book data
220 ratings,
3.14
average rating, 46 reviews
(more data...)
edit
published
January 1st 2007
by Black Swan
(first published 2006)
details
Paperback, 384 pages
isbn
0552773115
(isbn13: 9780552773119)
description
"Ben is, at last, leaving home. At twenty-two, he's the youngest of the family. His mother Edie, an actor, is distraught. His father Russell, a t…more
find at:
Amazon • WorldCat • more options…
There is a good chance some of your friends read this book. Sign in to see!
| topics | posts | views | last activity | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Gigi's Company: Title Game | 1340 | 863 | 5 hours, 54 min ago |
friend reviews
To see what your friends thought of this book, please sign up.
This book is currently not featured on any Listopia lists.
Add this book to your favorite list »
other reviews (showing 1-20 of 302)
All ratings
|
5 stars (16)
|
4 stars (56)
|
3 stars (102)
|
2 stars (33)
|
1 star (10)
|
avg 3.14
editions: all | this edition
editions: all | this edition
This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it,
click here.
Like this review?
yes
add a comment
Read in September, 2009
This was an enjoyable and thought provoking read.
This book is about a woman whose youngest child has finally left home. Edie has defined herself as a mother for so long that she has no desire to be anything else. Her husband has his vision of how life will be now, and is eager for her to conform to his view.
Edie half-heartedly auditions for a role in a production of an Ibsen play, and (to her great surprise) gets the part. Just as she is rediscovering the actress in he...more
This book is about a woman whose youngest child has finally left home. Edie has defined herself as a mother for so long that she has no desire to be anything else. Her husband has his vision of how life will be now, and is eager for her to conform to his view.
Edie half-heartedly auditions for a role in a production of an Ibsen play, and (to her great surprise) gets the part. Just as she is rediscovering the actress in he...more
Like this review?
yes
add a comment
Read in December, 2007
I think this is supposed to be a domestic comedy. Edie, mother of three and wife of Russell, has managed throughout the years of her children's growing up not only to be an exemplary mum (never uptight about laundry on the floor) but also to continue her acting career (not very believable but then this is fiction). Now her last child has left and she is devastated since her REAL purpose in life gone. With a lot of moaning and chest-beating, Edie finally drags herself to an audition and is imm...more
Like this review?
yes
add a comment
Read in June, 2007
recommends it for:
Baby Boomers, empty nesters, midlife crisis dwelling
Another great Joanna Trollope novel, filled with a great sense of place (Greater London), memorable characters and a relevant story. This novel tackles midlife crisis-hood through a middle class British family. Mom and Dad, married 25-plus years have been thrust into empty nest syndrome after the baby of the family leaves home. While the husband is anxious to explore their new life as a couple, the Mom misses her full house, although she is able to branch out and revive her acting career, which ...more
Like this review?
yes
add a comment
Read in April, 2007
I think one can safely say that nothing much ever "happens" in Joanna Trollope's novels about modern-day people. (I haven't read any of her historical novels.) And yet, I absolutely love them, and gobble up a new one enthusiastically whenever I find it.
This book is no different. It deals with the issues around the "empty nest," when a couple's third and last child finally leaves home. There are all sorts of threads dealing with motherhood and fatherhood, and what ...more
This book is no different. It deals with the issues around the "empty nest," when a couple's third and last child finally leaves home. There are all sorts of threads dealing with motherhood and fatherhood, and what ...more
Like this review?
yes
add a comment
I think that part of what makes Trollope so popular is actually something I find quite irritating, which is her syntax, but despite this, I found the book sort of charming and surprisingly thought provoking. It's initially really annoying, in that a mother has watched her last son leave the house and she totally falls apart (obviously I'm like, get a grip woman, enjoy your freedom and appreciate the fact that your kids are independent) but it raises some interesting issues:
1 - What do you...more
1 - What do you...more
Like this review?
yes
2 comments
Read in January, 2010
I like all of Joanna Trollope's books, but this one wasn't quite up to the standard of Brothers and Sisters. The main character, mom of three young adults, isn't ready for her kids to not be dependent on her, but her husband wants them gone so the two of them can have some time together. Meanwhile, as her career as an actress takes off, her kids all move home. Chaos and confusion, then a denouement. . .. I'm waiting for Trollope's next one, out this spring.
