Product Description

What to do if Matthew, your secret lover of the past four years, finally decides to leave his wife Sophie and their two daughters and move into your flat, just when you're thinking that you might not want him anymore ...Plan A - Stop shaving your armpits. And your bikini line. Tell him you have a moustache that you wax every six weeks. Stop having sex with him. Pick holes in the way he dresses. Don't brush your teeth. Or your hair. Or pluck out the stray hag-whisker that grows out of your chin. Buy incontinence pads and leave them lying around.Plan B - Accidentally on purpose bump into his wife Sophie. Give yourself a fake name and identity. Befriend Sophie. Actually begin to really like Sophie. Snog Matthew's son (who's the same age as you by the way. You're not a paedophile). Buy a cat and give it a fake name and identity. Befriend Matthew's children. Unsuccessfully watch your whole plan go absolutely horribly wrong. "Getting Rid of Matthew" isn't as easy as it seems, but along the way Helen will forge an unlikely friendship, find real love and realize that nothing ever goes exactly to plan ...

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #1524 in Books
• Published on: 2007-01-04
• Original language: English
• Binding: Paperback
• 416 pages

Review
'This witty first novel is a complete winner. It's comic, touching and the narrative races along at breakneck speed' Daily Express

The other woman attempts to make amends in this debut novel from Fallon, a U.K. television producer and partner of comedian Ricky Gervais.For four years, "nearly forty" Helen has been treading water watching those around her achieve, thrive and take risks. Helen prefers to be an observer and let things happen. Aimlessly she attaches herself to jobs and people that don't suit her in an effort to approximate a grown-up life. Helen's achievements are few: She holds a dead-end job as a personal assistant at a middling British PR firm, maintains one friendship, lives in a shabby apartment and has a very married boyfriend named Matthew. The novel centers around this illicit relationship. Matthew was Helen's boss when he seduced her. He correctly identified her vulnerability and quickly insinuated himself into the role of lover. Matthew is a cad who relishes his roles as PR chieftain, smug married father of two and seducer of younger women (it becomes clear that Helen is but one of Matthew's conquests). Nothing new up to this point, but thankfully the novel gets moving when Helen decides to dump Matthew. Here's the twist: Rather than gaining her freedom, Helen gets a hirsute roommate. When Helen gives Matthew the brush off, he falls apart and comes back groveling. It seems Matthew would rather heave over his family and start life anew with his young mistress than face life as a dumped lover stuck in suburban hell. To get rid of her new and unwelcome flatmate, Helen devises a plan to befriend his estranged wife, Sophie, and get the couple back together. While madly scheming to return Matthew to his family nest, Helen befriends Sophie and starts to take responsibility for her misdeeds. Refreshingly, this heroine doesn't waste time justifying her actions. Helen sees the error of her ways and sets about doing the right thing. Inevitably, she makes some comical missteps, but her heart remains in the right place. Fallon's debut has bright spots: The leading lady is memorable (one of the few singletons not obsessed with her baby-making status) and the dialogue pops. Pacing seems to be the main flaw, as the action sags in the middle and never regains momentum. Fallon's debut is sharp enough, but a languishing plot dulls the author's wit. (Kirkus Reviews)

The Big Issue, Jan 2007
`a punchy piece of inverted chicklit'

Eve, Jan 2007
`A fast and furious read'

Customer Reviews

Light-hearted but fun
Whilst this book will never win any prizes for literary merit, it has to be said that it is an extremely enjoyable and at time funny read.

A tale of morals, relationships, slip-ups and farce, it centres around Helen whose lover Matthew finally decides to move in with her after a relationship that has already last four years. Having asked for this time and time again, Helen suddenly realises that she no longer wants to live with Matthew. But how to get rid of him is the problem.

There are some very sharp and amusing passages as the plot unfolds and new relationships are forged, whilst others are destroyed. A light book, it does make some serious points and underlying this is the fact that it's simply a very enjoyable book which many people will devour at one or two sittings..

Getting Rid of This Book... as fast as I can!
People told me I'd love this book, but I didn't. I found it humourless and the characters (particularly the 'heroine', Helen), completely unsympathetic and wooden. The idea is a good one: mistress finally gets what she's been pining for (ie: her man) and decides she doesn't want him after all and in the hands of a better writer (Marian Keyes?), this could have been hilarious and poignant but I just wanted to get to the end so I could read something better!

Good chick-lit book
I was drawn to this book by the cover. I think it those red shoes in contrast with the blue tie, it definitely draws the eye, and I am glad it did.

What to do if Matthew, your secret lover of the past four years, finally decides to leave his wife Sophie and their two daughters and move into your flat, just when you're thinking that you might not want him anymore ...Plan A - Stop shaving your armpits. And your bikini line. Tell him you have a moustache that you wax every six weeks. Stop having sex with him. Pick holes in the way he dresses. Don't brush your teeth. Or your hair. Or pluck out the stray hag-whisker that grows out of your chin. Buy incontinence pads and leave them lying around.Plan B - Accidentally on purpose bump into his wife Sophie. Give yourself a fake name and identity. Befriend Sophie. Actually begin to really like Sophie. Snog Matthew's son (who's the same age as you by the way. You're not a paedophile). Buy a cat and give it a fake name and identity. Befriend Matthew's children. Unsuccessfully watch your whole plan go absolutely horribly wrong. "Getting Rid of Matthew" isn't as easy as it seems, but along the way Helen will forge an unlikely friendship, find real love and realize that nothing ever goes exactly to plan ...

This was a good book. Helen quickly realizes she does not want Matthew and her ways to get rid of him are quirky and funny. This book was irresistible, hard to put down. Every time I did stop reading I was dying to know what was going to happen next.

Helen befriends the ex-wife and forms a lovely friendship. This was the highlight of the book for me, and when her true identity was revealed I nearly cried. Their friendship moved me so much, and made me grateful for my friends.

I didn't like Matthew's character, I could see why she wanted rid of him! He was slimy, a liar and weak and needy, plus old, not attractive. However, his character was well written and I did find myself disliking him and laughing at him.

I had a few problems with this book. The first is how long Helen's secret life panned out, I didn't think that was very realistic. The second was the way the children were written. They are aged 12 and 10 but to be honest it seemed like they were in their teens. And the final thing was I did not like the over-use of bad language.

Overall, I enjoyed this book and was happy to overlook my complaints. This is a great, fun chick lit book.

8/10