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The Golden Hour
A stylish romantic comedy and a brilliant follow up to All the Hopeful Lovers from the award-winning screenwriter.
Maggie and Andrew are lovers who live apart--Maggie in the country, Andrew in London. When Andrew is offered a job close to Maggie, moving in with her is the obvious next step. Or is it? Moving in together leads to marriage. Is this the man she wants to spend the rest of her life with?
Maggie panics. Andrew is devastated. But when he turns the tables on her, Maggie begins to see him rather differently.
Meanwhile Maggie's Sussex neighbours are living through their own intense dilemmas. Henry's midlife crisis is exacerbated by a plague of rabbits in his garden, but hiring petty criminal Terry to extend the fencing turns out rather badly. Henry's wife Laura is secretly adored by her brother in law, Roddy. He hovers in the wings waiting for the moment to declare himself; while screenwriter Alan's efforts to convert a Grade II listed outbuilding to a workspace are thwarted by a maddening conservation officer--who happens to be Maggie.
Maggie and Andrew are lovers who live apart--Maggie in the country, Andrew in London. When Andrew is offered a job close to Maggie, moving in with her is the obvious next step. Or is it? Moving in together leads to marriage. Is this the man she wants to spend the rest of her life with?
Maggie panics. Andrew is devastated. But when he turns the tables on her, Maggie begins to see him rather differently.
Meanwhile Maggie's Sussex neighbours are living through their own intense dilemmas. Henry's midlife crisis is exacerbated by a plague of rabbits in his garden, but hiring petty criminal Terry to extend the fencing turns out rather badly. Henry's wife Laura is secretly adored by her brother in law, Roddy. He hovers in the wings waiting for the moment to declare himself; while screenwriter Alan's efforts to convert a Grade II listed outbuilding to a workspace are thwarted by a maddening conservation officer--who happens to be Maggie.
- GenresFiction
368 pages, Hardcover
First published September 1, 2011
10 people are currently reading
121 people want to read
About the author
William Nicholson
226 books482 followersLibrarian Note: There is more than one author in the GoodReads database with this name. See this thread for more information.
William Nicholson was born in 1948, and grew up in Sussex and Gloucestershire. His plays for television include Shadowlands and Life Story , both of which won the BAFTA Best Television Drama award in their year; other award-winners were Sweet As You Are and The March . In 1988 he received the Royal Television Society's Writer's Award. His first play, an adaptation of Shadowlands for the stage, was Evening Standard Best Play of 1990, and went on to a Tony Award winning run on Broadway. He was nominated for an Oscar for the screenplay of the film version, which was directed by Richard Attenborough and starred Anthony Hopkins and Debra Winger.
Since then he has written more films - Sarafina, Nell, First Knight, Grey Owl , and Gladiator (as co-writer), for which he received a second Oscar nomination. He has written and directed his own film, Firelight ; and three further stage plays, Map of the Heart , Katherine Howard and The Retreat from Moscow , which ran for five months on Broadway and received three Tony Award nominations.
His novel for older children, The Wind Singer, won the Smarties Prize Gold Award on publication in 2000, and the Blue Peter Book of the Year Award in 2001. Its sequel, Slaves of the Mastery , was published in May 2001, and the final volume in the trilogy, Firesong , in May 2002. The trilogy has been sold in every major foreign market, from the US to China.
He is now at work on a new sequence of novels for older children, called The Noble Warriors . The first book, Seeker , was published in the UK in September 2005.The second book, Jango, in 2006 and the third book NOMAN, will be published in September 2007.
His novels for adults are The Society of Others (April 2004) and The Trial of True Love (April 2005).
He lives in Sussex with his wife Virginia and their three children.
from williamnicholson.co.uk
William Nicholson was born in 1948, and grew up in Sussex and Gloucestershire. His plays for television include Shadowlands and Life Story , both of which won the BAFTA Best Television Drama award in their year; other award-winners were Sweet As You Are and The March . In 1988 he received the Royal Television Society's Writer's Award. His first play, an adaptation of Shadowlands for the stage, was Evening Standard Best Play of 1990, and went on to a Tony Award winning run on Broadway. He was nominated for an Oscar for the screenplay of the film version, which was directed by Richard Attenborough and starred Anthony Hopkins and Debra Winger.
