Flying Under Bridges

[chokes] My God this is good. Fiction about a housewife whose life goes through some massive changes. Not what you might expect and I cannot do justice to how very witty I found this.

'What shall I do, Kate?' she said out loud.
'Quit and have a life,' replied Kate from behind her closed eyes.
'I thought you were asleep.'
'No, I merely lie dormant waiting to plague you.'
'Good.'

Eve knew she had never been good-looking. That the nearest she had ever got to being a femme fatale was being involved in a really serious car crash.

I am going to force this on many people so start bracing yourselves now if you want to.

Right from the off, we know that Eve is in prison for killing her daughter's fiance on her wedding day. Eve is married to Adam in the town of Edenford, all of a sudden, she realises she is not satisfied with being Mrs. Adam X or Shirley's mother. Somewhere along the way she has lost herself and the arrival of her now famous childhood friend helps her to reevaluate her life, starting with buying some comfy trainers.

As with Toksvig's other book, this is very funny at times, she is almost too good an observer of everyday British life. The book also deals with other issues, such as sexuality, religion, women's lib. The book draws you closer as the plot darkens, and I was sorry to see it end, though glad for the resolution and answers.

This is a laugh-out-loud grotesque farce and at the same time absolute fact, describing the reality of life in a way it would not be possible without the comedic lense of the superbly talented author.
I have not read anybody on this subject who was this honest.

Very funny and wryly observant, but a bit like Maeve Binchy for Guardian readers. Which is fine if that's what you're after.

Quite amusing -- though is anyone really that unaware of feminism?

Although billed as a comic novel, I did not find it uproariously funny. In fact, it was very sad and poignant too.

As a holiday read, I enjoyed it