Thursday, July 29, 2010

The Wedding Girl by Madeleine Wickham

I have put off writing this review for a couple weeks, which is never a good idea for me.  I couldn't quite decide what to say about it, so I procrastinated and now, what with my fading memory, I'm even less sure.  I have enjoyed all the Madeleine Wickham books I've read previously, but this one just didn't trip my trigger, or float my boat, or whatever other cute saying you want to use - it was bland.

The Wedding Girl is Milly Havill.  Milly agrees to marry her friend, Allan, so that he can stay in England with his gay partner.  Ten years later, believing herself to be divorced, she plans to marry Simon Pinnacle, son of a multi-millionaire.  It's a good idea with a lot of promise, but it turns into an I Love Lucy episode.  When the proposed wedding photographer recognizes Milly from her first wedding, she goes into Lucy mode to silence him before he reveals her secret.  But why is it a secret anyway?  I was never a Lucy fan because her predicaments always seemed so contrived.  Just tell the truth, ask for what you want, act like a reasonable adult and none of these preposterous situations would ever happen. 

Then we have Rupert - Allan's partner - who believes he's gay, then he's not, then maybe he is, or maybe not.  I'm not doubting that this could happen, but in this story he seemed to be debating a shoe style rather than a major lifestyle choice  - another story element that just didn't ring true.

This book was vanilla ice cream - enjoyable, but with some hot fudge it could have been so much better!

1 comment:

  1. I liked your review - the ones we feel "eh" about are always the most challenging to write. Because really, do you want to waste any more time with it? I say yes. I get so tired of reading only raves. I like the haters and the middle of the road reviews too. As long as the reasons behind the rating are clear, I find them to be very helpful. So thanks for putting this one up.

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