Since then he has written more films - Sarafina, Nell, First Knight, Grey Owl , and Gladiator (as co-writer), for which he received a second Oscar nomination. He has written and directed his own film, Firelight ; and three further stage plays, Map of the Heart , Katherine Howard and The Retreat from Moscow , which ran for five months on Broadway and received three Tony Award nominations.
His novel for older children, The Wind Singer, won the Smarties Prize Gold Award on publication in 2000, and the Blue Peter Book of the Year Award in 2001. Its sequel, Slaves of the Mastery , was published in May 2001, and the final volume in the trilogy, Firesong , in May 2002. The trilogy has been sold in every major foreign market, from the US to China.
He is now at work on a new sequence of novels for older children, called The Noble Warriors . The first book, Seeker , was published in the UK in September 2005.The second book, Jango, in 2006 and the third book NOMAN, will be published in September 2007.
His novels for adults are The Society of Others (April 2004) and The Trial of True Love (April 2005).
He lives in Sussex with his wife Virginia and their three children.
from williamnicholson.co.uk
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 30 reviews
March 17, 2017
Third in the Sussex Series – as usual set over a week (this time in 2010 and, unusually for the series, with no background events at the time).
The key characters are four couples who are meeting at a dinner party at the end of the week: three of whom are familiar from the previous books in the series: Henry and Laura, Roddy and Diana (Laura’s sister) and Alan and Liz, and one of which is a new pair – Maggie (a conservation officer) and Andrew (a IT help desk consultant). Jack’s schoolboy gang leader Toby implausibly appears on Henry and Laura’s doorstep and is put up by them, flirting with Carrie (whose songwriting talents are revealed to her parents for the first time).
Compared to the other books in the series, there is less of an over-engineered and over-coincidental common theme to the characters lives in the week.
Alan has a new job working in Lewes and assumes he will move in with Maggie next week, but she panics at the commitment that would make and the realisation that she would be setting for life with Andrew (rather than waiting for Mr Perfect). Roddy decides to declare his love for Laura, love he (mistakenly) believes is reciprocated. Maggie starts flirting with Alan when she comes around to inspect a property conversion, which exacerbates tensions with Liz (struggling with her mother as always) and who feels that Alan is too passive (accepting Maggie’s objections to their conversion and his own marginalisation in the filming of the script of a sheepdog turned trader which was a large part of his plot in the previous book).
The weakest part of the book are the other characters – for once Nicholson strays form his usual middle class characters and includes an petty criminal Dean trying but failing to make an honest livelihood to earn the love of his girlfriend Sheena. Urged on by his older friend Terry an odd-job man trying to rabbit-proof Henry’s garden, Dean breaks into Henry and Laura’s house and succeeds only in taking her engagement ring which rather than pawning he uses to propose to Sheena. Shortly after Carrie knocks over Sheena’s son on his BMX (fully his fault) and when she goes to the hospital to visit him Laura spots her ring and in an odd scene Toby talks Sheena into giving it back – Sheena and Dean still stay engaged in rather mawkish scene.
A key character in the book is Henry – partly through a Buckingham Palace garden party where he mixes with people from different backgrounds all delighted to be there (a scene which seems to be based largely on Nicholson’s own experiences, including an Asian couple he writes about in strange detail who turn out to be one he genuinely met) he reaches something of an epiphany on his life and his increasing struggles with his marginalisation at work.
The key characters are four couples who are meeting at a dinner party at the end of the week: three of whom are familiar from the previous books in the series: Henry and Laura, Roddy and Diana (Laura’s sister) and Alan and Liz, and one of which is a new pair – Maggie (a conservation officer) and Andrew (a IT help desk consultant). Jack’s schoolboy gang leader Toby implausibly appears on Henry and Laura’s doorstep and is put up by them, flirting with Carrie (whose songwriting talents are revealed to her parents for the first time).
Compared to the other books in the series, there is less of an over-engineered and over-coincidental common theme to the characters lives in the week.
Alan has a new job working in Lewes and assumes he will move in with Maggie next week, but she panics at the commitment that would make and the realisation that she would be setting for life with Andrew (rather than waiting for Mr Perfect). Roddy decides to declare his love for Laura, love he (mistakenly) believes is reciprocated. Maggie starts flirting with Alan when she comes around to inspect a property conversion, which exacerbates tensions with Liz (struggling with her mother as always) and who feels that Alan is too passive (accepting Maggie’s objections to their conversion and his own marginalisation in the filming of the script of a sheepdog turned trader which was a large part of his plot in the previous book).
