Working Wonders [Paperback]

Jenny Colgan (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: September 1, 2003

Laughs, love, office life. And a little touch of magic ! From the bestselling author of LOOKING FOR ANDREW MCCARTHY and AMANDA'S WEDDING. Laughs, love, office life. And a little touch of magic! Gwyneth Morgan loves her job. And she's good at it -- she's never faced a challenge she can't handle -- until she meets Arthur Pendleton and his motley crew. Gwyneth sets Arthur a challenge that makes his heart sink. His team can't even find their own desks, let alone win a prestigious competition. Pitted against his ex-girlfriend, as well as his love rival and deadly enemy, Arthur is forced to break the law and overcome massive obstacles as he embarks on his quest to achieve the impossible -- and maybe, just maybe, win the heart of the enchanting Gwyneth. As Gwyneth learns some surprising revelations about the man she'd once considered just an inept colleague, she's forced to reconsider. Is it possible that Arthur is her knight in shining armour?

Editorial Reviews

Review

'It comes as no surprise to learn that Jenny Colgan once wanted to be a stand-up comedienne. She has a genuine ability to make people laugh!' DAILY EXPRESS 'Hilarious reading!a shrew and entertaining romantic comedy.' OBSERVER 'Funny, magical and moving.' TIME OUT 'A sharp, witty love story.' OBSERVER With the humour and warmth that have made her previous books bestsellers, she expertly transforms Arthur Pendleton's bid to make his home the new European City of Culture (and sweep ice-cool Gwyneth off her feet at the same time) into a delicious comedy. Will melt even the hardest of hearts.' RED 'hugely entertaining and very funny.' COSMOPOLITAN 'Colgan's witty book perfectly captures the frustrations and petty vexations of office life.' SHE PRAISE FOR JENNY COLGAN: 'What really sets Jenny apart! is this: she is very, very funny' Express 'Compulsively comical' Cosmopolitan

About the Author

Jenny Colgan was born in 1971 in Ayrshire. After Edinburgh University, she worked for six years in the health service, moonlighting as a cartoonist and a stand-up comic. She is now working on her fifth novel, and a TV series.

Product Details

• Paperback: 480 pages
• Publisher: Harper Collins Pod (September 1, 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 000710555X
• ISBN-13: 978-0007105557
• Product Dimensions: 7 x 4.2 x 1.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 8.5 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 2.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,786,350 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 another one of those 'feel good' books, April 23, 2005

By 

Arundhati "Riya" (India) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Working Wonders (Mass Market Paperback)

I know many people would stop reading this review beginning with the review title itself, but let me tell you, if you have even 1% of a crazy , wild spirit in you i'm sure you'll like the book.
I have a lot of the crazy , wild spirit in me and so i completely related to the main character in it -'Arthur'!
The beginning may get on your nerves a bit , but have patience enough to continue with it, it gets better and better as you turn the pages.
It's basically a very hilarious (believe me, i almost died laughing!!) story about this guy called Arthur who's life's pathetic..his job, his colleagues( many of them may remind you of those very irritating characters in your own work place , a very humorous exaggeration ofcourse) and his relationship with his partner for a long time , all of them cause him utter frustration.
But one fine day he goes to work and realises he's the boss now and has to lead his employees , a bunch of clowns on an almost impossible project.At this point , the mysterious office psychiatrist( my fav character after arthur himself) comes into picture changing his life completely by revealing to him that the blood in his veins is inherited from one of the most famous legends in the history of this world.
What ensues is a funny , completely unimaginable struggle by Arthur towards completing the project with the help of his employees , realising the powers and magic in him. For the ones who are romantically inclined there is the love story of Arthur and one of his pretty female (and probably the only sane) employee.
What i like about this book is that , it gives you a feeling that anything is possible , you may accept it or not. And that whoever we may be , however pathetic our lives may seem, all of us have the power to turn it into something good, and there's no other better way of getting the message across, when it is done in an extremely hilarious and witty fashion.
People who lack imagination and believe in exploring very serious , logical subjects - this is a big no no. But if you are in a state where you are bored and come across the book , do read it - you'll manage a cough , if not a laugh!

3 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Very Weird, July 21, 2006

By 

Laura Walker (UK) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Working Wonders (Paperback)

I can actually imagine the conversation between this woman and her publisher before this book was written.

"Okay Jenny, your fluff books are doing great. How about you do us some more?"
"Actually, I thought I'd do something different now my name's known. Maybe a thriller or something? I could just get my teeth into some really gory violence."
"...no Jenny. I'm sorry, but we want fluff. We're a fluff publisher. Fluff is what sells now."
"Well, how about fantasy? I just want a change - you know, a break?"
"NO, Jenny. Just fluff. Fluff sells."

So, what we have is... a fluff book. With magic randomly stirred in without warning. And at the end someone dies. Because he gets his eyes shot out. By a paintball pellet.

No, you didn't hear me wrong. A paintball pellet. And there's this really graphic description of how they see yellow and red and that's wrong because the paintballs only carry one colour of the paint and then they realise it's the red of the blood...

Score one for Jenny against the publishers I suppose.