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The Best of Times: A Novel
by
Penny Vincenzi (Goodreads Author)
Everything can change in the blink of an eye. . .
On an ordinary London afternoon, a truck swerves across five lanes of traffic and creates a tangle of chaos and confusion. As loved ones wait to hear news and the hospital prepares to receive the injured, a dozen lives hang in the balance. A doctor is torn between helping the injured and hiding his young mistress; a brideg...more
On an ordinary London afternoon, a truck swerves across five lanes of traffic and creates a tangle of chaos and confusion. As loved ones wait to hear news and the hospital prepares to receive the injured, a dozen lives hang in the balance. A doctor is torn between helping the injured and hiding his young mistress; a brideg...more
Hardcover, 608 pages
Published
July 14th 2009
by Doubleday
(first published January 1st 2009)
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Sara
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Recommends it for:
contemporary fiction, chicklit, fiction
Complex, Fast-paced, Smart
The story follows the lives of people involved in a tremendous freeway crash. It was hard to keep up with all the characters, but each character develops throughout the novel. And, each character is complex, the young woman having an affair with a married man, the wannabe actress, the lonely Grandmother, the guilt-ridden truck driver. The story is ultimately about relationships and how we deal with people and make life decisions.
Two characters ...more
Vários meses depois depois de uma enorme ansiedade e curiosidade pelo trabalho de Penny Vincenzy, eis que finalmente tive a oportunidade de a satisfazer.
Aos olhos daqueles que já conhecem as suas obras anteriores, esta obra será, certamente, melhor ou pior. Aos meus olhos, e provavelmente de todos os leitores cujo primeiro contacto com Penny Vincenzy, a escolha não podia ser mais acertada.
Confesso que, ao início, me custou a entrar na história. Parecia tudo muito confuso ...more
Aos olhos daqueles que já conhecem as suas obras anteriores, esta obra será, certamente, melhor ou pior. Aos meus olhos, e provavelmente de todos os leitores cujo primeiro contacto com Penny Vincenzy, a escolha não podia ser mais acertada.
Confesso que, ao início, me custou a entrar na história. Parecia tudo muito confuso ...more
Cheesy summer reading at its best ... no need to think or analyze ... just read on the beach or by the side of the pool.
In The Best of Times, all the characters come together because of a horrible crash on the M4 Motorway outside London. All the various characters at the scene of the crash ultimately become entwined with each other. We follow each character from shortly before the crash to a year or so after. Predictably, everything turns out hunky dory and life is good. This i...more
In The Best of Times, all the characters come together because of a horrible crash on the M4 Motorway outside London. All the various characters at the scene of the crash ultimately become entwined with each other. We follow each character from shortly before the crash to a year or so after. Predictably, everything turns out hunky dory and life is good. This i...more
A compelling story that tackles everyone’s subconscious fear – the one that they feel but never address – what if something catastrophic happens one day and changes our lives forever?
In Best Of Times, Penny Vincenzi tells the story of a brutal road accident that breaks relationships and brings strangers together. Vincenzi’s characters not only allow readers to love / hate them, but I find, like in all her other books, readers get immersed in them and their lives.
When I first picked...more
In Best Of Times, Penny Vincenzi tells the story of a brutal road accident that breaks relationships and brings strangers together. Vincenzi’s characters not only allow readers to love / hate them, but I find, like in all her other books, readers get immersed in them and their lives.
When I first picked...more
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This was an entertaining read though a bit long at just under 600 pgs.
The story is a good one where the lives of twelve unrelated people are wound together through a horrible accident on a highway that runs outside London. The author spends a lot of time on character development and that is all a lead up to this fatal, multi car pile up on the highway and how the lives of these people all come together and how their lives all our forever changed as a result of this life changing event. I r...more
The story is a good one where the lives of twelve unrelated people are wound together through a horrible accident on a highway that runs outside London. The author spends a lot of time on character development and that is all a lead up to this fatal, multi car pile up on the highway and how the lives of these people all come together and how their lives all our forever changed as a result of this life changing event. I r...more
Your life can change in a blink of an eye-one minute everyone is driving quite safely on crowded highway,next an 18 wheeler swerves and lives are lost or changed forever.this book follows those lives immediately before after the crash.The book is 600 pp but I did not feel that it was too long.I wanted to know how things turned out,even for those whom I did not particularly like.Perhaps some were a little too pat or "romance" like but all in all I felt that there was a rather diverse se...more
I had high hopes for this one, but somewhere around the middle it failed miserably. It's the story of people involved in a car accident and how it affects their lives. Interesting at the beginning and then bloody awful, darling. (I have to say that, because the book takes place outside London.) At about the halfway point (of this more than 500 page thing!) every single character became unlikeable. Seriously. I get that the author wants to show that we are all flawed people, but we aren't a...more
The Best of Times is a book that I thoroughly enjoyed. The book tells you about the life of multiple characters that are forever changed after a motor vehicle accident on the M4 close to London. We have the doctor who is traveling with his mistress. We have the aspiring black actress catching a ride with the lorry driver. The lorry driver trying not to fall asleep behind the wheel. There is the groom trying to get to his wedding on time. The widow meeting with her lost American lover from over s...more
I really liked this book. Wanted to give it 4 stars.
Its the story of life. Actually a good handful of lives. It starts with a very brief intro into the lives of various characters. Then a car crash, where 3 people are killed and multiple others injured. It covers the life of not only the persons involved in the accident, but some of their significant others and/or friends, doctors at the hospital that treated the wounded, etc.
The lies and secrets they keep. How the accident ...more
Its the story of life. Actually a good handful of lives. It starts with a very brief intro into the lives of various characters. Then a car crash, where 3 people are killed and multiple others injured. It covers the life of not only the persons involved in the accident, but some of their significant others and/or friends, doctors at the hospital that treated the wounded, etc.
The lies and secrets they keep. How the accident ...more
Another great addition to the books of Penny Vincenzi. The Best of Times takes place on a busy highway in England where a crash occurs that forever changes the lives of all involved. Including.....
A doctor and his mistress coming back from a night away.
A bride groom and best man running late to his wedding.
A young actress and a lorry driver who picks her up both trying to make it to London in time.
A woman on her way to the airport to meet her lost...more
A doctor and his mistress coming back from a night away.
A bride groom and best man running late to his wedding.
A young actress and a lorry driver who picks her up both trying to make it to London in time.
A woman on her way to the airport to meet her lost...more
I have very mixed feelings about this book; hence the three stars.
The book opens with a major traffic accident that blocks the freeway (Sorry: motorway. It takes place in London.) Then comes a section called "Before". I spent my time reading this section very nervous about what would happen. So it was hard to enjoy it.
The section that took place during the accident was very exciting and fun to read.
But then the story went kind of down hill from ther...more
The book opens with a major traffic accident that blocks the freeway (Sorry: motorway. It takes place in London.) Then comes a section called "Before". I spent my time reading this section very nervous about what would happen. So it was hard to enjoy it.
The section that took place during the accident was very exciting and fun to read.
But then the story went kind of down hill from ther...more
i like penny vincenzi novels as transportive, indulgent reads. although, i do feel kind of stupid reading them sometimes. my favorite ones of hers are the ones that are set in specific historial eras- the trilogy with no angel, something dangerous, & into temptation was great for that. this book, however, not so much. it felt too much like 'chick lit'- romantic misunderstandings are major plot points, and betrayal and commitment major themes. there are some interesting characters, but too many m...more
IMHO, reading this book wasn't the Best of Times. While the premise is wonderful - a major accident changes the lives of everyone involved - I found the story tedious. Vincenzi's exploration of the butterfly effect through a myriad of characters left me feeling exhausted. I found it difficult to connect with the characters, and I felt that because the author took on so many characters, none of them were fully developed. I felt that plot points were predictable. And really, the novel probably cou...more
This book is an interesting read as there are so many characters lives that you get wrapped up in. It is fast paced in the fact that you will be constantly switching back and forth between the characters, which keeps the plot moving along at a nice rate. There is also quite a range of emotions to go through while the author explores issues of life and death, old love and new love, friendship and family, ambitions and goals, and the list goes on. There isn't much time to get bored with the boo...more
This was a great book about how one event can have such a domino effect on so many lives. In this case it was a horrid multi-car accident that caused events to change in lives of the victims, the families of the victims, the medical personnel and even the farmer who was in the field watching the collision take place. Then their lives became intertwined.
I would have rated this book 4 stars but it just went on and on too long and the story exhausted me. It was hard keeping track of so ...more
I would have rated this book 4 stars but it just went on and on too long and the story exhausted me. It was hard keeping track of so ...more
i thought this book was engaging and exciting the whole way through,my only gripe was that it was a bit difficult to keep up with all the different characters that she kept jumping to throughout the book,although having said that i think that method of writing is an ingenious way to get a real insight into the plot and the more major characters.
this was the first penny vincenzi i read and i couldnt put it down,it really annoyed everyone i lived with because i was terrible company for a who...more
this was the first penny vincenzi i read and i couldnt put it down,it really annoyed everyone i lived with because i was terrible company for a who...more
I enjoyed the style of writing, though, as an American, I had to get used to the terminology used in a U.K. setting.
There was at least one character that I just wanted to smack, but I kept telling myself that I didn't need to like all of them. I think the book could have been written in half the pages. It was interesting to see the character's lives unfold, but it went on, and on, and on..... The longer I read, the lower the rating-it dropped at least one point because it could have been w...more
There was at least one character that I just wanted to smack, but I kept telling myself that I didn't need to like all of them. I think the book could have been written in half the pages. It was interesting to see the character's lives unfold, but it went on, and on, and on..... The longer I read, the lower the rating-it dropped at least one point because it could have been w...more
This book revolves around the lives of various people involved in a MAJOR automobile crash.
Starts with the crash, then backs up to life BEFORE the crash, as we learn about all the characters and their lives and their secrets, and then life AFTER the crash and how the event changes their lives.
Involved, yet very captivating.
The book is almost 600 pages long, but I read it in just over one day while on a mini-vacation!
Author did a good job of not confu...more
Starts with the crash, then backs up to life BEFORE the crash, as we learn about all the characters and their lives and their secrets, and then life AFTER the crash and how the event changes their lives.
Involved, yet very captivating.
The book is almost 600 pages long, but I read it in just over one day while on a mini-vacation!
Author did a good job of not confu...more
I did like this book. I was eager to find out what happened next and not tempted to just read the end and give up, which says something. I just felt like there were SO many characters and some remained one-dimensional, or maybe just undeveloped. I didn't understand why others were even profiled at all. However I'd strongly dislike certain characters one minute, and then be applauding them the next. I think that's somewhat realistic to real life...nobody's perfect all the time and most people are...more
When a lorry crashes on the M4 on a busy summer's day the effect on people's lives is catastrophic and has repercussions that spread out far beyond the scene at the motorway. The story is told quite seemlessly and in readable chunks, with each person's life under scrutiny. Some have secrets that really shouldn't be told, others are oblivious to the effects their actions will have on others. From the sublime, to the heart-rending - I think this is a perfect summer beach read.
My only c...more
My only c...more
I wasn't sure what to expect with this book but ended up really liking it. It focuses on all the stories that surround one incident and all that can happen because of being in one spot at an exact moment in time. It's a thought I often wonder about.. "what if i had been a few minutes later or gone another route, what path would life have gone then?"
