A Crowded Marriage

April 15, 2011
Downsizing from a city house to a country cottage seems like a smart move in tough economic times, or so London housewife and artist Imogen Cameron is convinced by her husband, Alex. So what if the cottage is owned by Eleanor, whose relationship with Alex broke up his first marriage? Imogen manages to find some good in the country. Their sensitive son unexpectedly thrives in the tough village school, there is plenty of artistic inspiration to be had in the fields, and her marriage seems stronger than ever, despite the feeling that Alex is not done with Eleanor. Madcap plot twists threaten to overwhelm, but Alliott (A Married Man, 2003) has created such charming characters that readers will relish every public embarrassment. Readers who cheered for Helen Fieldings endearing lead in Bridget Joness Diary (1998) and Sophie Kinsellas Samantha Sweeting, from The Undomestic Goddess (2005)those great British chick-lit heroines who discover in the end that they had it in them all alongwill do the same for Imogen.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2011, American Library Association.)