Friday, 18 September 2015

THE NEW MRS D by Heather Hill

3.5 out of 5 stars

Mature Chick Lit

On Amazon UK HERE
On Amazon.com HERE


Reviewed by me as part of Rosie Amber's Book Review Team


Bernice is on her honeymoon in Greece; it's her second marriage, and she has two grown up daughters.  The problem is that her husband, David, loves her but doesn't fancy her - several days into the holiday they still haven't had sex - he's been getting his kicks from porn websites.  Oh, and he had a picture of four of her bikini clad friends in his wallet.  Not Bernice, just her friends...


Bernice decides she can't take it any more, and will spend the rest of the holiday alone.  She meets up with David's friend Chris, an artist who lives nearby, and makes several new friends.


This is a smart, well written, lighthearted-with-serious-undertones sort of book, and I enjoyed the Greek holiday atmosphere.  I thought the whole subject of Bernice's dilemma was most interesting; her relationship with her mother that led to the low self-esteem, that led to her making a first unwise marriage, then becoming a Facebook 'friend' of the woman for whom Husband #1 left her, and, finally, marrying a man who didn't want to sleep with her.  I think many women would be able to relate to Bernice's tendency to 'people please', which in itself had a detrimental effect on her self-esteem, but I thought the story might have been better suited to a slightly edgy, contemporary drama, rather than chick lit mode, with all its zany incidents -  I do sometimes wonder if anyone's ever written a chick lit heroine who isn't ludicrously accident prone!


I was pleased that the ending wasn't predictable (I liked it alot, it made me smile!), and I thought the message of the book, about learning to love and accept yourself, was sincerely and sympathetically executed.  The whole thing was a bit too 'whoo-hoo, you go girl, let's all be sassy real women' for me (and a bit too naked), but that's only personal taste; Bernice and her new friends were believable characters and I think this book will appeal to many women.  I can imagine it being an inspiration to others caught in the low self-esteem trap; haven't most of us been there at some point?


2 comments:

  1. Nice review! This doesn't sound like my usual cup of tea, but it could be a fun read. (I enjoy chick lit, but suffer from a recurring desire to slap a little sense into the ditzy MCs...)

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    1. You might like it, then - it's most definitely well written, and the characters are fun - it's just a bit too wacky for me :)

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