The weakest part of the book are the other characters – for once Nicholson strays form his usual middle class characters and includes an petty criminal Dean trying but failing to make an honest livelihood to earn the love of his girlfriend Sheena. Urged on by his older friend Terry an odd-job man trying to rabbit-proof Henry’s garden, Dean breaks into Henry and Laura’s house and succeeds only in taking her engagement ring which rather than pawning he uses to propose to Sheena. Shortly after Carrie knocks over Sheena’s son on his BMX (fully his fault) and when she goes to the hospital to visit him Laura spots her ring and in an odd scene Toby talks Sheena into giving it back – Sheena and Dean still stay engaged in rather mawkish scene.
A key character in the book is Henry – partly through a Buckingham Palace garden party where he mixes with people from different backgrounds all delighted to be there (a scene which seems to be based largely on Nicholson’s own experiences, including an Asian couple he writes about in strange detail who turn out to be one he genuinely met) he reaches something of an epiphany on his life and his increasing struggles with his marginalisation at work.
The regret that torments him, the failure he dreads, is not the loss of a function or purpose, but the loss of status ………. In our insecurity we seek ways to make others feel insecure. We’re like shipwrecked sailors all struggling to climb onto a life raft. We believe that each person who gets on the raft lessens our own chances of survival, so even as we fight for a handhold, we push our companions back into the water. And then safe on the raft, we survivors eye each other wearily, knowing that supplies are limited …. There’s no friendship possible in such a world, only alliances of mutual convenience ……………… [But] there is another world, where people form and nurture bonds with each other; where the success of one is the success of all …… Why is this not evident in his own life? Because the people he mixes with a re high achievers, greedy for attention
Demand a life of ever-mounting achievement and of course disappointment lies ahead. But such a demand is self-created, unachievable, foolish. Life is not a staircase. To each age certain ways of being are appropriate. There are high points and low points …. Income, status, health and happiness all peak and trough at differing times …. Look on your life not as a race which must end in victory or defeat, but as an adventure into the unknown. As long as you live there’s more to be discovered, more to be enjoyed. The magical virtue called humility sets you free.
January 24, 2016
So disappointing, and so bad, I'm struggling for anything to say. The first page has the ominous sentence, "It was a summer to remember so far". Sadly, the book is not one to remember.
The story takes place over seven days, and I read two of them (to page 159 of 534), so I gave it a fair crack.
It is set in a Sussex village in July 2010 and follows various couples and families with particular issues (fear of commitment, how to care for an aging parent, unemployment, troublesome teens, rabbit invasion - yes, really).
I often like unsympathetic protagonists, and there are plenty to choose from here, but they were too dead for me to dislike them enough to enjoy it.
It's all told in the present tense, each chapter from the viewpoint of one character, and it's desperate to make the reader conscious of it being 2010, so there are LOTS of clunky references to very specific people, events and fashions that will make the book age badly. In many cases, it is pure padding that adds nothing but irritation. For example, "She navigated her laptop [her laptop?] through the BBC website", there's mention of a specific Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall cookbook, Raoul Moat, Nick Griffin of the BNP being invited to a royal garden party and... meh.
Even when it's not banging on about the date, it spells things out with a sledgehammer, talking about "the elephant in the room" and then defining it, even though the context makes it clear for anyone who is unfamiliar with term (which can't be many).
I am shocked at how bad it was. Can it really be the same author who wrote the beautiful, original and imaginative "Wind and Fire" YA trilogy? I read them in parallel with my son several years ago, so thought I'd try one of his adult novels that had rave reviews in the newspapers. Unlike the others I read, it's not fantasy-ish, and I realised only after I bought it that although it's a standalone story, it is, to some extent, the end of a trilogy.
I hate giving up on a book, but life's too short to waste on such tripe.
The story takes place over seven days, and I read two of them (to page 159 of 534), so I gave it a fair crack.
It is set in a Sussex village in July 2010 and follows various couples and families with particular issues (fear of commitment, how to care for an aging parent, unemployment, troublesome teens, rabbit invasion - yes, really).
I often like unsympathetic protagonists, and there are plenty to choose from here, but they were too dead for me to dislike them enough to enjoy it.
