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6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Darker than most chick lits..., September 1, 2003
This review is from: Larger Than Life (Paperback)
In the past, I read Playing Away and roared with laughter and sometimes recognition. Adele Parks got the sexual and emotional aspects of infidelity down to a tee. Now she has returned with another novel that illustrates her wit and intelligence. Larger Than Life - much like Playing Away - centers on infidelity. However, the theme is somewhat different from her first novel. This second effort has a darker subject matter. After years of patience, Georgina has finally obtained full possession of Hugh, the love of her life. He's chosen her over his wife and children. Now she's able to take a step back, relax and be at ease. She no longer has to go to great lengths to be the glamazonian mistress she's always been. But things take a turn toward disaster when she finds out she's pregnant. Will Hugh stick around? Was the fantasy life she once lived with Hugh better than the reality she now endures? There are some interesting turns throughout the novel. As previously said, Larger Than Life has a rather dark language. The problems Georgina encounters after making the transition from mistress to girlfriend are insightful and poignant. Adele Parks is a great chick-lit author and I look forward to more work from her in the future.
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7 of 8 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
great readng experience, August 5, 2003
This review is from: Larger Than Life (Paperback)
At eighteen Georgina saw Hugh for the first time and knew he was her soulmate though he did not quite see it that way at that time. Now fourteen years later, Georgina lives in London with her beloved Hugh, and on top of that likes her job and is financially solvent. Georgina wonders if life can get any better than hers is? When Georgina learns she is pregnant she has a mixed reaction. She wants to be a mother, but worries how Hugh will react. While wondering who to tell as she fears Hugh might recoil from her and her mother detests having a thirty something child, Georgina immediately rules out abortion. She knows that if Hugh behaves badly, she is financially secure to raise the child on her own. She is only in the beginning stages and as she grows rounder, her world as she knows it spins off its axis starting with seeing Hugh in a different filtering of me-me not we-to the three. This book should be labeled chic lit even though it contains elements of mainstream drama and because a pregnant woman seems within the lanes of this interesting sub-genre. The amusing story line is told mostly in the first person, which provides an interesting series of events as Georgina progresses with her pregnancy. Her actions, frustrations, and reactions change too. Hugh comes across as a pathetic loser making it difficult to see why the bright, gregarious G saw anything in him. Fans of chic lit and character studies will want to read LARGER THAN LIFE as this is a fine one sitting novel. Harriet Klausner
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2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Some competition for my fave, Jane Green?, September 4, 2003
This review is from: Larger Than Life (Paperback)
If author Adele Parks keeps writing like this, I really think that Brit Chick Lit author Jane Green will have some competition! I was hooked well before the first chapter ended and was thuroughly entertained by this intelligent novel. Thirty-two year-old Georgina finally has everything she has ever wanted: Hugh, the manshe has loved for years and now has all to herself, she also has a wonderful career in Advertising at which she makes boat-loads of money. Georgina is thrown for a loop to say the least when she finds out she is pregnant. How will Hugh handle the news? Will you, me and Baby makes three be their new anthem? Georgina is pretty sure she wants to be a mother, or is she? Everything in her life for the last fourteen years has been filtered through Hugh. Georgina becomes obsessed with her pregnancy and how she is going to handle the rest of her life and there are many trials and tribulations associated with both. This book is a combination of chick lit intelligently mixed with a study of human behavior. I should also mention that this is my third Downtown Press book. Previously I have read: The Song Reader and The Man I Should Have Married. Good story lines and entertaining, intelligent reading seem to be the hallmark so far of Downtown Press.
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