A Modern Novel For A Modern Woman (Playing Away - Adele Parks)

Member Name: karenuk

Product:	Playing Away - Adele Parks
Date:	02/01/01 (41 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: an easy read, good writing, good supporting characters

Disadvantages: disappointing, annoying main character, becomes tedious and predictable

I had been told by two friends that this was the best book they had ever read, so I was excited to see this in the library and borrow it. Unfortunately, it didn't live up to the hype.

The cover boasts that reading the book will be the closest you will get to having an affair, without actually having one. I don't think so.

The plot is about a successful woman called Connie, who has a good career, lives a very nice life and is recently married to Luke. We see her life, her job, her friends and everything seems rosy.

Then she goes away to a conference with her work and sees a man from her firm, who is called John and is drop dead gorgeous. They talk, flirt and an affair begins.

The majority of the book deals with their affair, her friends' reactions as she tells them and, inevitably, what happens to her marriage.

I found Connie irritating after a while and it all became rather tedious. However, Adele Parks' writing style is okay, she could well write excellent novels in the future, but this is not one. She writes the other characters really well, so that Connie and Luke's friends come across as real and interesting. Often much more so than Connie.

A pleasant enough novel, ideal for a lazy weekend away somewhere. But no great classic, sorry.

Summary: