Perverse Wonderland

by Jennifer Harrison

Perverse Wonderland is a playful dark comedy and a romantic adventure tale for anyone who has ever loved and lost, or loved and found again. Jennifer Harrison's debut novel gives a voice to the type of women who, instead of waiting to be saved, can only rescue themselves. When our American heroine is abandoned by her English "gentleman" in a strange land of Pimm's and Jack the Ripper slumlords, the fairy tale is turned on its head after kissing Prince Charming turns him into an "arse." This novel will have you swiftly flipping pages to keep up with the ongoing conflicts between our irreverent redhead's heart, mind and libido as she interacts with a memorable cast of characters including the romantic Irish poet, the Jewish American Princess, and the bizarre Russian painter. With its appeal to strong women and the men who love them (and sometimes leave them), Perverse Wonderland is for fans of an culture-clashing American Bridget Jones or a modern, bawdy Sex and the City set in Lewis Carroll's fantastical wonderland of Oxford. If you have ever wondered how to repair your own heart in the aftermath of a break-up… If you have ever struggled with trusting yourself to love… if you have more than once wished your former love might live to regret… Perverse Wonderland will resonate deeply.

280 pages, Hardcover

First published July 15, 2014

About the author

Jennifer Harrison is from Memphis, Tennessee, and has lived in California for most of her adult life. She has been an editor and reviewer of manuscripts and legal documents for university professors, attorneys, and writers of fiction and nonfiction. Ms. Harrison has worked extensively in the entertainment industry with talent managers, agents, actors, and musicians, and her first book was a memoir about her family’s relationship with neighbor Elvis Presley. "Perverse Wonderland" is her first novel, and "Lady Emma In Her Land Of Wonder" is her first children's book. She is currently working on a graphic novel that will... save the world.

Reviews

[Karen · Rating 2 out of 5]

Since this was my first Free Book for Review, I REALLY wanted to like it. And I'm very sorry to say that I didn't like it.
*Contains Spoilers*

This book is told in a 1st person POV. It doesn't "read" like a story; more like a person talking to the reader about her heartbreaking trip to England. Normally that isn't a bad thing. But "Jennifer" has way too many issues for me to want to spend the entire time in her head.

The beginning is a little tough to get through. The several pages worth of "self-talk" began to get monotonous. Her Heart, Mind, Sex Life, Boobs, and her Hair all seem to have a personality and voice of their own. Every decision she makes entails a long battle between these 5 entities. I was hoping that would end after the first chapter. It doesn't. Her full dialogue with her hair and how good it looks had me skipping several paragraphs at a time.

"Jennifer" is a hopeless romantic who EXPECTS to be worshipped by men, only to dump them when she gets bored. Apparently the other women in her family are like this too; so she doesn't see a problem with it. That is until she falls hard for a guy named Grant, who should have been named Karma! He treats her like she has treated other men. She is a very arrogant, self-centered, narcissist that completely falls apart when she gets dumped by Grant. She is incapable of understanding how someone could dump her. HER! Then, several more paragraphs describing how men, even years later, love her so much and are still begging to be with her.

1 entire chapter devoted to getting drunk, then more whining about being rejected.

The constant dialogue with different body parts went beyond monotonous and right into annoying; and I was only on Ch. 5. "My hair wanted it to be know it was shining like a SOB." "My heart was dancing around the room singing off key as she was known to do." etc.

Then the history/geography lesson about England and its connecting countries had me skipping several pages till it finally got back to some semblance of a story.

200 pages later, after a lot of cussing, drinking, pot smoking, whining, and complaining this 33 year old woman (who acts more like a spoiled teenager) finally realizes what's been right in front of her all along.

I was hoping it was finally time for her to grow up. She doesn't. She hides in her room too scared to come out because the landlady is mad at her. She's 33 years old!

The last few chapters are devoted to her having sex as much as possible. Her BFF flies all the way to England to go on a trip to Paris with her and they "accidently" miss their train and plane. She doesn't care that her friend is sitting downstairs bored, she hides in the bedroom so she can have sex with her boyfriend. She borrows her other friend's bed, again has sex with her boyfriend, and doesn't even care that her friend is mad about it. She couldn't care less about anyone else's feeling and that never changes. She wants what she wants and everyone else be damned.

