Product Description

Against a rising tide of commuter mayhem, three women struggle in to work. Caught up in the chaos on the streets - and in the equally savage battle surrounding their boss's extortion racket - Annette, Joan and Helly are forced to ditch everything for an offensive of their own, only to find the cruellest circumstances can make heroines of us all. Like most offices, theirs is full of intrigue, sexual desire and blackmail - and everybody thinks it is somebody else's turn to make the coffee.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #485393 in Books
• Published on: 2007-08-06
• Original language: English
• Binding: Paperback
• 352 pages

About the Author
Louise Doughty is the author of five novels, CRAZY PAVING, DANCE WITH ME, HONEY-DEW, FIRES IN THE DARK and STONE CRADLE. CRAZY PAVING was shortlisted for four awards including the John Llewelyn Rhys Prize and FIRES IN THE DARK won awards from the Arts Council of England and the K.Blundell Trust. She is also a recipient of an Ian St. James prize and a Radio Times Drama Award. She has written five plays for radio and worked widely as a journalist and broadcaster in London, where she lives.

Customer Reviews

Excellent
I've had this book for years and read and re-read it several times. I love Louise Doughty's writing style and am looking forward to reading her other books. I don't agree at all that the story is "forgettable" - it's one of the most memorable books I've ever read. Some parts of it are absolutely hilarious, even after having read it many times.

Mildly Amusing
I daresay that, for a first novel, this story could be classified as a mildly amusing diversion - the sort of book on might read on a long journey and then put away. Whilst the characters and the plot are entirely believable (despite the alarming frequency of terrorist activity) there is a lingering sensation of a lack of substance which left me feeling a little dissatisfied.

Enjoyable but, ultimately, forgettable.

And the point is?
I heard of Louise Doughty through the Telegraph experiment, in which she gave advice to young writers. I thought she must be a star if she does that, and her first novel wouldn't be a bad place to start.

Crazy Paving was a let down. It barely has any plot. The novel tracks the lives of three co-workers at the London Transport Authority. The three heroines are confronted with office intrigues, affairs, and the repercussions from bomb attacks - this takes place in the early 1990s. It doesn't get much more coherent than that, even if the protagonists are likeable and their everyday lives and backgrounds are reasonably well portrayed. And Louise Doughty seems to break one of the basic rules of fiction: that too much coincidence harms realism. London in the 1990s is pleasantly evoked; its street and office life, the rush-hour crossing of the bridges, the sandwich shops, the dress and behaviour of its great swarms. For someone who was there, it is agreeably nostalgic. Otherwise, though, this goes little beyond the TV series `the Office'.