Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #93 in Books
• Published on: 2008-06-16
• Original language: English
• Binding: Paperback
• 448 pages

Good Housekeeping
Best Debut Novel

Review
'Jones successfully evokes the stifling, repressive atmosphere of an English village during a hot summer after the second World War'

Good Housekeeping
`was overwhelmingly our Debut of the Year - a book that reveals the darker side of respectable English life'.

Customer Reviews

Pulls apart the 1950s middle class society
I didn't like Lewis when I started to read but found that as he got older I became sympathethic towards his delicate mental state.
The loss of his mother and the way that was handled by his father and the rest of the society had a dramatic impact on his adult personality which developed throughout the book.
The 1950s society is shown in a very negative way with the stiff upper lip and no acknowledgement of any type of mental frailty.
All the way through the book I just wanted to hug Lewis but still felt that it wouldn't have made me like him any more. That said, his character was very believeable and totally real.
The book cleverly tackles many subjects which are talked about more openly in today's society but in the 50s were hidden and shameful. It is a scarey thought that the real criminals are often the ones hidden behind a veil of respectability.

Wonderful!
Wonderful! I have not read such a funny novel since 'Cold Comfort Farm'. No-one could have written a more brilliant pastiche of 'The Atonement' Loved it.

Disappointing
I bought this book after being bombarded with recommendations for it from various sources. However it did not deliver what it promised. It started off well, with an enjoyable and intriguing first half, but then the plot began to sag and become repetitive. In addition the unremitting cruelty and selfishness of almost all the characters, along with the continual batterings and other outbreaks of violence made the book a chore to read. Characters were poorly developed and often cliched, and the supposedly 'simple' prose often seemed merely flat. As for the ending - biggest cliche of all. Orange shortlist - how?