This character never evolves. She claims to learn more about herself; yet fails to actually better herself from it. If she were a real person, I wouldn't want to be friends with her. It was too hard to root for her when I didn't even like her.

(@Jennifer Harrison: My own daughter wants to become a writer; but she fears getting a negative review. As I tell her, a negative review isn't meant to offend the author. It's just one person's opinion. Don't let it get to you. Do what makes you happy and everything else will fall into place. I'm very sorry that I didn't like it.)

[Susan Swiderski · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a very tough book for me to rate. If I were an English professor, I'd give it an A without even thinking twice, because as a literary endeavor, it's quite brilliant. The Lewis Carol references are well-chosen, and there's lots of interesting info about UK history, which is presented fairly seamlessly, and without being overly pedantic. Gobs of understated humor reflect the author's sharp and creative mind, as do some of the wonderful word choices.

But I'm not an English professor; I'm merely a ravenous reader, so I'm gonna rate from that perspective. Even for a literary work, the pace of this book is extremely slow, and to be honest, I had to force myself to keep reading. Because I won it through a Goodreads giveaway, I felt obligated to finish it and write a review. That being said, I'm GLAD I finished reading it; it's definitely worth the effort.

I realize it isn't imperative for readers to like or even relate to a book's main character, but I'll tell ya what, I wanted to bitchslap some sense into that self-centered "Southern belle" Jen, and tell her to get the heck over herself. She's inconsiderate, even to the people she supposedly loves, and is positiviely obsessed with her own wants, feelings, and desirability. Ad nauseum.

I mean, how could that loooooovely Irishman Thomas stand to listen to her moaning and groaning for weeks on end about the foolish Englishman who dared... DARED... to reject her?

I didn't like the ending. After reading the oh-so-slowly-developing and detailed story, the ending was like, poof! the end. I'm not even sure exactly what happened. Geez, maybe I'm gonna have to read the whole thing over again to better understand.

Crap. See, I told you it was hard for me to rate this book. Now I'm actually considering reading it all over again. Pbbbt. What can I say? Obviously, I must have been an English professor in a previous life.

[Lekeisha · Rating 4 out of 5]

A wonderfully written book that I really enjoyed reading. Perverse Wonderland is one of those books that grasps you by the ears and makes you pay attention to what’s inside it’s pages. I found the main character to be quite daring in the beginning. Here she is moving to another country just to see if she and her Englishman, Grant, are meant to be and live happily ever after. She met Grant while traveling with her friend Nava, who wanted to spend an American Thanksgiving with her British friends. Grant had her the moment he opened his mouth, she was a goner. Nava warned her not to fall for him but, having never kissed a British guy, she was not to be perturbed. I actually swooned myself just imagining his voice. Well, it all goes kaboom after she moves there and therefore she becomes a little bitter, but determined to get over him. Her story just goes on from there and Thomas, an Irish Poet, soon has her affection.

I love how the author gives you the characters’ voices while sub-quoting words that they speak with their accents. As I was reading them, I was sounding them out with my best British and Irish accents (I failed miserably). I definitely recommend this book to those who enjoy humorous, romantic chick-lit or, are looking for a beach read, which it definitely is up to par with. Great book and I look forward to reading more books by this author in the future. A great mesh of humor, romance, and whole lot of sarcasm makes for a great read, and this book is it.

[Suzanne · Rating 3 out of 5]

My sincere thanks to the author for providing me with a complimentary e-book copy in exchange for my honest review.

I enjoyed this book but it didn't compel me to read it quickly. My initial issue was with the main character, Jen. I had a really hard time rooting for her or even liking her. I got tired quickly of her head, heart and hair self-talk. Not much happened in the first part as she continued to analyse her relationship with Grant. I just wanted something else to happen and found myself skimming through very verbose self-talk. I did get more interested when she describes her first meeting and time spent with Grant which lead up to her leaving her home and job to be with him in England. For such a strong and smart woman, she really let her heart take over knowing he had a girlfriend all along. I was really happy when she finally looked right in front of her and found the nicest guy from their first meeting, Thomas, the Irish professor.

