A young divorcee finds herself marooned in the countryside, surrounded by clutter, children, and hens. This charming, wickedly funny, exuberant novel is the talented young author's U.S. debut.
Hens Dancing: A Novel
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Book Description
Editorial Reviews
From Publishers Weekly
British magazine columnist Barker channels a postmodern Erma Bombeck in her thinly plotted yet charming U.S. debut, a year-in-the-life story told via the journal entries of Venetia Summers, a transplanted Londoner living in the Norfolk countryside. Feisty, 35-year-old Venetia has recently shed her philandering, ex-soldier husband, Charles, "who fries cuddly animals for a living." While Charles is thriving in the pet crematorium business and reveling in his new romance with "poison dwarf" Helena, Venetia delouses her sons Felix and Giles; staggers after her hyperactive eight-month-old daughter, "The Beauty"; and tackles laundry and gardening to avoid writing copy for corporate brochures. As house and garden deteriorate around her, Venetia bewails her fading looks and dependence on her mother, seeking solace in junk food, friends, trashy clothes and Georgette Heyer romance novels. She also refuses to admit that she has a serious crush on David Lanyon, the cute carpenter who volunteers to renovate her bathroom; in exchange, she takes photos for his publicity brochure. Barker keeps things wickedly off-kilter, subjecting various characters to unforeseeable disasters and indignities: one eats a toxic mushroom, one chops off his finger and another stumbles poolside only to have a "bit of his head" gobbled up by an affectionate Labrador. Readers who share Venetia's enthusiasm for Georgette Heyer will guess where Barker's predictable tale is heading, but the newer author's caustic pen will endear her to grownups who like their women quick-witted and their fairy tales fractured.
Copyright 2000 Reed Business Information, Inc.
Copyright 2000 Reed Business Information, Inc.
From Library Journal
Meet Venetia Summers, a charmingly disorganized, thirtysomething single mom who's doing her best to raise her kids and keep her sanity in a rural English cottage amidst a maelstrom of pets, plants, and wacky relatives. Told in diary format over the course of a year, this work represents literary voyeurism at its best. We share in the birth of a daughter (The Beauty) after Venetia's husband, Charles, leaves her for the dreaded Helena; the antics of Venetia's well-meaning, albeit daffy, mother; chaotic seaside holidays; and the home-improvement projects of the increasingly attractive and available David. This wonderfully entertaining and endearing book, Barker's first American publication after much success in England, will doubtless be favorably compared to Helen Fielding's Bridget Jones's Diary (LJ 5/15/98). Her characters are real, the events believable, and the author able to address some all-too-common family problems without losing the story's humor and appeal. Venetia is a woman many readers would like to have as a friend. Essential for libraries with fans of Bridget Jones.
- Susan Clifford Braun, Aerospace Corp., El Segundo, CA
Copyright 2001 Reed Business Information, Inc.
- Susan Clifford Braun, Aerospace Corp., El Segundo, CA
Copyright 2001 Reed Business Information, Inc.
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Charming and funny,
By
This review is from: Hens Dancing: A Novel (Paperback)
I loved this wonderful little book! It's a light read about a 35 year old mother of 3 children--one a baby--who has just gone through a divorce and is raising her children in a large,ramshackle house in the English countryside.Venetia is suffering from self doubt in a large measure but is actually a wonderful mother who puts her childrens interests first before fussing about a tidy house. I'd recommend this charming and amusing book to anyone but particularly to mothers of young children.
7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Essential Reading,
By
This review is from: Hens Dancing: A Novel (Hardcover)
I just loved this book, I've read it at least six times since I bought it a year or so ago, and I currently have it with me, even though I am on the other side of the world from the major portion of my library. Venetia is so real and so normal, so are her children, not at all like so many of the 'made-up' people of popular fiction, and her mother reminds me so much of some of my elderly relatives. There is a hilarious sequel as well, called 'Summertime'. By the way, I don't think it's at all reminiscent of 'Bridget Jones'- Venetia is a rural rather than an urban character, she is a mother (although she's not necessarily any older than Bridget), and she's of a completely different type of background. Rafaella Barker was greatly influenced by the classic 'Diary of a Provincial Lady' (EM Delafield) in writing 'Hens Dancing', and I think she really has evoked the life of the same type of woman today.
4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Hens Dancing,
By
This review is from: Hens Dancing: A Novel (Paperback)
I loved this book - almost a modern day Nancy Mitford style. Warm and amusing without bitterness. Great characters. I heartily reccommend it for those looking for a light read with a precise and edgy british writing style.
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