A couple of the lovely ladies who hook up for Book Club
Fridays have reviewed books by Sophie Kinsella’s alter-writer-ego, Madeleine
Wickham, so when I saw one at my local Costco, I picked it up. Truth be told,
there were a few but this one caught my eye because I love to play tennis! And
I love parties! Needless to say, I was pretty psyched to get started on The
Tennis Party.
The story takes place at Patrick and Caroline’s country-ish mansion, over a weekend that was supposed to be centered around a tennis tournament. At first, I fell in love with the idea of collecting my friends for a two-day round-robin of my favourite sport but soon, things started to fall apart like a bad weave.
I won’t get into the intricacies of how all of the characters know each other because that would be a little spoiler-y but I will say that there were some unclear connections. Well, maybe not unclear but certainly unconvincing. Like everything was just a little too convenient to be happening, you know?
The Tennis Party is a relatively short novel – a little over 300 pages.
And, as such, there isn’t a ton of room for character development. Let alone
room to flush out all eight, and this is the novel's primary problem. The plot moves at a fairly quick pace and goes off in about a thousand different directions, which would have made for a great read if I gave a gosh-darn about the characters. Which I didn't. Boo.
There was a little bit of tension but it was drawn out to
such an extent that it became more annoying than enticing. Then, when the big
reveal finally happened – I didn’t get it! To be fair, it was a very England-specific
reference but even Google couldn’t really explain it. So, the big climax of the
plot was pretty much lost on me.
BOO!!
The only parts of the book that I really liked were the
children. There were some very touching scenes and whenever the book changed to
one of their POVs, I was sucked back in. I think it’s safe to say that if the
children hadn’t been present, I wouldn’t have finished the book.
So, in sum, I’m VERY SAD that I didn’t dig The Tennis Party. Mostly because it means my relationship with Sophie Kinsella is officially over.
*sobs*
However, Ms. Kinsella's Shopoholic books shall remain in my
glass-doored bookcases because they’re awesome and I’ll love them forever. Such
a bummer that there won’t be more of those because I really miss Rebecca
Bloomwood/Brandon and all of her quirky hilarity.
*lights candle in remembrance*
Aah it’s so disappointing when a book doesn’t deliver.
ReplyDeleteHope the next book you read is brilliant!
What a shame! I love Sophie Kinsella/Madeleine Wickham novels, though I'll probably skip this one. Happy Friday!
ReplyDeletei ADORE sophie kinsella's books but i do NOT like any of her real-name madeleine wickham's novels lol. i didn't even know she wrote a new one but it sounds like i will be avoiding it.
ReplyDeletehappy friday!
I really love sophie kinsella and I've tried to read a few of the madeline wicham novels but i just didn't get into them like I do for the sophie kinsella ones.
ReplyDeleteI cannot get into anything by Madeline Wickham, but I love Sophie Kinsella. It is SO WEIRD, but at the same time so fascinating that an author can have two such different writing styles!
ReplyDeleteI reviewed I've Got Your Number for book club this week and I really liked it!
I have read one Madeline Wickman book, which I did enjoy, but not as much as all her Kinsella books. What's funny though is that I thought I had seen or at least heard about all of her books, but this one is one I've never seen before. Maybe it's a new one? Or maybe I'm not as book obsessed as I thought. Ha!
ReplyDeleteI'm not as big of a fan of she books she's written as MW than SK.
ReplyDelete