Product Description

Sex. Yes. She remembered that. Wasn't that the thing that happened somewhere between the talking-and-going-out-to-dinner bit and the sobbing-and-eating-too-many-biscuits bit? Still, Bella was sure she could handle some - preferably before her as yet unopened packet of condoms reached their expiry date. She must be practically a virgin again by now, all sealed over like pierced ears if you don't wear earrings for too long. But the 'L' word? Uh-huh. No way. She never wanted to hear it again. There were things in her past which needed to be put well away, like the 27 boxes of clutter she'd brought from her old flat. And having changed her job, her town, her entire life - the one thing she wasn't about to change was her mind.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #464653 in Books
• Published on: 2000-01-13
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 320 pages

Amazon.co.uk Review
Nobody could fail to be won over by the self-deprecating charm of Claire Calman's introduction to her first novel: "despite popular demand that she should go back to magazines, she is now working on another book". Actually, that's good news for readers--those who pick up this sharp and witty meditation on sex and the other element that occasionally goes with it, Love is a Four Letter Word, will definitely be looking out for the second novel.

Calman's heroine Bella is trying to remember what sex is like. Wasn't it something that happened somewhere between the talking-and-going-out-to-dinner bit and the sobbing-and-eating-too-many-biscuits bit? But she is determined to fall off her sexual wagon before she becomes a virgin again ("all sealed over like pierced ears if you don't wear earrings for too long"). But there's one thing Bella is not prepared to hear again: the "L" word. Her body might be making hormonal demands, but she's resolute in not wanting the emotional baggage of love again. Nobody will be surprised, of course, to learn that she's back up to her neck in romantic trouble again--and why is it she always ends up with the wrong kind of man? Like all the best comic novelists, Calman crams her perky narrative with a host of highly diverting characters to surround her beleaguered heroine. The plotting, too, betrays no sign of first-novel inexperience: the situations that contrive to sink Bella deeper in the mire are all as imaginative as they are funny. And Calman's narrative voice always sounds just the right note, as when Bella is ironically considering becoming a nun:

Mother, I'm joining a convent. You'll never seen me again. Who knows, in her austere cell she might even take up painting again. Alone, the patterns of her thoughts would be clear and vibrant, shocking the virgin paper with their boldness, her brush caressing and seductive. She snorted at herself: Saint Bella of the Divine Brushstrokes.

Mavis Cheek
‘Claire Calman’s book has a real dash of soul, and a mighty likeable heroine’

From the Author
Anything to skive off writing Book Two¿
A big THANK YOU to readers who took the time to add a comment on LOVE IS A FOUR LETTER WORD to the amazon site. I am a bit of a technophobe so it's taken me weeks to find it, but it really cheered me up. I am on my second novel just now, called LESSONS FOR A SUNDAY FATHER, and knowing even a single person wants to read more helps to spur me on through the horrible times of thinking it's all too difficult and I should go and get a proper grown-up job like normal people. Incidentally, for the record, Love is… is not an autobiographical novel - but the heroine's world view is admittedly rather based on my own. Thanks again for your comments.

Customer Reviews

An incredibly funny heartfelt book
I don't know when I've last enjoyed a book as much as I enjoyed LOVE IS A FOUR LETTER WORD. I couldn't put it down from the moment I started it. It literally does make you laugh and cry at the same time. Bella, the heroine, is such a great character, impossible not to like. At first you think it's yet another 'Oooh, my relationship went wrong' novel, but it's SO MUCH MORE than that. I really urge you all, if youj're thinking about buying this book, stop thinking. Buy it! You won't regret it, and you'll read it again and again. More from Claire Calman please!

Warm, witty and unexpectedly poignant
Don't be put off if you think the cover looks like yet another girly beach read. This is in a class of its own. I read it only to get my friend who was going on and on about it to shut up. It is funny, but not in the punning, brittle way that you find in too much modern fiction now. You soon find yourself drawn into the heart of the book and caring deeply about the very real characters. I especially like the tense relationship between the heroine and her mother, which is subtly done. I can't believe the person on this reviews section who didn't finish it - how can you review something if you haven't even read it? Try it, even my boyfriend loved it, though he didn't want to be seen reading anything with 'Love' in the title in public!

modern take on "truly madly deeply"
I have to agree with other readers: this book should certainly NOT be judged by its cover. It's unbelievable how misleading a book-cover can be, especially in these...slippery days of thousands of chic-lit books hitting the bookstore shelves.

Claire Calman's book has some chic-lit characteristics- the love affair, the good friends helping our heroine (Bella) & having endless drinks with her. The difficult family. But there the resemblances end. This book was a lovely surprise for me: I read it in one sitting, & felt weird when it ended. OK OK, I know this all sounds tacky, but it's true that I enjoyed this book, & especially the lovely, true-to-life relationship between Bella & Will.

One of my favourite plays ever is "Truly madly deeply" & this book (as others have noted) reminded me of a lighter version of that play. Bella finds it hard to leave the past behind & to trust herself & her life. What came to mind as I was reading this book is the old saying that "it's hard to be sad, but it's even harder to be happy".

Oh, and by the way: the book is very funny, too.