A blockbuster for sub-zero temperatures (French Relations - Fiona Walker)

Member Name: sweet_decline

Product:	French Relations - Fiona Walker
Date:	08/01/09 (120 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Thoroughly absorbing, rollicking read

Disadvantages: A little predictable and formulaic

"A sizzling summer read" promises the quote on the front of this novel. Well, the temperatures of late have been far from sizzling, but this book proved the perfect antidote to the winter blues. As a late Christmas present, I was given it on New Year's Day after saying how much I'd enjoyed another book by this author. I finished it within four days - huddled in front of the fire, eeking out the last of the winter break before the dreaded return to the office.

Allowing pure escapism into a world where men are handsome and noble, and dreams really do come true, the book rattles along at a good pace as it documents a family holiday in France - but this family is far from average!

Tash French plays the part of our typical chick lit heroine - unlucky in love, unfashionable, overshadowed by her glamorous family, and terribly unsure of herself. Why do chick lit heroines invariably fit this description anyway? Is it because we are all secretly insecure and think: 'well, if this woman can get her happily-ever-after, maybe we all can'?

Invited to her mother's home in the Loire valley for the summer, Tash joins an assorted collection of eccentric family members and hangers on for a holiday of sun and horse riding... with a does of partner-swapping thrown in for good measure. There are a lot of characters, some more fully developed than others, and I did find myself flicking back to remember who some of them (particularly the children and local residents) were and how they related to the main protagonists.

The dialogue between the characters is what really makes this novel so engaging. Just about everyone has a secret agenda, and lots of comments are veiled hints and witty quips. Does anyone ever say these things in the real world? Oh, to be able to come up with such sparkling wit and devastating put downs in an instant, and not three hours later...

Much of the plot is quite predictable and formulaic. I actually made notes about how I thought the book would end once I was a few chapters in - and I was largely proven right, but there was the odd unexpected twist that I didn't see coming, which was enough to keep me turning the pages. Some of the parallels with Jilly Cooper novels were a bit too much at times, a bit more originality would not go amiss. As the novel was published in 1994, some of the fashion references are now woefully outdated, but this did not detract from the story as a whole.

As a bit of a horsey geek, I must point out that the horse sub-plot was a big factor in aiding my enjoyment of the novel. However, some of the factual inaccuracies would be rather grating to those with plenty of equestrian experience. The idea that someone can win a one-day event despite jumping the wrong fences on the cross-country is ludicrous, as those of us who have been eliminated for such an error know only too well.

Despite these reservations, the novel paints a wonderful picture of a world, and people, we wish could exist... and we finish with the sad conclusion that it is all just make-believe.

Summary: Great fun but no great work of literature