Like this review?
yes
add a comment
Read in September, 2007
I liked Joanna Trollope's book about a British family dealing with the "empty-nestedness" that comes when the last of the children move out on their own.
Edie, mother of 3, practically falls to pieces, when Ben, her youngest child, packs up and moves in with his girlfriend, Naomi. Her poor husband Russell isn't pleased at his wife's unwilligness to let go; he's thrilled they have the house to themselves again and is looking forward to "just being married" again. ...more
Edie, mother of 3, practically falls to pieces, when Ben, her youngest child, packs up and moves in with his girlfriend, Naomi. Her poor husband Russell isn't pleased at his wife's unwilligness to let go; he's thrilled they have the house to themselves again and is looking forward to "just being married" again. ...more
Like this review?
yes
add a comment
Read in March, 2009
The story started a bit slow. I wasn't really motivated to read on after the first 20-30 pages. But I did nevertheless, and the book turned out to be ok but no real superstar.
On the one hand I can understand the husband wanting to have a 'marriage' again and no kids around. On the other hand I couldn't imagine this happening in my own family - my parents turning their back on me or my brother if we would need to live back home temporarily.
On the one hand I can understand the husband wanting to have a 'marriage' again and no kids around. On the other hand I couldn't imagine this happening in my own family - my parents turning their back on me or my brother if we would need to live back home temporarily.
Like this review?
yes
add a comment
Read in March, 2009
When Edie and Russell's third and youngest child leaves home, Russell hopes they will return to the halcyon days of their early marriage, but things don't go according to plan. Joanna Trollope writes elegantly about ordinary people's lives and trials, not a lot happens and yet the story carries you along to a satisfying end.
Edie: "You can't let go of being a parent. Not ever. It's the one relationship you're stuck with, besides yourself."
Edie: "You can't let go of being a parent. Not ever. It's the one relationship you're stuck with, besides yourself."
Like this review?
yes
add a comment
Read in January, 2006
recommends it for:
women's fiction readers
Never having read Trollope before, I wasn’t sure what to think…the paragraph on the front cover flap provided me with almost no information. Almost immediately though, I was hooked. I can’t say this is the best book I’ve read ever but it is a strong, well-written read with good characters and reasonable, believable situations. Set in London, this is basically the story of a family going a few rough patches. The book starts off with the last child leaving the “nest,” and towards the e...more
Like this review?
yes
add a comment
Read in December, 2008
I always enjoy the family dynamics in Trollope's books. This one involves a family with 3 grown children and how they all need to learn to cope with each other as their lives fall apart. I did find the mother a bit selfish/whiny. I enjoyed the character of the girlfriend of the older son, she always felt so guilty for her successes and having a boyfriend "not as successful" as her.
Like this review?
yes
add a comment
Read in January, 2009
Joanna Trollope is one of my favourite authors & this felt more current than her older aga sagas. I engaged with all the characters, though less so with Russell, Edie's husband. It tells the story of Edie & how she feels after her youngest child leaves home. Very poignant.
Read in bed, while recovering from 'flu.
Read in bed, while recovering from 'flu.
Like this review?
yes
add a comment
Read in December, 2009
Much better read than I thought it would be. The last I read of hers was a bit 'girly'. I liked this North London family much better than I liked the family in Anne Tyler's 'Back When We Were Grownups' which I had just read and which explored similar themes (middle aged women whose families are grown).
Like this review?
yes
add a comment
Read in March, 2009
recommends it for:
women with kids over 21
I recommend "Second Honeymoon" by Joanna Trollope for women with kids over 21. Wonderful characters, well-written, funny and poignant.
Read in December, 2009
A quick read and some fun diversion about middle-aged parents and the empty nest syndrome.
Like this review?
yes
add a comment
Read in February, 2009
This is our new choice for a February bookclub book. Apparently no one was liking the original choice.
This book was alright. It definately got better for me at around the halfway point and finished pretty much the way I thought it would. I just couldn't get into the mother's point of view.
This book was alright. It definately got better for me at around the halfway point and finished pretty much the way I thought it would. I just couldn't get into the mother's point of view.
Like this review?
yes
add a comment
Read in June, 2009
Being an empty nester may seem sad, until all the adult kids come back home to live!
Like this review?
yes
add a comment
My first Joanna Trollope and I really enjoyed her writing style.
Like this review?
yes
add a comment
Read in December, 2008
family story, from empty nest to full to empty again
Like this review?
yes
add a comment
