| Product: |
Calling on Lily - Louise Harwood |
| Date: |
14/10/06 (105 review reads) |
| Rating: |
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Advantages: Good read for days when concentration is limited.
Disadvantages: Think the male characters could have had more depth.
Every once in a while, we all need light reading. For me, the reason for reading this book is that I had a period of illness where concentration on harder books was really not possible. I always keep a book like this up my sleeve for just such an occasion. Although people write off light soap-sud literature, it really does have its place, and given the right circumstances for a read like this, is value for money. I get irritated by television a lot of the time and this book promised from its cover to be a fun book, hearts and slapstick writing gave me the impression it was a modern read.
Louise Harwood has written quite a few books since this first attempt and I shall certainly be looking out for more of her work, since writers develop and the basic style is there. What seemed to be lacking was experience in putting the story together, though that comes with practice. Here, we have the story of Lily and Kirsty, friends that live in the small town of Welshpool, and who look for adventure. Overhearing a conversation between lads, they discover that the lads are about to hi-jack the marriage of their friend, because they feel he is making a huge mistake. What they had not counted on was the determination of Kirsty and Lily to put things right. Giving away much more than that would spoil the story, although it's a nice gentle, flowing story, comfortably predictable in places, though enjoyable none the less.
It touches on characters personalities and why they react in certain ways based on their past experiences, and the relationship between the characters is realistic and readable. I actually thought that the age range that this book was aimed at would be anything between 18 (young with romantic ideals) to 30, although I am older than this and although I enjoyed it, felt it was targetting a younger readership.
I liked the relationship between Lily and her sister, Grace. There was a sense of loyalty, but what was demonstrated clearly is something I have in fact experienced in my own life, how sisters see things so very differently from each other, and how misunderstandings arise through good intention. The characters of the lads were a little obscure and perhaps could have been given more depth, especially the lad whose marriage is about to be messed up by his friends, since his reactions were not well described or detailed enough to make the character interesting to me. As for the proposed wife, well she comes over as shallow and not at all likeable.
Would I read any more of this lady's work ? Yes. I believe so. “Lucy Blue Where are you” by the same author looks like it could be right up my street, a little heavier in detail than this one, although her other offerings look rather weak and too much in the genre of chic lit to be of interest to me. I am always interested to see how a writer develops after their initial book, and look forward to the next book, since it certainly looks deeper and better etched.
As for this one, would I suggest you buy it ? At the second hand price on Amazon of 4.00 GBP, I don't think you can go far wrong, and it makes a good book for those days when concentration is at an ebb, and you want a light read that doesn't tax the mind. I wouldn't class it as literature, although there is definitely a market for books of this nature that have a story to tell.
Paperback: 368 pages
Publisher: Pan (19 Jul 2002)
Language English
ISBN: 0330486136
Summary: A not bad first attempt for this novelist.
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