Sheer Abandon

This was the second Penny Vincenzi book I've read. It certainly kept me turning the pages (I plowed through the second half of this book yesterday), but it just wasn't as exciting as "The Best of Times." The mystery was solved a bit too soon for my taste. I did like all of the characters and liked how it skipped from story to story. I think that's what Vincenzi's appeal is. All in all, I really liked it. I especially liked that most of this novel was dialogue, rather than plain narration. If you're up for a feel-good, British, girlie novel that will tug on your heart, then I certainly recommend it.

Sheer Abandon is a soap opera in print. The reader knows that the characters will all be tied together somehow by the baby abandoned in an airport in the first chapter. Tension is built throughout the story but many of the plot developments are unbelievable coincidence though not always predictable. Vincenzi creates a very British setting with tabloid journalists, a failing health care system, and a budding new political party to challenge the establishment. Very little sex and language for such a long book about so many couples. An okay read if you like over-the-top drama with a British bent.

This book could have been good. And I wanted it to be. Unfortunately, it was super freaking long, and not in a good way, like you wish books you LIKE were never ending, but in a horrible way- similar to rush hour traffic or the wait for your vacation to finally get here. During part three, I got the distinct feeling that she ended the book SEVERAL TIMES and then thought- or wait, let's add another twist!! Ugh.

I'm an admitted anglophile, so I was drawn into the narrative immediately, it just sounds so British. I could hear their accents in my head as I read. I became interested and committed to each of the main characters and their journeys to find happiness and their place in the world. Their stories keep you turning the pages almost as much as the continuing mystery surrounding the abandoned baby and who her mother will turn out to be.

Penny Vincenzi is one of my favourite authors I like her 'Lytton' historical series best but her stand alone modern novels are good too. I liked this book because of the way Vincenzi slowly pulled all of the characters closer together. I also liked they way she told the story, not the most explosive plot with quite ordinary characters but somehow made me interested in them all and the ending

A baby abandoned in Heathrow Airport in 1986... Did the teen mother grow up to be the... workaholic attorney, the shy doctor or the party animal tabloid reporter.... Very pop fiction theme... at times predictable, long (732 pages) but enjoyable overall.

Finished this book yesterday. At one time I was really wondering why I kept on reading but after posting that, 1 day ago, I knew why. This book has its very good phases and some very boring ones. I liked the last 3/4th of the book and there was one thing I did not see coming. I like to be surprised and she managed to do that after all. Of course I did figure out who the mom and dad of kate were, very soon as most of the readers did, so being surprised was a nice thing which I did not expect anymore. Overall I thought it was an OK read.