Product Description

Inge Holbrook has lived the highlife ever since she left her sleepy Home Counties hometown of Edenford. Still fantastically fit at forty-plus, she has gone from Olympic gold medallist to becoming one of the 'faces' of the BBC. Blonde (since '87), tanned (since Christmas in the Caribbean) long legs (since for ever), she has an aura of success that never fails to be attractive. Eve Marshall hasn't. Catching her reflection in a tinfoil turkey display at her local supermarket, she sees someone old and fat, someone who looks like somebody's mother. Unlike her school friend Inge, Eve never left suburbia. Her contribution to the world wasn't to write or invent or win anything, but her two children, Tom and Shirley. Inge and Eve are part of the same generation, grew up in the same town, went to the same school together. But adult life has left them with nothing in common apart from their past - until the summer when their lives become entwined again, when one becomes a killer, and the other approves ...

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #15580 in Books
• Published on: 2001-11-15
• Original language: English
• Binding: Paperback
• 320 pages

Review
'full of moments of farce and humorous apercu.' THE TIMES 'quirky social comedy stuffed with smart one-liners.' WOMAN AND HOME 'good timing and an instinctive ability to intrigue.' ATTITUDE 'The middle-English middle class is perfectly pin pointed...very funnny.' TIME OUT 'Toksvig makes you belly laugh, then while you're gasping for air, she makes you think, and sometimes the conclusion is unthinkable. The pathos and sheer tragedy underpinning the humour leaves you reeling. An intelligent, perceptive novel, brilliantly entertaining, with more depth than ten cups of cocoa. Read it.' WHAT'S ON: LONDON '[A] fabulous read.' WOMEN'S NEWS

About the Author
After leaving Cambridge, Sandi Toksvig went into the theatre as a writer and performer, and was a founder member of the Comedy Store Players. Well-known for her television and radio work, as a presenter, writer and actor, she has written six books for children and her first adult novel, WHISTLING FOR THE ELEPHANTS, was published in 1999.

Customer Reviews

Flying high
What a superb book! The story centres upon two women who were friends at school, then lost touch. Fate reunites the two women, Eve and Inge, and they take up again as if they've never been apart. The only difference is the paths their lives have taken. Inge was an Olympic gold medallist and is now a famous sports personality for the BBC. Eve is married to Adam and they live in Edenford! The story begins with Eve writing to Inge from prison, as she awaits her trial for murdering her daughter's fiance. Many events unfold and even more secrets are unearthed, until finally the full details of the murder are revealed and also the reason for it. Don't think that this is a depressing book, however - it is far from it! The characters' dialogue (especially Eve's) is absolutely hilarious, as are most of the situations surrounding her unfortunate predicament. Sandi Toksvig is able to go from farcical situations to very moving ones. However, for the majority of the book (and I couldn't put it down!) I laughed until the tears literally ran down my cheeks. A wonderful read!

Sandi Toksvig - Comedienne and fantastic author
Thanks Sandi for writing such a good book. This story is very cleverly written, alternating between a woman's letters to her friend and the narrtive telling the story behind the letters. The writing effortlessly switches from funny to serious and back again, at no point leaving you confused about what's happening in the story.

The serious elements of the story do sit with youfor a while and made me think hard about some of the issues raised (one of the characters, Tom, has strong opinions about what we are doing to our planet).

A fantastic book by a superb comedienne.

Glad Sandi moved out of No 74
I had such sympathy for the main character of this book. I found myself immersed in her mind and I am not a middle-class, middle-England, middle-aged housewife. Some might argue that the central roles were cliched and under-developed and I agree that perhaps some of them were, but Eve was both Everywoman and onewoman bound into a resonating child-like heroine. I cried heaps when Kate was gone and her central performance against the vicar was like everything I ever wanted to say to religious bigots be they Christian or otherwise. The themes explored in the book are not new but it's in Sandi Togsvig's telling that makes the book so rich. Thanks!