It's all told in the present tense, each chapter from the viewpoint of one character, and it's desperate to make the reader conscious of it being 2010, so there are LOTS of clunky references to very specific people, events and fashions that will make the book age badly. In many cases, it is pure padding that adds nothing but irritation. For example, "She navigated her laptop [her laptop?] through the BBC website", there's mention of a specific Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall cookbook, Raoul Moat, Nick Griffin of the BNP being invited to a royal garden party and... meh.
Even when it's not banging on about the date, it spells things out with a sledgehammer, talking about "the elephant in the room" and then defining it, even though the context makes it clear for anyone who is unfamiliar with term (which can't be many).
I am shocked at how bad it was. Can it really be the same author who wrote the beautiful, original and imaginative "Wind and Fire" YA trilogy? I read them in parallel with my son several years ago, so thought I'd try one of his adult novels that had rave reviews in the newspapers. Unlike the others I read, it's not fantasy-ish, and I realised only after I bought it that although it's a standalone story, it is, to some extent, the end of a trilogy.
I hate giving up on a book, but life's too short to waste on such tripe.
October 20, 2012
This is William Nicholson's third book about the fictional village of Edenfield, on the outskirts of Lewes, East Sussex. I haven't read the first two books but this didn't spoil my enjoyment of the third.
The story revolves around the lives of some of the residents of the village over seven days in summer. Nothing very dramatic happens, it's just (mostly fairly affluent) people muddling through their lives and the author showing us what's going on in their heads. Most of the characters seem to be living successful lives from the outside, but each has particular problems to face.
Central to the story is the town of Lewes and the surrounding area. I worked in Lewes for about four years a long time ago now. I found the author's description of the area during a hot summer to be very enjoyable. I want to go back there and explore.
All in all I found this to be a very good book. It was beautifully written with excellent descriptions of place and time, and it gave a real insight into the main characters' innermost thoughts and emotions.
The story revolves around the lives of some of the residents of the village over seven days in summer. Nothing very dramatic happens, it's just (mostly fairly affluent) people muddling through their lives and the author showing us what's going on in their heads. Most of the characters seem to be living successful lives from the outside, but each has particular problems to face.
Central to the story is the town of Lewes and the surrounding area. I worked in Lewes for about four years a long time ago now. I found the author's description of the area during a hot summer to be very enjoyable. I want to go back there and explore.
All in all I found this to be a very good book. It was beautifully written with excellent descriptions of place and time, and it gave a real insight into the main characters' innermost thoughts and emotions.
April 18, 2023
I very much enjoyed other of Nicholson's novels that I've recently read - The Secret Intensity of Everyday Life and The Trial of True Love - and opened this one eagerly. Likely it's my fault that the book drifted for me - in between reading it, I read other books - and so I got myself a bit lost following the various peregrinations of its many characters. There are colliding and competing storylines of the many characters, all tangentially related, set in the same place. I may read this again without reading other books along with it.
January 3, 2021
This is the last book in a trilogy, following the same largely middle-class characters living in Lewes in the 2000s. It's gentle stuff, concentrating on the characters' relationships. I've enjoyed all three novels. It's tremendously readable and, I think, well-observed.
May 30, 2018
I really enjoyed this book. The characters are real, somehow you know most of them well. Just everyday life, where not too much( happens, but as if it’s actually happening. Immersive.
September 4, 2018
I am so glad that I discovered William Nicholson's books. This was a very well observed book, characters often said things that seemed so real. I will definitely be looking for more by this author.
February 8, 2021
I’d missed this part of the Sussex saga by William Nicholson, and for some reason it took me ages to get into, but once there it was the usually absorbing and stylish read I’ve come to expect.
May 29, 2025
It was good but nothing to write home about.
June 6, 2025
painfully underrated!!!!
April 29, 2013
I didn't expect to enjoy this book as much as I did. It's an easy read covering a week in time across a group of people in a community, and is a pleasure to 'imbibe'. On the cover is a comment by Wendy Holden on another of Nicholson's books, All The Hopeful Lovers (which I haven't yet read): 'You'll love it...so intimate, so socially spot on' - and I felt while reading The Golden Hour that it was a great description of this book too. I found myself giggling now and then at the subtle humour, and feeling sad or inspired in places as the different characters moved through their days. Recommended for a memorable light read.
