Product Description

Hannah thinks you have to be insane to get married. She's content with her life - the job as private investigator at Hound Dog Investigations, the boyfriend of five years, Jason, and the wonderful father (pity her mother is such a disaster). Besides, she's tried marriage once before, but she ended up divorced before she was 21. So, when the long-suffering Jason proposes, Hannah doesn't think twice about turning him down. Still, she is a little shaken when, a month later, the man has the nerve to get engaged to someone else. Is she not up to settling down? Hannah's family are convinced she blew her one chance of hooking a permanent man, and maybe - just maybe - there's something in Jason's theory that being committed means first coming to terms with your past. Brimming with the warmth, perception and understanding that characterises Anna Maxted's writing, "Being Committed" mixes heartache with humour and is her finest novel yet.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #470406 in Books
• Published on: 2004-06-03
• Original language: English
• Binding: Hardcover
• 374 pages

Amazon.co.uk Review
Do you have to be crazy to get married? Anna Maxted’s heroine Hannah in Being Committed certainly does--and she’s in no hurry to change her mind. Why should she? She’s got the perfect life (as she sees it); in particular, she has a very interesting job: she’s a private investigator for the quaintly-named Hound Dog Investigations, involved in tricky but satisfyingly challenging cases. There's her supportive father (who more than makes up for her less appealing mother). And there’s her long-term boyfriend Jason: her five-year relationship with him is another comforting factor in her status quo. Then Jason proposes--and, without hesitation, Hannah say no--why rock the boat? But the boat is definitely rocked for her when Jason decides, shortly after, to get engaged to another woman. Her father thinks she’s let a good thing pass her by. And Hannah realises its time to coolly take stock of her life--and what she wants from it.

In both Getting Over It and Behaving Like Adults, Anna Maxted made her mark as a novelist of humour, humanity and insight; her skill with plotting is matched with a talent for realising the individual personalities of her characters with maximum vividness. That’s very much the case in Being Committed, with Hannah the perfect heroine--even though the reader may want to shout at her at times. If Hound Dog Investigations is unlike any detective agency that ever existed on this planet, it’s hardly a problem: every other detail in this delightful and funny novel rings absolutely true.--Barry Forshaw

B Magazine, April 2004
'Impossible to put down'

Cosmopolitan, June 2004
*****

Customer Reviews

better than 'behaving like adults'
Read this book after reading 'behaving like adults' by Anna, and have to say this is much better! I found behaving like adults a bit to dark and unsettling to be honest, but this is brilliant! At times I couldn't wait to read what happened! I very nearly skipped to the end, but didn't want to ruin it.
Some of the storyline is obvious right from the beginning, but other bits are complete twists and keep surprising you!
Overall this is a good read which will keep you up late into the night to find out what happens! Enjoy!

A long read...
I picked up this book for a second time recently after having tried once before to drum up interest. This time around I did finish it, but what a long read! The main character is opinionated and not very likeable. Half the time you can't wait until someone will finally tell her a thing or two about life and relationships. For the first few chapters the author can't seem to stick to the plot and keeps going off on narratory paths that have little to do with what is going on. Then she has a hard time coming back to the point. It gets a bit better after a while but then at the end you have to plough through pages of psycho-babble, in dialogues. Real people don't live most of their lives in one mind-set and then after a bit of new information willingly throw it all over board and then explain the new version of opinion like soap stars with a short script. There are plenty of books of the genre that are more entertaining, sorry.

Rather Disappointing
Having enjoyed all of Anna Maxted's previous novels, it was with great anticipation that I began to read Being Committed. From the first few chapters I was disappointed. I found the main female character difficult to connect to. I felt she was unlikable and she didn't learn from any of the trials being set before her. Unlike Maxted's previous main characters, I didn't feel empathy for her, or understanding for what she was going through. I couldn't help but think, "What an idiot!" as she went through similar situations over and over. I still very much enjoy Anna Maxted's books, but just wasn't as fond of this one.