I really enjoyed the history of England and Scotland which helped Jen understand the local way of life and how to fit in. I loved how the author gave the characters voice while using words that they speak with their accents.

If you're a fan of Bridget Jone's Diary and looking for a humorous chick-lit read, then I think you'll really enjoy this.

[Dr. Peel · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book includes a love story of romantic twists and turns that face a beautiful, privileged Southern belle uprooted from America to Oxford, England. At which point, her life gets turned around when she faces a roadblock in her romantic expectations. The novel is a fun, compelling story for any reader who enjoys (or may not be prepared for) the capricious surprises that romance hands you over and over which the heroine must re-assess her notions of self, love and romance. This is a story of love, love lost, and self regained. I enjoyed this often funny, unusually provocative, sometimes perverse and always entertaining tale of a single woman coming to terms with love and rejection in a foreign city. It is joyfully and conscientiously written by a woman torn between her heart and mind. Highly recommend.

[Martha Harrison · Rating 5 out of 5]

What a fun way to spend an weekend! I found myself following this somewhat unsympathetic character with tears in my eyes and hope in my heart for her ultimate happiness. The female protagonist may be an unlikely hero for some readers. She is honest to a fault and holds nothing back, even the worst part of herself. She is irreverent and bold and sassy, yet a real southern belle and a true romantic. She lets her heart get the best of her head from time to time and I found myself several times wanting to shout "watch out ahead!" But, I'm not sure anything could have stopped this indomitable force of a woman from "getting what she wants" and "what she thinks she needs".

Her fairy tale romance with a man from another culture across the pond from the U.S. seems to start out fine and then goes all wrong. Ultimately, she has to find her own way and try to integrate the ways of her heart, her mind, and her abandoned sex life. I laughed, I cried, and I shook my head at times wondering what she would do next and hoping she came out of it undamaged. The lovely southern belle redhead stole my heart with her "wayward ways" and tendency toward trouble.

In this author, we find an honest woman telling an authentic story, and not trying to cover up the truth with the niceties of convention and proper etiquette. We need more of these authentic stories for women readers and the men who love them. I highly recommend this book for every woman who has found herself lost in a muddle of confusion about which step to take next and for every woman who has found her own way and accomplished her dream. As author Harrison points out, without being didactic, we are all the better for first finding ourselves before trying to find our true soulmate and ever-after dream. Bravo, Jennifer Harrison!
Full Disclosure: I am related to the author.

[Gale · Rating 3 out of 5]

This Book is adventerous,romantic,and takes a young lady from the U.S. to England to be connected with a English gent. She has to find a flat,when she gets there and first off he is obnoxious with grant,rude,and straight forward and to the point ,about her landlady,his demeanor was errogant,and his romantic life for the last 28 yrs was not Perfect.Maybe she could change that.Here are the mistakes I found pg 18 hill instead of hil pg 35 omit y pg 37 omit 9 pg 49 left out l in blissfully this could go on and on .The letter L has been left out of a lot of words that need lly in them,and I wasn't crazy about all the foul language,and if you want me to give you alol the pages of errors just let me know,but there were numerous ones,might want to go over again.

[Kim Whitfield · Rating 5 out of 5]

A gifted writer can put you there in the scene, and Ms. Harrison, in Perverse Wonderland, does just that. Brilliantly written, the reader is transported (through alliteration and description) with the somewhat bratty main character as she crosses the globe in the name of "love," only to be crushed, and ultimately learn what real love is. This book is not your romantic comedy, it is the bitter reality we all find etched in our diaries. Really enjoyed the personification of the author's heart, hair and sex life. Witty, with the flow of a good Tom Robbins novel. Also appreciated the lessons in Brit speak, food and history, woven into this somewhat autobiographical story. Highly recommend!

[Rachel · Rating 1 out of 5]

I tried. The writing is well done, but I couldn't abide the main character. She was so caught up in how hot she was, and seeing hotness in other people, and how hotness made her susceptible to serial killer landlords... ugh. Just shallow and infuriating and only referring to her own worth as being related to her attractiveness and how desirable men found her.


Received as a Goodreads First Read.