I love the people in this book. They are great !! (One-Hit Wonder - Lisa Jewell)

Name: trussellp

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Product:	One-Hit Wonder - Lisa Jewell
Date:	09/03/02 (30 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: keeps you hooked

Disadvantages: none!!

The events in Lisa Jewell’s latest novel, "One Hit Wonder", begin with the death of one time pop star and media darling Bee Bearhorn, who has been found dead in a seedy rented flat in a not terribly nice area of London. Having cut herself off from her family after a fierce argument at her father ’s funeral, no-one realises Bee is dead for four days, until a neighbour becomes worried and calls the landlord.

Ana Wills is Bee’s unsophisticated and much younger half-sister. Both Bee’s and Ana’s fathers are dead, and their agoraphobic mother sends Ana to clear the flat and sort out Bee’s possessions. "One Hit Wonder" charts Ana’s transformation from mother-dominated country girl to mature urban chick as she joins Flint and Lol, two of Bee’s friends, in discovering why Bee died. As the three retrace the weeks and years of Bee’s life before her death, Lisa Jewell gradually adjusts the reader’s perception of all the main characters and shows how much people’s public faces differ from their inner selves.

I have definitely enjoyed reading this book although my overall impressions of it have been rather mixed. At first "One Hit Wonder" appears to be a rather modern ‘whodunnit’ - complete with victim, witnesses, investigators and mysterious loose ends that need to be understood. It isn’t quite. "One Hit Wonder" also seems about to follow the romantic comedy path of Lisa Jewell’s second novel "Thirtynothing" . Again the promise is there. The wonderful group of characters, all of whom have some way of catching the reader’s attention, and the developing relationship between Flint and Ana despite everything Ana’s new friends can say to dissuade her, breathe life and excitement into the first half of the book. Then, subtly, the whole mood changes. By the end of the final chapter "One Hit Wonder" has turned
into a big-time tear jerker. All the sadness and futility of Bee’s short life hit home as Ana arranges a memorial service for her sister. You are left with so many questions about Lisa Jewell’s characters. Why did Ana’s father stay with her cruel, neurotic, selfish mother until the day he died? Why should the ‘lovely Mr. Redwood’ have proposed to Bee and Ana’s mother when he knew what he was taking on? Above all, given the terrible secret in her past, how did Bee avoid death for so long?

Best selling novelist Lisa Jewell was born in London in 1968. She still lives there with her husband and cat. Her first novel "Ralph’s Party" was begun as the result of a bet with a friend. "One Hit Wonder" is Lisa’s third novel. I love the people in this book. There are no cardboard characters, every one of them jumps from the page and demands attention. I found the various twists and strands of the subplots held my attention and pulled me on into the story. Will you enjoy it? Probably - but the only way to find out is to read it!

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