Womb with a view! (Babyville - Jane Green)

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Product:	Babyville - Jane Green
Date:	20/04/02 (8 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Funny

Disadvantages: Predictable?

I keep looking at toddlers and finding myself with this sickly grin on my face. Is it my biological clock ticking and if so can I put it on sleep? So maybe I shouldn’t have decided to read Babyville by Jane Green.

It’s been a long time since I last ventured into the realms of ‘chick lit’. Babyville tells the story of two couples. Mark and Julia and Chris and Sam. Julia and Mark are trying desperately to have a baby. Chris and Sam are having one. Sounds like a simple enough idea, but Green throws in a few colourful characters and it all gets interesting.

Julia is aching with her need for a child with ‘Too Good To Be True And In Love With You’ Mark. She’s a TV Executive and he’s a lawyer. They live in a house as big and empty as their relationship.

Sam is a graphic designer growing ever rotund with expectation. She simply can’t wait for her child.

Both women learn that things do not always go according to plan.

Green splits the book between these two characters and Maeve, the ambitious redhead who takes over Julia’s job when she is forced into taking a sabbatical.

In fact, I would go as far as to say that Sam and Maeve are featured in a far more substantial set of storylines than Julia, who is almost glossed over with piecemeal mentions.

Green deals with the subject matter, that of being a woman, rather than being just a mother , swimmingly. Her characterization is fairly insightful and humourous, but the plots themselves are somewhat predictable to say the least. I wouldn’t be surprised to see Hugh Grant cast as the sickly sweet Mark Simpson.

I did enjoy this book , simply as a form of escapism, but once again struggled to come to terms with end.

Sam’s story was perhaps the most realistic plot of the three, but the motherhood angst vibe has been played to death by Bernice off Emmerdale et al. Also the way in which
the plot of her crush on Dan unfolds is more than a little trite.

Whereas, Jules and Maeve simply accomplish what many a ‘chick lit’ book has done before . They leave you with a wistful ‘Ah’ and no biscuits left by the last line.

Babyville is recommended for those who want some candyfloss reading when there is nothing on television. Alternatively, sit in the garden and escape for a few hours.

I will be catching up with my COF very soon after my absence.

Thanks for the read. Jo

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