Getting Rid of Matthew

May 7, 2007
B
rit TV producer Fallon takes “careful what you wish for” to hilarious heights in her debut novel, a comedy of errors triggered by a mistress who discovers thrice-weekly hookups with her married lover are better than a 24/7 relationship with him. Helen, office staffer at a public relations firm catering to desperate D-list celebrities, is fast approaching her 40th birthday with little chance of swimming out of the secretary pool or snagging a full-time commitment from Matthew, her middle-aged lover and “relay relationshipper.” When Matthew abruptly leaves wife Sophie and preteen daughters Suzanne and Claudia to move in with Helen, she's not sure it's the happy ending she prefers. Thus begins a head-spinning ruse to convince Matthew to go back home and to persuade Sophie and her scene-stealing pair of potty-mouthed children to take him back: Helen invents a new persona, hard-charging PR whiz “Eleanor,” who befriends Sophie and gives her advice to repair her shattered marriage. The scheme gets more elaborate when Helen/Eleanor falls for Matthew's estranged eldest son. This delightfully fizzy chick lit caper goes disappointingly flat before the finish, but the surprising and rewarding treat is a bright, grown-up story of two women who discover friendship and trust in one another.

June 1, 2007
Helen, secretary in a London PR firm, has run afoul of the adage be careful what you wish for, because it might come true. Boss Matthew, after an affair that has lasted years, suddenly leaves his wife and moves into Helens flat. Helens solution is to befriend the wife, using an assumed identity, of course, to persuade her to take Matthew back. But as she gets to know Sophie, she likes her too much to burden her with Matthew again. Office life has gotten dicey because she feels tainted by the affair, but there is another Helen in another department, which helps cloud the identities. Further muddying the situation, Helen meets Leo, a thoroughly attractive man. He just so happens to be Matthews son from a previous marriage and, naturally, hates the woman ruining his fathers life. Can this possibly be sorted out? Does Helen get stuck with Matthew? Do Sophie and Leo discover Helens true identity? Does she escape her dead-end job and get a real career? Read and find out.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2007, American Library Association.)