Anna Maxted

The first thing I noticed about Rich Again by Anna Maxted was that Sasha Blake already published it as Betrayal. The fact that the publishers changed the title it and are reselling it under a better known author’s name made me leery. Although that didn’t sit well with me, I still liked the book even though it took me 75 pages to begin to enjoy it. The beginning was slow and the characters unlikeable. The book opened with Emily, a spoiled British teenager living on her own in L.A., and show more Claudia, her boring stepsister. When the characters’ sinister natures and their ensuing dramas started to unfold, the book finally got interesting. The only character to root for was Claudia. The book was a mix of chick lit and revenge tale. What I didn’t like about the book was the constant change between locations and time frames. Many books use a split time period or change voice between two characters, but this book took it over the top, changing dates and place every few pages. It was annoying to have to go back and figure out where each passage was supposed to fit in on the timeline of events. Rich Again is like a Lifetime movie to me…a guilty pleasure that I enjoyed, but that many people won’t. show less

Boken handlar om Natalie. En kvinna strax under 30 som har vuxit upp med en dominerande mamma sedan pappan hittat en yngre kvinna. Natalie har ingen egen självkänsla överhuvudtaget. Hon lever genom andra människor - sin mamma, sin bästis Natalie, tillfälliga pojkvänner etc. Hon kan inte säga ifrån, hon kan inte säga sin mening, hon kan knappt ens tänka själv känns det som.

Natalie visar sig ha anorexia/bulimi kombinerat med en släng av att vara pedantisk när det gäller hus och show more hem. show less

#54, 2004

I received this as a manuscript from Harper Collins' "First Look" program. What a fantastic read! It's chick lit, more Jane Green than Helen Fielding, but I enjoyed it more than any of Green's books (and I've read them all, save the newest one). The main character is flawed but definitely loveable, and is able to see through her flaws to great degree, and laugh at herself. What I loved about this book that seems to be often lacking in this genre is a sense that the main character show more has really, substantively, *changed* over the course of the book. It's not just about her "getting her man," (and maybe losing weight or getting a makeover to do so), but we see her face some deep emotional issues from her past, and it's very clear that she really has grown and changed after she struggles through. Maybe I'm not being fair to say this is missing in other books, but I got a very strong sense of it in this one. This might be because I could relate to some of her issues (particularly with intimacy; although the circumstances of her childhood were not particularly similar to mine), and I felt the book went far deeper into exploring these issues and feelings than most books of this type tend to do. At the end of the books, she's stronger and has learned some valuable things about herself and her family, and I finished this book feeling very satisfied. It was funny and touching and smart. I would highly recommend this book to anyone who enjoys chick lit - it's undoubtedly the best in the genre I've ever read. show less

Diabolical characters fill the pages of Anna Maxted's Rich Again (originally published pseudonymously in Great Britain). At the beginning, it is nearly impossible to feel sympathy for any of the characters; but Maxted does an incredible job of making at least the Kent daughters somewhat likable as the family's past is explored. Furthermore, the characters are clearly not meant to be rooted for; instead one feels some of the horrors that befall them are much deserved. Another area where show more Maxted excels in Rich Again is in the way she drops little hints that leave the reader thinking a horrified, "Oh my god," as the pieces begin to fall together. show less