Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #32600 in Books
• Published on: 2004-01-02
• Original language: English
• Binding: Paperback
• 256 pages

Synopsis
A witty, sophisticated romantic comedy which explores the universal themes of love, loyalty and family. American Maggie Monroe is a journalist for New York's hard-hitting current affairs show Newsline. Independent and fearless, the more cutting-edge the story, the happier she is. But when her next assignment turns out to be an in-depth documentary on the decline of England's ruling classes, she's furious at being sent to cover a bloody tea party. Meet the Earl and Countess of Bevan, eccentric, maddening and with family secrets to hide. Meet Daniel Bevan - their eldest son. Funny, attractive and hopelessly alcoholic. Meet Daniel's responsible brother Rory - angry, self-mocking and strictly teetotal. When Maggie discovers Rory to be an uninvited chaperone on the first stop of her journey the two look set to clash. Maggie finds herself torn between her journalist ideals and coming to terms with a greater understanding. This unlikely romantic comedy paints an endearing portrait of a family, which like so many others, holds itself together despite its evident frailties.

Customer Reviews

Will be a great movie.
An American journalist reluctantly agrees to report on the British upper-classes and is bewildered by their eccenticities and their charms. This novel was originally conceived as a screenplay and there is a great part here for Hugh Grant. It is an entertaining comic romance which plays on cultural stereotypes to amusing effect and which has some great comedic scenes.
I did feel that some of the characters were rather underwritten- the colleagues of both Rory and Maggie suggested great comic potential and I felt more could have been made of them and some of the more formal scenarios would have benefitted from more detailed description.
However this is a fun book which I enjoyed and would recommend.

Adorable!!
A really sweet light-hearted book, which kept me enthralled. The book was initially a gift, and I picked it up last night when I couldn't sleep with the hopes of reading a chapter or two the falling asleep. It was 6am before I finished it, and finally put it down. It's very light, and a fun read, and yes, there are clichés, and at times predictable, but thoroughly enjoyable. I'm not normally a fan of "chick lit" or anything frothy and sweet, but this book was a pleasure to read. The use of two narrators to tell the tale (one alive and one dead) was an unusual twist but made this brilliant little book all the more pleasant. A witty and yet at times poignant read, it contained some gems of wisdom about parent/child relationships in their latter years. I laughed, I cried, I loved it!

It took a few chapters.....
It took me a few chapters to understand what was going on and get into this book - but after that I couldn't leave it down. In some places I laughed out loud and in others I almost cried. I loved the Bevan family - and even though we didn't hear from Rory himself, I didn't feel I knew him any less. Really enjoyed it!