Product Description

American Maggie Monroe is a journalist for New York's hard-hitting current affairs show Newsline. Independent and fearless, the more cutting-edge the story, the happier she is. But when her next assignment turns out to be an in-depth documentary on the decline of England's ruling classes, she's furious at being sent to cover a bloody tea party.

Meet the Earl and Countess of Bevan, eccentric, maddening and with family secrets to hide.

Meet Daniel Bevan - their eldest son. Funny, attractive and hopelessly alcoholic.

Meet Daniel's responsible brother Rory - angry, self-mocking and strictly teetotal.

When Maggie discovers Rory to be an uninvited chaperone on the first stop of her journey the two look set to clash. Maggie finds herself torn between her journalist ideals and coming to terms with a greater understanding. This unlikely romantic comedy paints an endearing portrait of a family, which like so many others, holds itself together despite its evident frailties.

‘Hilariously accurate . . . A gifted writer with a pithy, poetic style’ Wendy Holden, Daily Mail

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #86615 in Books
• Published on: 2004-01-02
• Original language: English
• Binding: Paperback
• 368 pages

About the Author

Bella Pollen is a writer and journalist who lives in Notting Hill, London and writes for a wide variety of newspapers and magazines.

Customer Reviews

Hunting Unicorns
Gave it to friend to read - she usually reads thrillers only. She was very dubious but soon the sound of her laughter was ringing out. Very light reading but enjoyable none the less

quirky fun
the reason i picked up Hunting Unicorns is that it reminded me of Ruth Ozeki, for some weird reason. Interestingly enough, inside the back cover is an ad for a Ruth Ozeki book. I have a fascination with contemporary British writing, looking at my list of favorite writers, the number of UK folks stand out. Bella Pollen's foray was a great read for me.
Culturally i find myself best able to identify with books that crash cross-cultural and identity issues straight into each other. What can I say, I am fascinated by anything that may bring me closer to some internal revelation.
That is certainly ground covered here. The main characters are pushed into an awkward romance and the awkward terms of their own cultural identities. Some folks love celebrity gossip, but I eat this stuff up.
Without selling out the book too much, i'd like to point ou my favorite writing device in this book. The story is revealed by two narrators, which is not strange, but one of those is dead. This is not some mythical sci fi twist or even spritual aspect of the plot rather just a matter of fact., The post mortem witticisms of that extremely flawed narrator are spectacular.

Cliched tripe...
There isn't a single original thing in this book....it's all been done before and much, much better. It reads like the bad screenplay that it originally was. From cliched American journalists and her "comedy" crew, the idiotic aristo sidekick Benjy to the use of old urban myths that everyone has heard about 1000 times, this is seriously "painting by numbers". Read Wodehouse for how proper aristo comedy should be written. As for the "serious issues" being addressed...eg the decline of the upper classes...there is simply no authenticity in Pollen's portrayal of them...elements of their characters might be true...but she really is just reprising old chestnuts ...read Waugh instead on how it should be done.