Product Description

Aunt Margaret, surrogate mother to teenage Saskia, has just waved goodbye to her niece. She has sent her to Canada for a year. Now, buoyed up by an unexpected legacy that's given her a year of freedom, Aunt Margaret decides to kick up her heels a little and have some fun...

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #242174 in Books
• Published on: 2005-03-03
• Original language: English
• Binding: Paperback

Review
"'Makes you laugh out loud, even as you are wincing in pain.' Daily Mail; 'Like Joanna Trollope, she combines a sharp eye for the foibles of human nature with a generous amount of sympathy for her characters.' The Times"

Customer Reviews

A truly entertaining read
Mavis Cheek employs the same insight and wit here that readers of her other novels have come to love. The story follows Margaret and her adventures as she 'kicks up her heels' following the departure of the niece she has brought up. Cheek adopts a similar approach to other 'chicklit' novelists, looking at the problems women have when they aim to find, and keep a man, however this novel employs considerably more independence and self respect than your average 'girly evening in' book. Margaret is a single minded and intelligent woman who refuses to bow to the pressures she finds in her task. She confides her fears in the reader, yet manages to arise from all kinds of situations smiling and with dignity relatively intact.

This novel is at once warming and funny, and yet is still sad. It has parts which made me laugh out loud and yet still managed to be incredibly moving. Part of the reason for this is Mavis Cheek's excellent characterisation. Although the majority of the action is seen through Margaret's eyes, an unknown narrator gives us insights in the parts of other character's lives she does not know about. Although this device may sound clumsy, it actually works incredibly well and serves to add persepctive to the exploits which are described. The book also studies a number of different relationships, not just that found by Margaret, and in doing so presents a realistically complicated picture of what happens to people in love, whatever form it might take.

Aunt Margaret's Lover is a book which refuses to descend into sentimentality. It shows an insight into the life of a number of characters, which realistically have good and bad points. The more important characters defy the stereotypes of this genre, most notably Margaret herself, yet Cheek is not afraid to use stereotypes to move the story along and maybe to poke fun at some of her less talented imitators. The book refuses to patronise either its characters, or the reader, treating all as intelligent adults and not teenagers venturing out of the 'Sweet Valley' world for the first time.

I enjoyed this book wholeheartedly and for once managed to finish a romantic novel without the feeling that I'd experienced far too much sugar-coated sweetness. I'd recommed this as a more intelligent read to those who adore romance and a humerous and insightful novel to those who simply are looking for a good story.

Enjoy!

Great Read - An 'Intelligent' Romantic Novel!
I enjoyed this book although I don't agree with the previous reviewer who called it 'chick lit' - it most definitely isn't! For a start, the heroine is 39 (a bit 'past it' for a 'chick-lit-chick'!) Also, it's too well-written! Margaret Cheek's writing is witty and readable. I adored Margaret, her nosy friend Verity (some of her scenes made me laugh out loud - bit embarrassing when you're on a train) and 'Oxford', of course (I wanted him to turn up earlier in the book. I felt it really came to life when he arrived). But it's not all frothy and light. There are some bleak and poignant moments in this book and the ending was, in some ways, a little disappointing. It did leave me wondering what happened to all the characters though and I was sorry to leave their little world. And that MUST be the sign of a good read!

Not a gripping read
My biggest problem with this book was that I didn't really like the heroine (maybe if I was older?! - I'm 26)so I couldn't really care what she did. I found her cold - and she didn't warm up towards the end.

I also thought the whole idea of having a lover for a year with no emotional strings unrealistic. Having lovers (plural) for a year maybe.

The book is readable - but it certainly isn't a problem putting it down.