Cross My Heart and Hope to Die

by Claire Calman

They wanted to get away from it all - but they brought it all with them. It should have been the perfect holiday: lazy days with friends in a rambling old house right on the beach. But when one family drops out and Kath invites her brother and father along instead, everything starts to unravel. All Kath wants is to have sex with her husband without a small child bursting in and demanding toast and Marmite. Her brother Rob wants to find out whether he has a hope in hell with the woman he loves. Giles wants to find a way to get closer to his daughter, while eight-year-old Anna just wants to be a mermaid. And, at the heart of it all is Miranda - beautiful, bold and baffling Miranda - who wants nothing more than to survive the week without anyone suspecting the truth...

Genres: Chick Lit

381 pages

First published June 1, 2004

About the author

Claire Calman was born 1969, the daughter of Pat McNeill, a magazine designer, and Mel Calman, a cartoonist. Before writing fiction, Claire spent several years working in women's magazines, then in book publishing, editing gardening books. She is also a poet and broadcaster and has performed her pithy verse at live readings and on radio many times, including for BBC Radio Four's Woman's Hour, Loose Ends, the comedy series Five Squeezy Pieces and for LBC. Her short stories have appeared in numerous magazines as well as in various anthologies, including Cheatin' Heart, the best-selling Girls' Night In, Summer Magic and A Day in the Life.

Claire lives in London with her husband, baby son, and an unbelievable amount of unfiled paperwork.

Reviews

[Maison Koala · Rating 2 out of 5]

Parte bene presentandosi come la classica lettura disimpegnata con cui ingannare il pendolarismo quotidiano quando hai ancora un occhio aperto e uno boh (...) ma poi scivola nella banalità più assoluta. Due famiglie londinesi trascorrono le vacanze di Pasqua in un cottage sul mare - tempo atmosferico che manco in Siberia, ‘nnamo bene - e le due protagoniste che amano definirsi migliori amiche - tipo mia figlia e la sua amichetta decenne, wow - si rivelano una più stupida dell’altra. Una cieca a tutto ciò che le succede intorno - crisi, intrighi, gelosie -, l’altra impegnata nel remake di Sex & the City in versione Samantha Jones. Mi fermo così non spoilero. Anche se resto dell’idea che se passate ad altro, vi fate un regalo.

[Marina · Rating 3 out of 5]

Enjoyable story, editing needs work!

Enjoyable read, twists and turns as you'd expect from this writer, with some perhaps unexpected developments.
Definitely a different take on modern relationships!
Poor editing, particularly around dialogue, irritated me throughout - I read this on the Kindle app BTW - to such an extent it did hamper my enjoyment as it interrupted the flow of the narrative.
At times I had to reread dialogue to establish who was speaking as the layout and sometimes the punctuation made it unclear.
It's not something I've encountered before, and is relatively minor in the overall context of the story, but it was irritating!
This obviously is not down to the author and it's a shame the editor or 'typesetter' didn't pick up on it and correct it before publication. Made me realise how important it is to lay out dialogue properly!

[Cat · Rating 1 out of 5]

DNF - could not get into this book at all, the characters were super boring and nothing seemed to happen. even tried skipping a few chapters to see if things got livelier and that didn't even help. gave up about half way through

[Donalda · Rating 3 out of 5]

Fun story with a couple of unexpected twists. Good book to read at the beach.

[Mrs Nicole M Middleton · Rating 5 out of 5]

Loved it

Very clever book. Endearing characters and a real life story.
More about life’s frailties, and how everyone has some. Brilliant.

[Nicole · Rating 5 out of 5]

What an incredible little twist there at the end! I'm a little appalled but also very curious 😜 🤔
Another brilliant story by Claire Calman

[Suzi · Rating 3 out of 5]

*sigh*

[Alea · Rating 2 out of 5]

Am Anfang, dachte ich, dass es einfach ein langweiliges Urlaubsbuch am Meer wird. So hat es auch angefangen. Dann wurde es spannend, auch wenn mir überhaupt nicht gefallen hat, dass alle so durcheinander erzählt haben und ich kam mit den vielen Personen und dem Schreibstil nicht klar. Fand ich aber nicht sooo dramatisch. Dann wurde es eigentlich echt spannend mit den Briefen. Aber dann kam raus, dass sie One-Night-Stands (?) hatte—mit Vater und Sohn!!! Und somit ihren Mann betrogen hat und die Tochtr von eimem dieser Männer ist. Am Ende wurde nicht einmal aufgeklärt, von wem die Tochter wirklich ist und wie es jetzt weitergeht. So wurde das Buch mit einem Mal Schlag auf Schlag schlechter. Hat mich dann am Ende echt enttäuscht.

[Gypsykat · Rating 2 out of 5]

The two main characters, honestly, drove me nuts! One a shrew, the other a doormat martyr (which was especially annoying!!). I didn't like either of them AT ALL & almost stopped reading the book because of it. But the main character at least ended up coming through with some juicy bits that helped endear her to me & i did read on.

[Stephanie · Rating 2 out of 5]

I read this on the plane from Toronto to Los Angeles. It kept me occupied for the entire trip, but was pretty transparent, plot-wise. (And in the end, I found the main situation unresolved and irritating.)

[Maya · Rating 3 out of 5]

Picked this up after liking other novels by this author, but this story didn't quite gel for me. Didn't quite engage with characters and was puzzled by some relationships and open endings. Even so, the author's style and fundamental storytelling strength will make me pick up future books.

[Nicole · Rating 4 out of 5]

Deeper than I was expecting. Great read.

[Tracy · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book was a bit far fetched for me. It was a pretty decent easy read. I would recommend it for a beach vacation or something like that.

[Alison · Rating 3 out of 5]

Family drama about secrets, infidellity and relationships. Was okay but not hugely memorable.

[Amanda · Rating 2 out of 5]

The moral is if you shag a father and son on the one weekend, one is bound to get knocked-up!!!!and eventually, someone is bound to cotton on to the whole deception.....

[Twyla · Rating 4 out of 5]

It was more than what I was expecting, different, and complicated.

[Elizabeth Ann · Rating 2 out of 5]

I really wouldn't recommend this book. It was good til past half, and then it got a bit weird. Too much stuff crammed into one book. Didn't like the ending at all. Fairly disappointed.

[Nicola · Rating 3 out of 5]

Easy read, not requiring a lot of thinking. The ending came quickly and without reason or explanation -- too loosely tied up for me.

[Lucy McLaurin · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very enjoyable. Would like to read more of hers.

I guess it could be called a bit of good chick lit!

[Andrea · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book is... ok-ok. Not worth for you to sit for few hours to read this book. Ugh.

[Sarosh Khan · Rating 4 out of 5]

It has many deep thoughts than i expected. Its pretty decent to read .. !!