Eggshell Days [Paperback]

Rebecca Gregson (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: June 5, 2002

'There are two ways of looking at what we're doing,' Niall said, peering through the candlelight at the box loads of belongings all over the floor. "Essentials for simple living" was what they had all agreed to bring. It didn't look like it. 'One is that we're all as mad as bollocks, and the other is that everyone else is.' When four close-knit friends miss their train, escaping Britain's worst rail crash for sixty years, they are confronted with their own mortality. Their current lives juggling city jobs, marriages and children are suddenly not enough. An idyllic but ramshackle Cornish manor beckons and they decamp to the country on a quest for the perfect life. As the renovation of the house begins, a closely-guarded secret threatens to be uncovered. The bricks and mortar of the group's long friendship start to crumble. It soon becomes clear that fresh starts have little to do with geography, and the four of them are left with the harsh choice: should they chase their dream or wake up to reality?

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

On their way back from a wedding, four old friends just miss being killed in a terrible train wreck. Their narrow escape makes them take stock of their lives, and as this rambling first novel begins, they decide to give up their London jobs and move together to the Cornish countryside. Emmy, single mother of eight-year-old Maya, has inherited a Cornish manor house called Bodinnick; Sita, her husband, Jonathan, and their three children move into one upstairs suite, and Niall, Emmy's one-time lover, moves into another. Gregson is sparing with introductory detail, so it is some time before all the various relationships spring into focus, but once they do, the novel gains momentum. Despite the characters' determination to exchange stress for bucolic contentment, troubles lurk. Competent Sita, a doctor, finds work in Cornwall, making unemployed Jonathan feel insecure. Their children-hostile 13-year-old Jay, skittish nine-year-old Asha and baby Lila-are a handful. Meanwhile, Emmy is realizing she isn't over Niall-which is unfortunate, since Niall has taken up with Kat, a bitchy model who visits on the weekends. Niall isn't Maya's father, though he wishes he were, and the mystery of her paternity adds another layer to the story. This is less an escapist fantasy than a sprawling domestic drama, but readers willing to piece together the various relationship puzzles (and navigate the Briticisms) will enjoy Gregson's story of a group of friends struggling valiantly to make their communal experiment work.
Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Booklist

*Starred Review* After attending a country wedding, a group of friends narrowly miss their train back to London, which is involved in a spectacular crash resulting in heavy casualties. The experience causes them to reevaluate their hurried city lives and leads to their decision to move in together in a large Cornwall estate inherited by Emmy from her eccentric uncle. Armed with optimism and a manifesto spelling out rules for voluntary simplicity, they begin their experiment in communal living with the enormous task of renovating the slightly run-down house called Bodinnick. After the initial excitement wears away, though, they find, to their dismay, that they are still the same people they were in London, with many of the same problems. Married couple Sita and Jonathan have still lost their ability to communicate; there remains an undeniable attraction between long-ago lovers Emmy and Niall, but with the added complication of the weekend presence of Niall's new girlfriend. On top of it all, a personal secret threatens to reveal itself, one that might be their undoing. Gregson's wonderfully written debut features well-drawn characters engaged in believable relationships. A realistic and absorbing tale, with just the right tragicomic tone. Beth Leistensnider
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 352 pages
• Publisher: Pocket Books (June 5, 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0743415108
• ISBN-13: 978-0743415101
• Product Dimensions: 7.6 x 5.1 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 8.5 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 3.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #5,547,702 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Too Many Characters, Too Much of the "F" word, July 30, 2004

By 

I. Readalot (Massachusetts) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Eggshell Days (Paperback)

This book sounded promising, but after about 20 pages and the upteenth instance of variations on the "F" word, I gave up. I couldn't keep the characters straight, and I don't think it's just me. If you read the book description on amazon or the inside cover description in the book, Emmy's daughter is listed as "Lila," whereas Lila is really her friends' daughter. Emmy's daughter is named Maia. If even the blurb writer can't keep them straight, how can the average reader?

4.0 out of 5 stars engaging - worth it if you stick with it, January 28, 2011

By 

Newcastle Reader (Newcastle, WA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Eggshell Days (Hardcover)

I enjoyed Eggshell days, for the character development, the storyline and the peak into Cornwall culture. At first I was a bit put off by the number of words that are unfamiliar in American English, but I kept with it to see what was going to happen and to stretch my comfort zone. I liked the premise of a small group of friends deciding to change their lives and their children's' lives. I'd like to see this story on the big screen. Gorgeous old mansion being transformed by occupants dedicated to renovation, kids reconnecting with nature and each other in carefree play fueled largely by their imaginations, couples trying to live a simpler life style and navigating relationships and friendships with the fierceness and forgiveness of love, the unique culture of a small town, the forever quality of family connections.

In the end Gregson ramped everything up into crisis mode, for virtually every character, and then wrapped it all up in the last 50-60 pages. I recognize the momentum she achieved by that design, but I would have rather seen those significant events spread throughout the book. A few times I found myself nodding in agreement at wise thing said that I'd never thought of in quite that way before. And by the end of the book I cared about the characters and wished them well; those are two of my standards for a good read.

4.0 out of 5 stars Engaging British Read, August 28, 2003

By 

J. Daitch "muppyd" (matthews, nc) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Eggshell Days (Hardcover)

This is a lovely book that tells the story of several families living communaly in Cornwall, England. The adults and children's stories take turns from chapter to chapter, yet you feel as if you are getting to know each character very well. This book will not change your life, but it will allow you to escape into their world for awhile. I also enjoyed the "British-isms"