A Desirable Residence

This book, though not what I expected, was quite a good read. Despite the fluffy description on the flap, this book is actually a very frank and serious look at relationships, love, and betrayal. Wickham does a marvelous job with these characters, though it is upsetting how very irresponsible almost all of the adults are throughout the novel. Fourteen year-old Alice was particularly well-drawn; the pain of her adolescent experience reached off the page to grab me. Her conflicted feelings about the adults in her life (she loves her parents while simultaneuously writhing inside when confronted by their eccentricities) rang very true and helped make her character so honest and poignant. All in all, an impressive offering from an author show more usually associated with chick-lit. show less

Liz and Jonathan Chambers are homeowners up to their eyeballs in money troubles, scrambling to pay both the mortgage on their Russell Street house and the loan against a local tutorial college they've purchased. When their bills reach towering heights, they're forced to take action -- and must move with their rebellious 14-year-old, Alice, to a small flat above the school they run. Scared by the turn of events, Jonathan and Liz approach Marcus Witherstone, a real estate agent, about how to handle the mess their unsold home is bringing them, and he makes a proposition: lease it out.

The new tenants are Ginny and Piers, a fashionable couple from London seeking to escape the hustle-and-bustle of the city as they wait for Piers' acting show more prospects to finally pan out. With their friend Duncan, they arrive in Silchester to rent the Russell Street property -- and soon meet Alice, who frequently sneaks into her old garage to smoke clandestine cigarettes. While that treachery is happening, Liz finds herself in a precarious situation, too . . . with Marcus. As kind, well-meaning Jonathan is left to solve their financial troubles and Marcus's wife, Althea, becomes obsessed with getting their eldest son a fabulous scholarship, Liz and Marcus' lies begin to stack up neatly . . . and then become frayed at the edges, threatening to destroy everything.

As much as I became initially engaged in Madeleine Wickham's A Desirable Residence, all the attraction here is centered on unlikeable, misanthropic people finally getting their just desserts in the end. From scheming, bored Marcus to ungrateful, uncharitable Liz, I struggled to find one character with whom connect in this British novel.

Bratty Alice couldn't have been more unjust to Jonathan, her bumbling but sweet father, and more than once in the book I found myself wanting to reach in and slap her. She's a self-absorbed teenager, yes, and I could respect the fact that her behavior was realistic, but who wants to spend 293 pages reading about a rude, deluded 14-year-old? As she began forcing her presence on Ginny, Piers and Duncan, I became more and more agitated. Couldn't she see she wasn't wanted? That she was intruding? That she was annoying? Even if the new residents of her old house didn't feel that way, I certainly did.

What could have saved this book from becoming a soulless mess was a dash of humor, warmth or humanity. Demonstrating some growth. Some maturity. Some sincerity. And though I did find myself smiling inwardly toward the end at an unexpected turn of events, for the most part? The bad people stayed bad. The selfish people stayed selfish. Marcus redeemed himself slightly in my eyes, but Liz -- Liz, one of our central characters -- didn't get what she deserved. I wanted a blow-out, a reckoning . . . I wanted an epic battle complete with tears and divulsions. But I was disappointed.

Wickham is better known to most of us as Sophie Kinsella, the nom de plume under which she wrote the best-selling Shopaholic series. While her writing is fluid and enjoyable, her characters -- the anchors of any story -- were terrible. You won't find me complaining about any "distance" between myself and these people, because I definitely felt like I got to know them through the course of A Desirable Residence. The real question is would I actually want to know them?

And the answer to that is, of course, a resounding no.

With so much great women's fiction and chick lit out there just waiting to be devoured, I can't recommend this one. It was boring, lifeless and grating -- though I did manage to finish it, so I guess that says something . . . mostly about the quality of Wickham's writing, which was fast-paced and readable. I didn't hate it -- but didn't love it, either. For good British chick lit, look no further than Jill Mansell -- and don't waste your time reading mediocre books. show less

When Liz and Jonathan put their family home on the market and it fails to sell, the real estate agent suggests renting it out for a while, until the market picks up. What follows is a tangled mess of dreams, schemes, and liaisons between three families: the owners, the agents, and the tenants.

Ugh, these characters! They were well-developed, but I didn't like any of them (well, there was one who was tolerable, I suppose). By the end of the book, I kind of wanted to see them all get their comeuppance.

As a long time fan of Kinsella/Wickham books, I must say that I am pleasantly pleased with her newest novel! After my initial gobbling down of her Shopaholic novels, I lost interest in this successful writer's other works (although I think I've read them all). Wickham's latest novel seems slightly darker than her older "chick-lit" works, but it still shines with subtle humor and a slew of complex, interesting characters. I was quickly pulled into the private and tumultuous world of the Chambers family, and couldn't let go!
The most fascinating thing about this novel's cast of characters is that they're all, well, ROTTEN. Alright, that may be a bit of an overstatement. Truly though, each of Wickham's characters carries around a bit of show more black in their hearts and minds, and readers are taken along for the ride while each character wrestles with their guilt and fears before somehow acting upon their problems in a large way(excluding Jon Chambers, the charming, ultimate Mr. Nice Guy).
Reading A Desirable Residence was a treat, and my interest in Wickham's works is rekindled! I'll be sure to suggest this novel and others to friends and fellow readers! show less

Madeline Wickham (aka Sophie Kinsella) writes British chick lit well. This book follows a house and all the lives it touches and how they intersect. There was better character development in this novel than in some of Wickham's other work. One character stood out above the rest as the quiet hero and I found myself rooting for him through the second half of the book.

Food: those mini beef wellington appetizers, the kind that you have at weddings during cocktail hour when they pass around the hot apps on trays. There's a good balance of meat and airy pastry. It's not what you want to eat for your whole meal, but it takes the edge off before dinner.

I am a big fan of Madeleine Wickham/Sophie Kinsella and was very excited to receive this boos as part of the Early Reviewers. As always, the characters are very well developed and pull you into the story with both hands. In 'a desirable residence' one house pulls together three unfamiliar families and lets us peer in the windows while the three families open doors to friendship, infidelity, opportunity, happiness, sadness, and even greed. Wickham held my attention throughout with another very entertaining story that kept adding layers until the impending doom finally came. While not my favorite Wickham novel, it was certainly entertaining.

That ending ohmygosh I'm laughing out loud. This was more HOLE WE'RE INish than I expected and far less Kinsella-ey. Enjoyable if a bit cringey in places.