Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #1369296 in Books
• Published on: 2006-06-19
• Original language: English
• Binding: Paperback
• 246 pages

Synopsis
Angie Howard has one ambition - to escape from her home in the idyllic Essex countryside and set up her own cafe in London. Once there, she seeks out her long-lost Uncle John, whose lifestyle is not at all what she expected. Before she can achieve her goal, she has to juggle the needs of a glamorous French waiter, a grouchy German chef and her exuberant, transvestite uncle. What's more, if she manages to keep the lid on all that, what will she do about the other hidden secrets of her family?

Customer Reviews

Mad, bad and dangerous to know.
'Mad, bad and dangerous to know' was Lady Caroline Lamb's assessment of Lord Byron, but it might equally apply to Angie's Uncle John. Owner operator of one of the wildest clubs in Muswell Hill he opens Angies's eyes to a whole different world from the one she is used to.

In keeping with it's title Anne Brooke's novel is a joyous and frothy romp in which an innocent girl from Essex runs away from home only to run into a North London gay club.

As an innocent abroad Angie makes quite a few unexpected discoveries, but also, ultimately finds her feet.

Heady stuff!
Pink Champagne and Apple Juice is a rollicking roller-coaster of a ride from the moment we first encounter Angie, legging it along Platform One, her mother in hot pursuit. She just makes it onto the train to the big city, leaving her mum "either gesticulating or waving" on the platform. "`There, I've done it,' she said to herself. `I've finally left home.' It was only then she realized she'd forgotten to pack any knickers."

The knickers turn up again - in fact knickers both actual and metaphorical pop up (and down) fairly frequently before the end of the story. All the ingredients needed for a few hours escape from mundanity are here: there's John, Angie's transvestite uncle, concealing more than his sexuality beneath the paint and feathers; a gorgeous French waiter called Phillippe; Heinrich, an intimidating German chef and the colourful staff and clientele of The Den Nightclub, as well as Angie herself, trying her wings for size and creating chaos in the process. But nothing and nobody in this novel, except possibly Angie herself, are quite what they seem. There are lessons to be learned, family secrets to be uncovered and a way to be made in the big wide world that's so different from the quiet Essex village she's abandoned.

The writing carried me along at a cracking pace, and I laughed aloud more than once. Anne Brooke makes it look so easy. An enjoyable and light-hearted read and the perfect holiday novel or pick-me-up for a grey day. I couldn't put it down and finished it in a single sitting. Pure escapism!

Classic Characters
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Pink Champagne and Apple Juice is a book full of larger than life, intriguing characters. Anne B. has the capacity to create the kind of bizarre characters that have such a unique flavour they will,I'm sure, enter the realm of classic characters.
I loved the flamboyant "Uncle John" and the moody Heinrich who turns out to be pure gold in the end. I warmed to the kind of philosophy that lies behind much of Anne's writing and which encourages us to be whatever we want to be, to be that bravely and spiritedly, and to be damned to what others think.