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Separate Lives by Kathryn Flett......anyone?

8 replies

Greythorne · 20/08/2012 15:22

Her memoir (The Heart Shaped Bullet) was so moving and powerful.

Her first stab at fiction is.......so awful :(

-All the characters read like something dreamed up by the features writer of Grazia.

-The brand name-dropping is cringe-making. But at least Flett is an equal-opportunities offender; both the swanky Belsize Park divorcée and the salt of the earth midwife babble on about Chloë fucking bags as if they have some RL import

-The plot! Woman has relationship with military bloke, then meets his brother and for totally inexplicable and unexplained reasons decides to keep her sleeping with soldier boy a secret. Why? But all along, she harbours flame for soldier boy. Then glam divorcée shags the
younger brother, falls preggers but gets her hunky rugger bugger lover who has had the snip to accept the baby as his. Ker-razy!

  • without even going into the frankly bizarre lack of awareness of fiscal reality. People lose their swanky, London meedja, natch jobs without ever wondering how they will pay the bills.

Such a shame. She seemed so talented in her memoir but I guess you cam take the girl out of the vacuous media superficial-dom that is magazine publishing, but you can't stop her writing as if what handbag you own is helpful characterisation.

OP posts:
ParsleyTheLioness · 20/08/2012 17:29

Have not read that one, but are you sure that is her first fiction? Almost sure I have read her stuff, but can't bring it to mind.

LapsedPacifist · 20/08/2012 17:32

Got this on my Kindle and really wished I hadn't bothered. Very dull and completely unengaging, unpleasant and entitled characters. Yuck.

WipsGlitter · 20/08/2012 17:32

I've ploughed through read it. None of the characters were remotely likeable. I didn't really notice the product name dropping until I saw another review mention it, am so used to dyptique candles being mentioned in books it washed over me! V disappointing. I think she refers to where she lives in her column as Random on Sea?

NellyJob · 20/08/2012 17:33

you should be careful I bet Ms FLett is a mumsnetter.....
I actually stopped buying the Observer because I couldn't bear her self pitying drivel in the colour supplement.

thebestisyettocome · 20/08/2012 17:35

I really liked The Heart-Shaped Bullet but from the description you given I won't be bothering with this latest effort.

Greythorne · 20/08/2012 17:38

I think shr is probably a MNer too!

But doesn't mean her book is any good.

I am astonished it was published, TBH.

OP posts:
NellyJob · 20/08/2012 17:44

yes well after 50 shades of shite, nothing would surprise me, the great british public don't actually seem too bothered about literary quality, as long as there's some shagging and/or a recognisable name, theyre happy...it seems.

Londonista1975 · 20/08/2012 17:48

Yes, it was quite awful. I'm especially disappointed as I assumed that based on her non-fiction pieces in newspapers and magazines - I haven't read her memoir - that it would be an enthralling read, with characters of depth. But this wasn't the case. I didn't like ANY of them in her book, not one. The scathing reviews in Amazon are pretty much on the money and it's turned me off chick-lit now. The Random-on-Sea thing is amusing the first time but grates from then on. One character will say something like 'i'm moving to Random, near Hastings' the the other will say 'oh really, sounds lovely' and not even ask what the other person means by using the word 'random'. Really weird. I expected so much better from her with this book.

Don't be tempted by the cheap price for the Kindle version, life's just too short.

Sorry if this doesn't read well but I'm in post-work fatigue mode right now!

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