The book was long enough that it was able to develop each of the many characters and storylines to have me invested in the story, I ...more
The book was long enough that it was able to develop each of the many characters and storylines to have me invested in the story, I ...more
This is more what I consider summer reading. The whole book (800+pages) tells the story of a huge traffic pile-up and its aftermath. One of those "a butterfly flaps its wings and a hurricane happens on the other side of the world" kind of stories. I got wrapped up in the characters stories and didn't want it to end tho there wasn't anything left to tell by the time Vincenzi was finished. She wraps it up in a way that satisfies my (seemingly endless) quest for a suitable, but not al...more
The story ends up to be more of a love story - several love stories, actually - than aftermath of an accident. Many of the characters met each other as a result of the accident, resulting in love/hate/love relationships. The impact on the truck driver's life and feelings was brought out quite nicely; but the author missed the opportunity to explore the emotional impact of the accident on other victims, notwithstanding the emotional impact of the new or broken relationships.
As an "...more
As an "...more
I was at the library and looking through the paper back section and noticed this book because it's probably the thickest book I've ever seen in paperback. It looked interesting so I checked it out. I was hooked from page one and have now discovered an author who is new to me. I can't believe I've not read Penny Vincenzi before. I am really enjoying this book and am almost half way through its 880 pages. I can't seem to stop reading it and I take it with me wherever I go.
Reading the latest Penny Vincenzi has become something of a summer holiday ritual over the last 10 years. So naturally I bought this one as soon as it came out in paperback and saved it for the holiday. I was a little disappointed. I did enjoy it, especially the first two thirds of it - and at 880 pages that is a big chunk of fiction - but I did feel that it lost it a bit. It was the first time that I have felt as if she was padding out one of her books. Still,as I said , enjoyable and she still...more
Although this took me awhile to read (hard to read when wrapping up grad school), I thoroughly enjoyed every page of it. This is the first novel I've read by Vincenzi, and am motivated to read another by her soon. She writes with such personalization and great dialogue/drama that it becomes very natural to roll imagery and vivid scenes through your mind. The characters become very real and easy to get caught up with. Reminds me of when I get all caught up with soap operas. Of the many character...more
This book is over 800 pages long, which is about 600 too many. Poor editing, typos, and bad writing seriously hinder a story with a promising premise; unfortunately it turns into a predictable eye-rolling soap opera. I skimmed the last 50 pages just to make sure there were no surprises, and there weren't. The only reason this doesn't get only one star is that William, the farmer character, was very sexy. :-) Everyone else was rather insipid.
December 11, 2010
Yes I know this is most definitely chicklit but I will admit, I devoured much of the 750 pages of this book in one weekend. It was deliciously scandalous. The chaos at the crash scene reminded me of the first episode of lost and I love how the rest of the book reads like a soap opera. We follow the lives of a dozen of so characters but Vincenzi has written it so that you have a chance to love them all. I see myself in Abi, Emma, Laura, Georgia and even Mary. How I will miss thes...more
Yes I know this is most definitely chicklit but I will admit, I devoured much of the 750 pages of this book in one weekend. It was deliciously scandalous. The chaos at the crash scene reminded me of the first episode of lost and I love how the rest of the book reads like a soap opera. We follow the lives of a dozen of so characters but Vincenzi has written it so that you have a chance to love them all. I see myself in Abi, Emma, Laura, Georgia and even Mary. How I will miss thes...more
I really enjoyed reading this book, because the characters were so interesting. Even ones who were not very nice people seemed to find their true selves and become redeemed. The plot involved a car/truck accident on a English highway and then how it impacted the lives of many diverse people: doctors, passengers, widow, a sexy gal having an affair, a farmer, a groom and best man trying to get to the wedding. It was quite a mix!
I liked this book a lot. It was tough to keep all the story lines straight at first, and required some re-reading to establish who was who. I found the characters believable & could relate to nearly every single one of them on some level or other. I was intrigued as the author jumped from one character to another. The book is broken up into three main sections: before, during & after a big life-changing accident. It is during the accident where all of their stories intersect, and becomes th...more
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I was nine years old when I embarked on my storytelling career. I wrote my own magazine called “Stories”, which I copied out three times on carbon paper and ...more
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I was nine years old when I embarked on my storytelling career. I wrote my own magazine called “Stories”, which I copied out three times on carbon paper and ...more
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