Life Swap

Really enjoyed this and totally admire any author who manages to pull off both American and English characters, in American and English settings. I was on the look out for slip-ups and found hardly any.
However, something about the pace felt a little off: a large proportion of the book was spent preparing for the swap, then comparatively little in the swap itself and aftermath. I think "thirds" would have been a better division.
Also worth mentioning is that I wasn't sure what direction the romantic story lines would take: the author did, in fact, take my 'best guess' approach, but it wasn't a dead certainty, which I liked.
I'll be happy to read other books by Jane Green.

Is the grass always greener on the other side? In this witty comedy, two women question whether their lifestyle is truly what they want. On one side of the world, Vicky is living the single life dream; features director of POISE magazine, no obligations to a husband or children, unless you count her cat Eartha, is free to do what she wants whenever she wants. On the other side of the world you have Amber living the married dream; has the beautiful mansion (pool included), the beautiful wardrobe, the perfect husband, the children, the nanny, the housekeepers. Why is it we always want what other people have? This book just goes to show that appearances aren't everything. Things can look perfect on the outside, but inner workings are show more usually a lot more deep seeded than anyone could ever imagine. When Vicky suggests Swapping Lives, the editor of POISE thinks it's a smashing idea, and the magazine runs an add looking for women to switch lives with. Amber is one of the women to respond, and of course because she lives in America, and Vicky in London, it makes it all the more enticing to pick the American. When the women switch, it leads to epiphany after epiphany as to how their lives weren't so bad after all. If this book proves anything, it's to take care of your own grass, and not worry about what's on the other side of the fence. show less

I've read most of Green's books, and I usually enjoy her characters - they're flawed enough and normal-looking enough to be pleasantly believable. In the interest of picking nits, though: I found this particular book puzzling in its assumptions about American familiarity with certain slang terms - on at least three occasions American characters express bafflement or excitement over phrases/words such as: "I'm going to turn in now" (the american says, "huh?" and the british girl says, "go to bed." WHAT? that may well be a common british saying, but I've (um, I'm american if that's not abundantly clear) also said it myself, heard other non-brits say it, read it in books, and seen it in movies. plus the guy would have to be a moron not to show more get it from context) "shag" (maybe not the favorite term for it in America unless you're a RennFair/SCA geek, but also not a foreign language) and "don't get your knickers in a twist" (same as "shag"). Like I said, I'm picking nits, but these did all bump me out of the narrative and into a world of pique at Green's opinion of American intellect. show less

Not as good as Jemima J or Book Ends, but better than The Other Woman: I love Jane Green's books and I was a bit disappointed with The Other Woman. Swapping Lives, a selection by my book club that I actually enjoyed, was excellent.

My only real criticism is that, again, I thought Ms. Green threw a twist into the story at the end that was unnecessary and not particularly credible for the characters. In the Other Woman, it was the affair the main character's friend was having with somebody's father (I don't remember the details, but if you've read it, you know what I'm talking about). I don't want to give away the plot twist in Swapping Lives, but Amber's husband's story takes a turn that I didn't particularly buy and I think there were show more plenty of ways to inject the necessary drama at that point in the story without that particular plot twist.

However, as I said that was a pretty minor plot point and I don't think it infected the rest of the book. I'm looking forward to discussing this book with my book club, which is comprised of women who are single, married, and married with children. I think it's an excellent recommendation for book clubs who are tired of reading the books they "should" read, which might "enrich" them. This is a fairly easy read, but has some really good messages about self-esteem and happiness. show less

Two women, two different lives. One single and the Features Director of a popular women's magazine in London. The other a married, mother of two who spends time keeping up with the neighbours and raising money for charity. Both wondering if the grass is really greener on the other side.

Vicky Townsley and Amber Winslow swap lives for a one month feature being run in the magazine Vicky works for. They swap clothes, families, friends, homes, everything....except the sex. While both ending up learning areas in their life that they need to review or appreciate further both of course realise that the grass isn't greener, just different.

I enjoyed this book. It wasn't a 'can't put it down' book but I was happy to pick it up throughout the day show more and read further along. We get to know the characters, their families and their friends well enough to care about what happens but not well enough that we are reaching for the tissues.

A cute read that would be nice for the beach. show less

Swapping Lives is the story of Vickie Townsley and Amber Winslow. Vickie is the features director at Poise magazine in England and is living the life of an urban, single woman in her mid-thirties. Amber is a rich housewife in Connecticut. Amber enters and wins a contest sponsored Poise magazine to swap lives with Vickie for a month to see if the grass really is greener on the other side. Is being a single girl as carefree and fun as it seems? Is being a rich, suburban housewife less stressful than being a career gal?

This was definitely a fluffy, chick-lit book. It was entertaining to read about Amber’s McMansion and her superficial social circle of Junior League friends. At the same time, I think reading it while currently show more experiencing a horrible economy (in real life) took some of the fun out of it. Amber’s friends, and to a lesser extent Amber, are so materialistic it’s almost unbelievable. When Amber is living Vickie’s life in England, she’s incredulous that one of Vickie’s stay at home mom friends actually takes care of her two children WITHOUT A NANNY. Maybe some wealthy people really are that clueless to how regular people live but Amber’s character grew up in a trailer park so I found it hard to believe in her case.

One thing that irritated me about this book is the lack of editing of the American dialogue. This book is written by an English woman and I would think someone would check the dialogue of the American characters to make sure it’s authentic. But the American characters say things like, “He just turned up” and “I want a proper dinner”. One English character tells an American character that they are being “saucy” and the American character had never heard of that word. It’s not really a big deal but it was distracting.

This was a good book to listen to in the car – it didn’t require much deep thought but was light and fun. It would be a good summer beach read too. show less

This is the first book of Jane Green's that has come my way and it was quite enjoyable. Not an extremely literary work, it was a great diversion. Her tale of two women switching lives to discover that the grass is not always greener was a fun read, with largely believable characters. The story wasn't revolutionary or surprising, but a good read nonetheless.