Young Wives' Tales - Adele Parks

I loved this book. Written from several points of view, you really get to know each character. Rose is the mother of twin boys, who feels that her 'happy ever after' was stolen by her husbands new wife. She is often portrayed as a victim for the first few chapters, but throughout the book she manages to rediscover herself and without spoiling the ending, by the end you are really happy for her. Lucy, on the other hand, is enviable for her job and her lifestyle. She then starts to reveal her feelings on her life, and you see that she was immensely jealous of Rose and Peter, and she doesn't feel that her life is a good as it should be. Her chapters are written in a ...  Read the complete review

I suppose the hallmark of a good book is that you find yourself thinking about it after you read it, as opposed to just letting it slip through your consciousness. I read this on the coach from Brussels to London a couple of weeks ago; at the time I wasn't sure that it was particularly good but I'm still thinking about it. Rose is dull. She was once married, six years ago and is a mother to twin boys. The first thing that strikes the reader is her total lack of identity other than as a mother and a divorcee. In her two dimensional world, she struggles to accept the fact that Peter has divorced her, battles her children trying to keep them as babies rather than ...  Read the complete review

I have just finished reading Young Wive's Tales by Adele Parks. She has written a number of books which I have enjoyed and this latest was just as good. It's also quite light reading and as there are some times when I don't want to have to tax my brain too much, it is an ideal read for those occasions. I was attracted by the title which is obviously a different take on the expression 'old wives' tales'! It was interesting as I read it though to note that the story is actually told by three different people of which only one could be classed as a 'young wife' The three story tellers are Rose (a divorcee who was once married to Peter), Lucy (who is married to ...  Read the complete review