My Favourite Wife

I bought this from a supermarket ('nuff said) as I'd run out of reading material, and if I was being unkind I'd say I'd have been better off reading the back of a cereal packet. To be honest, the book doesn't stand a chance really. The protagonist is a lawyer, so Parsons has an uphill battle getting any sort of empathy going anyway, and it just feels tired and forced. It wasn't even really easy reading guilty pleasure material, though somewhat bizarrely featured adverts for bars of chocolate near the back.

I've enjoyed a couple of Parson's previous books (Man and Boy and Stories We Could Tell), but this story of a lawyer seeking his fortune in China, and becoming torn between his wife and a Chinese girl just doesn't work on any level. show more The writing often read like a Parsons pastiche, the characters were one dimensional, and the story took a laughable turn during a typoon. I've given it two stars as I did make it do the end, but I wouldn't really recommend this one, even if you have enjoyed previous Parsons books. show less

Izuzetna priča o seksu, ljubavnim borbama i drugim suprugama, iz pera autora svetskog bestselera Čovek i dečak.

Uspešni mladi londonski advokat Bil Holden i njegova žena Beka sele se s četvorogodišnjom kćerkicom u Šangaj. To je grad u usponu, novo središte zlatne groznice, grad prilika i iskušenja, gde se burno stvara bogatstvo i raspadaju brakovi. Bilova advokatska firma smešta porodicu Holden u Rajsko naselje – raskošan stambeni blok pun „drugih supruga“ – prelepih devojaka koje izdržavaju bogati tuđi muževi, kakva je i Ðinđin Li, bivša nastavnica zaljubljena u ukrštene reči i klizaljke. Posle jednog strašnog događaja Beka i Holi vraćaju se u London – a Bil i Ðinđin se zbližavaju. Bil želi da bude show more bolji čovek od milionera koji izdržava Ðinđin Li kao drugu suprugu. Bolji od svakog muškarca koji vara svoju ženu. Beka je njegov najbolji prijatelj. Ali na kraju, može li on Ðinđin dati nešto drugačije – može li joj pružiti ljubav koju zaslužuje? I može li istovremeno voleti i svoju ženu?

Moja omiljena supruga je priča o muškarcu i ženi našeg doba, o njihovim borbama, radostima i skrivenim čežnjama. Iznad svega, to je knjiga o tome gde prestaju seks, pustolovina i opsesije, a počinje istinska ljubav. show less

I chose to read this because I have enjoyed Tony Parson's previous books. This is the story of Bill, a young lawyer who moves to Shanghai with his wife and child for a better life. Bill inadvertently gets involved with a Chinese woman and ultimately the saga is about the agonies of having an extra marital affair, loving two women at the same time and the angst of what he should do. He goes to extraordinary heroic lengths to come up smelling of roses.
I did not warm to Bill as the main character and ultimately did not enjoy reading the book. Shanghai is painted as seedy and unpleasant with very few redeeming features. Apart from one female lawyer colleague all the other Chinese female characters are prostitutes or kept women and we are show more lead to believe that Bill gets to know them, sees past the veneer of their 'working' lives, defends them stoically while his other male colleagues just get stuck in. It's almost misogynistic leaving an unpleasant taste in the mouth.
His wife, Becca is saintly and forgiving, painted as the perfect woman as is the mistress Jin Jin Li. Explanations as to why Becca left Shanghai to return home are glossed over and an affair with a doctor who just happens to be in the right place is only hinted at. 'Touching faces with fingertips' was an irritatingly overused phrase.
The book gives us some useful insight into the rapid societal changes taking place in China, it highlights the evident social inequalities and helps us understand some of their customs.
Ultimately I think Bill and Becca are not believable characters to me and I was disappointed. I would be very interested to read what others think. show less

Extremely superficial novel, perhaps in its superficiality an excellent depiction of expat life in China. The description of expat life in China is excellent.

Have read a few of his books, and find them lightly entertaining fast reads. I had mixed feelings about this book though. The characters were not particularly endearing, I found the whole question of whether a person can love two partners/wives fascinating but ultimately I found the story line so biased towards him wanting to do the right thing for the underdog (Jin-Jin) that the ending was unbeleivable to me. A character as strong as his wife would not have accepted it.....

I loved this book. Despite the exotic location I found the characters very believable. In fact I identified so strongly with Becca and the situation she found herself in that I was reduced to tears.

Very disappointing, I like the author's work generally but found the lead character in this novel weak (in several ways) and the plot wasn't convincing.