickly, is a thoroughly nasty, controlling, cruel character. Olivia is very unhappy but is unable to tell anyone. 

Years earlier, Olivia and her sister Clara had been forced to leave their childhood home of Cairo after the death of their parents and return to England to their grandmother. However their grandmother, a bitter, nasty woman, had kept them apart and had allowed no communication between the sisters. The grandmother also had a hand in leaving Olivia no choice but to marry Alistair, colluding with him to virtually blackmail Olivia into marriage. On a happier note, it turns out her older sister Clara is married to Alistair’s business partner and has been living in Alexandria with her husband and children.

So, I thought to myself, it’s a bit of a melodrama; maybe a bit of a cliché. I’m happy to say I was wrong. It’s better than that and I really enjoyed the story.

The story is quite complex, there are several threads and quite a lot of characters, and yet I didn’t find it too complicated. It is well written with a good balance of description, dialogue and background information so it’s not difficult to read. The romantic parts are not overly mushy but they are part of the story. I didn’t try too hard to work out the connections between some of the characters; I just let myself enjoy the story and the plot twists and wait for the connections to be revealed in time.

You hope there will be a happy ending but you can’t be entirely sure given the way the story unfolds. You just have to read it and find out for yourself! 

Beneath a Burning Sky is Jenny Ashcroft’s debut novel in the UK. It will be published in paperback on 29 June 2017 by Sphere.  

[My thanks to NetGalley and the publishers for providing an advance copy]

Standard Deviation – Katherine Heiny

DESCRIPTION:

A rueful, funny examination of love, marriage, infidelity, and origami. Simultaneously hilarious and heartbreaking, this sensational debut will appeal to fans of David Nicholls, Nick Hornby, Nora Ephron and Lorrie Moore

Graham Cavanaugh’s second wife, Audra, is everything his first wife was not. She considers herself privileged to live in the age of the hair towel, talks non-stop through her epidural, labour and delivery, invites the doorman to move in and the eccentric members of their son’s Origami Club to Thanksgiving.

She is charming and spontaneous and fun but life with her can be exhausting. In the midst of the day-to-day difficulties and delights of marriage and raising a child with Asperger’s, his first wife, Elspeth, reenters Graham’s life. Former spouses are hard to categorize – are they friends, enemies, old flames, or just people who know you really, really well?

Graham starts to wonder: How can anyone love two such different women? Did he make the right choice? Is there a right choice?

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Although Katherine Heiny’s short stories have previously appeared in various publications, I believe Standard Deviation is her first full length novel and what a delight!

I really wasn’t sure what to expect but it is very funny; full of joy and love, but with just a few heartbreaking moments.

It’s a family story based around Graham, his second wife Audra and their 10 year old son, Matthew. ‘Standard Deviation’ is a reference to their son’s scores in various assessment tests which had led to a diagnosis of Aspergers.

Graham is a bit older and fairly quiet. His first wife, Elspeth was very cool, calm, collected and in control. Audra is the complete opposite. She never stops talking – about anyone and anything – the just opens her mouth and keeps going. Says what she thinks. She comes out with the most inappropriate things at the most awkward moments. If she doesn’t know the whole story she just makes things up. She thinks everyone should be a friend: talks to everyone, invites random characters to come for a meal or even stay with them, which leads to some great storytelling. She just has no filter. Volunteers for things, kind of meddles in things, even wants to become involved in the life of Graham’s first wife. At the same time, I really liked her. She’s not a bad person. In fact she’s a wonderful character but as I was reading I kept thinking, “Oh no. Don’t say that! Oh please!”

They worry about Matthew and want the best for him. Audra latches on to any interest Matthew might have and runs with it. He gets interested in origami so she finds an origami ‘club’ for him. We encounter more eccentric but wonderful characters and hilarious escapades.

It’s not all fun and laughter. There are a few thoughtful moments and some poignant episodes. It’s not all plain sailing but you just hope that things will work out well for everyone in the end.

I really enjoyed the book. It’s a well written, entertaining novel with interesting characters and good dialogue. It made me laugh out loud a few times. I certainly wouldn’t mind if there was a sequel.  In fact I would be delighted!

Standard Deviation is due to be published in hardcover on 1 June 2017

[My thanks to NetGalley and the publishers for an advance copy]