Kinsella, Wickham or any other name I love her just the same!
|
If you are thinking of purchasing this book in hopes that it will hold you over until the next Kinsella book, understand that when reading a Madeline Wickham book you are in for a totally different experience! The Wickham books do not have the same laugh out loud humor that her Kinsella books do but I find they are still a lot of fun.
In 'THE GATECRASHER' we meet Fleur Daxeny a woman on a mission. She needs financial security for her and her daughter Zara and the only way she knows how to insure that is by scamming rich, vulnerable men out of thousands. Fleur makes it her job to cling to unsuspecting widowers and be everything that they need until she can get away with the cash. However, once she meets Richard Favour and his family she finds that she actually likes them and their cozy little life, complete with the charming house in the gated community & country club membership but can she leave behind her gold digging ways permanently?
I enjoyed this book from page one. The story line was original and the pacing was great, but what I loved most was that you really had no idea where the story was going to take you. Fleur was so flawed that the reader never really knew how the story was going to end until the last page. I only wish that the ending had been fleshed out a bit more but that is a small gripe with an otherwise highly enjoyable book!
|
|
A good one!
|
|
I have just finished reading this - didn't take long - I couldn't put it down! I prefer this one to the others I have read by Madeleine Wickham - a fast moving plot that makes you want to read on. Funny but I came to like the 'heroine'. Lot of interesting character study, but not at all laboured. A very good read. And as someone else has said, I too didn't want it to come to an end!!
|
|
|
The *dawgrrl* review
|
|
Fleur Daxeny is a funeral crasher - she's a con artist who preys on recent wealthy widowers and makes off with some of their money. Her most recent victim is Richard Favour whose wife Emily has just died. However, what she doesn't count on is that Richard and his family may change her just as much as she changes them. I thoroughly enjoyed this novel and the just over 300 pages seemed to turn themselves. While I felt that Fleur's past was perhaps a little glossed over and could have been brought out more and that there was some foreshadowing thats denouement fell a bit flat, I felt that overall this was a great read. I will definitely be reading more of Ms. Wickham's work!
|
|
Disappointing
|
|
When I read the outline of the story, it really appealed to me and the other Amazon reviews compelled me to buy this book. I was disappointed, however, because I didn't think there was any real depth to any of the characters (Richard's daughter just got on my nerves with her whingeing!) and the story didn't seem to go anywhere. At the end of the novel, I felt that Fleur (the anti-herione) hadn't progressed emotionally from how she was in the first chapter. I felt that Fleur's final decision was not really her own - it was due to the pressure put upon her by her daughter, Zara. I found the ending to be disappointing too as I felt it left the situation rather 'up in the air'.
|
|
|
An intriguing premise...
|
|
I really enjoyed this book because it has a fresh and different kind of plot, and an anti heroine who you find yourself admiring if not particularly liking very much. The supporting characters are also particularly well drawn, and you find yourself rooting for their lives to turn out happily even if you're not sure what you want to happen to Fleur herself... A highly recommended read.
|
|
|
United States | 
United Kingdom | 
Canada