Product Description

Two families, one holiday villa - who's sleeping with whom?

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #86936 in Books
• Published on: 2001-06-18
• Binding: Paperback
• 304 pages

Synopsis
Chloe's fed up of making wedding dresses and Philip has got problems at work. Hugh is not a happy man. His wife Amanda is more interested in the new kitchen than in him. They all need a holiday. Mutual friend Gerard loans each couple his villa in Spain, unfortunately it's in the same week.

From the Back Cover
Chloe needs a holiday. She's sick of making wedding dresses and her partner Philip has trouble at work. Her wealthy friend Gerard has offered the loan of his luxury villa in Spain - perfect.

Hugh is not a happy man. His immaculate wife Amanda seems more interested in the granite for the new kitchen than in him, and he works so hard to pay for it all, he barely has time for his family. But his old schoolfriend Gerard has lent them a luxury villa in Spain - perfect.

Both families arrive at the villa and get a shock: Gerard has double-booked. An uneasy week of sharing begins, and tensions soon mount in the soaring heat. But there's also a secret history between the families - and as tempers fray, an old passion begins to resurface...

About the Author
Madeleine Wickham
Madeleine Wickham was born in London. She read PPE at Oxford and published her first novel, The Tennis Party, while working as a financial journalist. Since then she has written A Desirable Residence, Swimming Pool Sunday, The Gatecrasher, The Wedding Girl, Cocktails for Three and Sleeping Arrangements, all published by Black Swan. She lives in Surrey with her husband and two small sons.

Customer Reviews

A WINSOME, WINNING ROMANCE
If you enjoyed the Shopaholic series which Wickham penned as Sophie Kinsella, you'll relish Sleeping Arrangements, the story of two couples and their coupling.

On the distaff side of one couple is Amanda, a perfectionist. She has a new kitchen which is her pride and joy. She's wed to Hugh, who labors almost 24/7 to keep her in the style she wishes. Nonetheless, Amanda always seems to find something else that needs to be bought or done. They have two young children, but Hugh feels like he's on a constant treadmill. What he needs is a respite, a vacation.

Relief comes in the form of his good friend, Gerard, who lends the couple his luxurious villa in Spain.

Chloe also needs a vacation from making wedding dresses. Her partner, Philip, has worries of his own - he's concerned that the takeover of his company may cost him his job. This once happy couple is enduring a strained relationship. You may have guessed - help comes in the form of Gerard who offers Chloe the use of his Spanish villa.

Now, leave it to Wickham - Gerard has put both couples in the villa at the same time, and Chloe and Hugh aren't strangers - he's the guy who stole her heart some years back. What a mix-up or was it?

Sparkling dialogue, likable, amusing characters, sharp wit are Wickham's trademarks, and they're all at the fore in this winsome, winning romance.

- Gail Cooke

excellent read
I bought this book after having read Sophie Kinsella's books and seeing this on inside cover.
Very good choice I made. I enjoyed this book very much. It wasn't what I expected as the title doesn't give it much credit.
A very good read. Funny and believable.

Better than the others
I find Sleeping Arrangements better than the other two books by Madeleine Wickham that I have read so far (i.e. The Wedding Girl and Swimming Pool Sunday). At least the book gets moving right from the beginning ... Don't be put off by the title or the comment on the cover ... it's not like that at all! A relatively good plot.
One little point: when the author describes a remote little Spanish village and the attitude of the locals and their level of English, I should like to know which Spanish villages she has been to! I've never seen one like that - and I've been to a lot! But that's just a minor point ...