Product Description

Meet Lucy Gordon, the sweet, scatty, irresistible heroine of Fiona Walker's delicious new novel. Lucy lives in a Berkshire village with her two friends, Jane and Bella, and works in the marketing department of Widgetex Computers. Her boss - Slave Driver - is a constant bane; her family are lovable eccentrics; her boyfriend, the dishy but fickle Greg, takes shameless advantage of her (Lucy is too good hearted to notice). Throughout two action-packed, fun-filled, disaster-strewn years, Lucy charts an erratic course among this motley crew to her very own happy ending. (20011001)

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #158308 in Books
• Published on: 2001-09-06
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 432 pages

Amazon.co.uk Review
The chorus of praise for earlier books by Fiona Walker has been enthusiastic: her five previous international best-sellers have had critics and readers tingling with pleasure at the brilliant one-liners, whimsical plotting and larger-than-life characters. Of course, this kind of acclaim sets up certain expectations, but Lucy Talk is likely to do just as much for Walker's reputation as the much-acclaimed Between Males. The publishers promote her as the "voice of young, media-aware women", and the format of this book (it's told entirely in e-mails and letters) is absolutely right for her tale.

Lucy Gordon, Walker's wacky, beguiling heroine is dealing with a demanding boss (known as Slave Driver), her two critical friends (Jane and Bella) and her family of likeable eccentrics. While everyone tries to draw her attention to the fact that her attractive but fickle boyfriend Greg is taking advantage of her, Lucy's sunny nature blinds her to things that are obvious to everyone else. However, various professional and personal difficulties pitch her into a series of disasters and her equilibrium finally starts to get shaken. Will Walker grant her a happy ending?

This is delightful stuff, and while the e-mail novel is no longer such an innovative concept (perhaps it was when Walker started this), it's still brought off very cleverly here. Plus Walker's skill at finding some middle way between the way people really speak and the more witty discourse of the novel is brilliantly deployed:

He cooked me dinner--yes! This is a first. Admittedly it was only a boil-in-the-bag curry while we were watching a video, but I think it's a positive development in the relationship. I now have two jumpers, a toothbrush, a jar of moisturiser and a pair of jogging trainers in permanent residence at his flat. Am planning to sneak more items in without his noticing over next few weeks in the hope that it will subliminally trigger a sense of security and commitment in him. He's off to a stag party tonight, but I'm popping round first to help him on with his caveman outfit...

Nuneaton Evening Telegraph
'this bubbly offering . . . is the perfect millennium novel'

Review
'A fluffy, light and original read to pass on to your mates when you're finished' (B Magazine 20011001)

'Scatty and very funny. This is a hilarious book which will appeal to anyone who regularly misjudges their love life. Great holiday reading.' (Woman's Way, Dublin 20011001)

'Full of wisecracks and one-liners . . . the touching ending will leave you feeling a little warm inside, even if it is still pouring outside' (Newcastle Evening Chronicle )

'Walker's more inventive than many of her rivals . . . quick wit, sharp tongue and characters you don't want to strangle' (The Mirror )

'this bubbly offering . . . is the perfect millennium novel' (Nuneaton Evening Telegraph )

'frothy and fun with a rattling good plot' (Oxford Mail )

'All great fun.' (Books Magazine )

Likely to do just as much for Fiona Walker’s reputation as the much-acclaimed Between Males . . . wacky, beguiling heroine . . . delightful stuff . . . brought off very cleverly here' (Amazon UK )

Customer Reviews

Not her best offering!
I'll start by saying that I LOVE Fiona Walkers books, so much so that the spines are falling to pieces through excessive re-reading. Not this one. The whole book seems extremely disjointed and as a result I couldn't identify with the characters at all. I tried reading this again to see if it was just my mood at the time but it didn't gel for me the second time either.

The constant switching between letters, e-mails and actual "action" is confusing and doesn't enable you to bring the story to life in your head - if like me thats what you like to do.

On the whole I would suggest any of the other Fiona Walker books they are unputdownable and laugh out loud funny. This I'm afraid doesn't hit the spot.

A different side to Fiona Walker
I know Lucy Talk has been out for a bit, so hard core Fiona Walker fans will have already read it and made their own judgments. For the rest of you - here's my take. Including Lucy Talk, I've read all but one of the Fiona Walker's that have been released. (There's a new one, Lots of Love, due out soon.) I have a bit of a love-hate thing going on with Walker's books. Even with French Relations and Well Groomed (both of which I've read more than once), you always feel as if you are witnessing a train wreck as you read on. With a less lovable heroine than Tash French, (such as Juno in Snap Happy) you find it hard to root for someone who just goes out of her way to screw up her life so. And Walker is a master at creating truly, truly unlikable auxiliary characters and "heroes" that are more than a bit flawed. But, like the proverbial train wreck that you just can't stop yourself from watching, you find yourself hooked on her books once you get into them. So, having said that - Lucy Talk is COMPLETELY different. I can well understand the 1 star and 5 star range of ratings. That's not to say that Walker isn't writing with that classic Walker "voice", it's just executed in a very different way and the result is more light-hearted than her other efforts. As stated in other reviews, this book is a collection of emails, electronic journal entries, letters, party invitations, menus (very,very funny), notes posted on the fridge, shopping lists - you name it. When you think about trying to tell a complete story using this device, you have to applaud Walker - because it seems impossible that a cohesive fiction plot could roll out this way, but it does. Daffy Lucy starts out one Halloween with a love rat boyfriend and a little over a year later, we've seen her become engaged, become un-engaged, lose friends, find friends, suffer career setbacks, celebrate career gains. The cast of characters is so clever - I especially liked Charles the snob (you can't convince me the driving incident was an accident!) and of course, Big Mike is the best Boy Next Door. When I say that Walker uses her classic voice, I mean that you could easily imagine these communications as the emails or letters of Tash French or other Walker protagonists. Lucy is sweet (a bit too sweet) but smart and I liked her immediately. There's less of an edge to the characters and story of Lucy Talk than there is to most Walker books - that is probably what turned off some of her hard core fans. And some may view this as a simple Bridget Jones rip off (I didn't find it so). Ultimately, this is a very fun book - one that is easily read in small pieces, but tells a sweet and satisfying tale. Now I must get myself mentally geared up to read the one released Fiona Walker novel I haven't read (Between Males) - I expect less sweetness, and more edge with that one!

Absolute rubbish...
I have read all of Fiona Walker's books and loved every single one of them. I find that I can barely put them down and anxiously await the next one.

Lucy Talk however, was rubbish. I didn't even finish it. She has a method which works and she deviated into trying to knock off a Bridget Jones style diary/email chain concept. I just didn't work. Very disappointing.