December 7, 2015
I enjoyed this book not quite as much as the other two but enjoyed it nonetheless. I loved the way it goes from one couple scene to the next with each chapter so as not to get confused who's with who.I also loved how each couple had their problems within their relationships and thoughts about doing other things and seeing other people to play out their desires it kept you wondering how everybody was going to end up and made you read it even quicker to see the conclusions and decisions that were going to be made to finish the trilogy. So was expecting dramatic happenings but in the end everything just fizzled out for me.So a disappointing ending for me personally.
August 12, 2016
You know how it's said "no pain, no gain" - a great book is bound to challenge you, even torment and haunt. Yet here's a series of books (Secret intensity of everyday life / All the hopeful lovers / The Golden hour) that offer comfortable reading and still do a load of good, quite literally. Like some kind of subtle therapy that makes you feel more generous towards others and better about yourself. This is homeopathy for all kinds of social and personal ailments :) On the content side it's a mingle of parallel stories of everyday life - at once a collection of "Very British Problems" and a treat for any student of human nature and life's ironic calamities.
September 6, 2012
I couldn't decide whether to give this three stars or four because although I enjoyed it I also found it depressing in places...maybe because a number of the scenarios seemed too familiar. There were some really good lines / views from some of the candidates. I generally prefer my books to be nicely divorced from the real world and so when I started what I thought was going to be a classic middleclass aga saga it seemed to fulfil that criteria .....however it ended up being a book that made me think...
April 4, 2013
William Nicholson is a clever. The can build a drama about the week in the life of a group of individuals whose lives overlap. From the old and frail to the young, across classes, across various jobs, he lets us inside the hearts and minds of the protagonists. We learn of their fears and their dreams, their disappointments and their hopes. It's beautifully written, although the narrative voice spins around a little. There's plenty of symbolism too, literary references and insights into different professions. Lovely book. When's the next in the series coming out?
April 10, 2014
I believe this is William Nicholson's third book set in this fictional town. I haven't read the other two but if don't think it really matters!
I really enjoyed the book. It wasn't the best book I have ever read but I really enjoyed the way it was written! Following four different relationships for only a week and showing how they all intertwine and develop it had a vast array of characters all of which I loved!
It's a good read. Not too easy but not too hard. I would recommend it!
I really enjoyed the book. It wasn't the best book I have ever read but I really enjoyed the way it was written! Following four different relationships for only a week and showing how they all intertwine and develop it had a vast array of characters all of which I loved!
It's a good read. Not too easy but not too hard. I would recommend it!
July 5, 2012
Brilliant! Couldn't put this down and have no idea why I've never come across this author before as this is apparently the third in his trilogy about Sussex. So true to life, painfully so about middle age and relationships. I've just picked up book one in the trilogy from the library :-)
August 5, 2012
Really enjoyed this story of, mainly, upper echelons of Sussex society. Loved especially the likening of choosing a partner to Deal or No Deal. So true. That sums up the type of humour in the book. Will look out for more of his.
July 11, 2013
As good if not better than the previous 2 in the trilogy. Set over 7 days one is soon immersed in the 'ordinary' lives of the characters. Perhaps one criticism would be the frequent use of the 'f' word.
November 1, 2015
This wasn't a book I got into straight away and tbh it was luke warm all the way through. Initially it was frustrating as it follows so many people it was hard to keep who was who straight. It never gripped me. Average ...
January 7, 2012
Love this author - makes me want to go back and reread the two other books he has written with these characters. It isn't really a series, as the books do stand alone.
April 30, 2012
I love William Nicholson's books - they make me laugh and cry and I recognise everyone in them and most of the situations. The Jennifer Aniston line will stay with me....!
September 26, 2013
An enjoyable book...partly I think because I grew up in Sussex and know the area well. There were some interesting observations about life and love.
November 10, 2013
i could read about these people from this village all the time.
March 8, 2014
Cool how Nicholson's multiple cast of characters re-engage you every time
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December 20, 2015Sort of dragged my way through this one - then found I was actually involved and interested, as well as trying to remember who I knew from other books....
June 9, 2016
Absolutely loved it. Now scouring the bookshops for more from this author.
December 13, 2016
I have found a new author. Lovely to read about Sussex.
May 3, 2017
If it wasn't for the author's photo and fly leaf biog., I would think this was written by a female author - Joanna Trollope springs to mind. This is not to denigrate the writing in any way, I am just so bemused that a male author has such a good grasp of how women think and feel about relationships. Perhaps his wife writes the women's parts?
December 29, 2017
Third book in Sussex series. Love these recurring characters and their very human stories.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 30 reviews