Product Description

Meet Melissa and Paul: Five years after they split up he's still looking for love in all the wrong places while she wants the one thing she can't have: Paul.

Meet Chris and Vicky: They're so in tune they even brush their teeth in time with each other. So what is Chris doing risking it all for a meaningless affair?

Meet Cooper and Laura: He wants to settle down, she wants to take a grown-up gap year but can their relationship really survive a year apart?

Set across a year of leaving dos, birthday parties and anniversary celebrations The Life and Soul of the Party is a warm, funny and moving tale celebrating love, life and those special moments we've all spent in the kitchen at parties.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #66790 in Books
• Published on: 2008-08-21
• Original language: English
• Binding: Paperback
• 336 pages

Review
'Packed with drama, friendship, love and tragedy, this is a brilliant touching tale of what happens when real life catches up with us.' (Heat )

'Moving and powerful'**** (Mirror )

'Gayle (rather bravely) often writes in the first person as a female character, but he hits the right notes, and the result is a warm and unforced comedy... Gayle's humour is human and he has a fine eye for the quiet pain of unrequited love.' (Telegraph )

'What I love about Mike Gayle is the way he seamlessly blends humour and sensitivity - his books are always rip-roaringly funny, yet so humane too.' (Freya North )

About the Author
Previously an Agony Uncle, Mike Gayle is a freelance journalist who has contributed to a variety of magazines including FHM, Sunday Times Style and Cosmopolitan. He is the author of seven previous bestselling novels.

Customer Reviews

Fantastic like the rest
I am no avid reader but fortunately I have read all of Mike Gayle's books and i can say ive loved every single one of them. They are not just a girlie read but equally a man's read too. His writing lets you in to a mans world and way of thinking (If only i could meet one of his characters from his books,they seem my perfect match!!!).
This book however did something that none of the others have, it made me cry,(Not an attractive look on your flight home from holiday). Excellent read, excellent characters and an author that can relate to a touching thirty singleton!

Gayle's is fanstastic
Gayle should seriously consider the idea of writing a screenplay. The Life and Soul of the Party perfectly fits the bill. The novel is compelling, emotional and really witty. A screenplay like this will make perfect TV material and attract large audience. We could really could do with quality dramas on mainstream TV.

The novel is beautifully written with the prinicpal focus on three couples. The couples experience the lows and high times of the year. Parties, social gatherings, nightouts and arguments dominate their lives. A few of the couples's life are on the verge of changing forever. Although Gayle novels are purely male dominated, he has provided a typical accounts of the opposite sex on life. The accounts are really impressive and an accurate reflection. Gayle's latest novel shows the depth of knowledge he has in the field of relationships and the 30 age group. The novel has taken the issue of relationship to a new and interesting level.

Gayle's conversational writing adds real credibility as the reader is drawn closely to the story and shows emphaty to the characters. The fact that six characters are featured shows how adaptable and original the author can be like. Gayle latest novel "The Life and Soul of the Party" shows he is a fanstastic writer as the book is enjoyable to read. It provides a fine combination of drama and humour.

Subtley tugs the heartstrings...
This is Mike Gayle at his best... a writing style that is humorous without trying too hard, always touching (I can't count how many times I got goosebumps or had tears in my eyes) and very easy to relate to, especially if you have a mixed group of friends.

It is written in first person but from the point of view of every character, which works well, and will therefore appeal to both sexes even more than is usually the case with Mike's novels.

Overall, a more serious mood throughout the book - and a more mature version of his previous work.

Wanted to savour this book, but I really couldn't put it down. You are gripped from the very first page. Definitely a new competitor for my favourite Mike Gayle book!