Mon voisin, ce heros (LITTÉRATURE (NP)

by Catherine Alliott

Fans of Catherine Alliot's other novels will be pleased to find that they can add another page-turner to their growing libraries. Olivia's Luck is a combination of gentle farce, emotional heartache and some uplifting moments. Olivia (Livvy) recounts the sudden breakdown of her 10-year marriage and the swings and roundabouts that follow. Alliot has created a seductive cast of characters, from Livvy's 10-year-old daughter and the cockney builders to her mother-in-law and old school friends, all of whom seem realistic, with a dash of the drama queen for the fun of the story. Although--or maybe because--the novel is damning about the fate of marriages and the bad behaviour of men, the story will strike a chord with many thirtysomething women. As with Alliot's other novels, this is a book that demands to be read in one sitting, devouring the pages alongside a box of chocolates. The ending is happy, in a fittingly idiosyncratic way, and a fine reward for an afternoon away from real life. Ultimately, though Livvy seems to lead a "a very unusual and complicated life ... nutters and weirdos at every corner ... on intimate terms with the police...", she is an ordinary 21st-century woman trying to carve out a comfortable life for herself and her daughter. -- Olivia Dickinson

Genres: Chick Lit, Romance, Fiction, Womens Fiction, Contemporary, Humor, Audiobook

522 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2000

About the author

Catherine has sold over 3 million bestselling novels worldwide and is translated into eighteen languages.

The first of these novels Catherine started under the desk when she worked as an advertising copywriter. She was duly fired. With time on her hands, she persevered with the novels, which happily flourished.

In the early days she produced a baby with each book - but after three - stuck to the writing as it was less painful.

She writes with her favorite pen in note books, either in the garden or on a sofa.

Home is a rural spot on the Hertfordshire border, which she shares with her family and a menagerie of horses, cows, chickens, and dogs, which at the last count totaled eighty-seven beating hearts, including her husband. Some of her household have walk-on parts in her novels, but only the chickens would probably recognize themselves.

All her novels are published by Penguin Random House internationally, and by No Shooz Publishing in America and will be available in the US in the Fall of 2017.

Reviews

[Alayne Emmett · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was a re read for me, I read this book when it first came out years ago and loved it. After that I got every Catherine Alliott book that came out up until the last couple of years when I felt that her writing was not as good as it used to be.
I had forgotten quite a lot about this book so, it was more like a first read and I really enjoyed it, even though at times it was silly I laughed at all the stupid things the main character did along with her friends and neighbours.
This is one of her best give it a try.

[Nina Draganova · Rating 5 out of 5]

Наивна, понякога по-обстоятелствена, едновременно забавна и тъжна.
Такава е и тази книга на Катрин Елиът от зората на чиклита, която последните два дни ме смя от сърце, но както винаги ме накара и да се замисля.
Това да гледаш през призмата на смеха всичките земни проблеми е наистина огромно достойнство и авторката го притежава в изобилие.
Завиждам и благородно за невероятната фантазия и чувство за хумор, за изумителния й език.
Владее до съвършенство всички детайли.


" ..макар и да се извисяваше много над останалите с гигантския си ръст, беше на долна мъртва точка в еволюционен план-там, където мисловната дейност почти отсъства."

[whatever · Rating 2 out of 5]

Maybe 2.5 Stars. I didn‘t particularly like the main character, which makes enjoying a book difficult. This book is so much about divorce and trying to get a man back, trying to meet new men, liking a different man, then saying that man can‘t compare to the old man but then oh no, somehow he‘s the one. It just doesn‘t make a whole lot of sense. Either you want your man back, or you‘re confused and don‘t know what you really want but are trying to keep everything the way it is (because the situation is so horrifying, that you need time to process it or don‘t want to really deal with the situation and ignoring it is easier). OR you know you can‘t forgive that person. Either way YOU NEED TIME TO PROCESS.
What annoyed me about this book is that she‘s so focused on her marriage until suddenly she‘s done with everything but it doesn‘t get explained really, why she‘s now not wanting to be with him. Like, how is it that I don‘t know how she feels throughout the entire book? She doesn‘t cry, she doesn‘t seem anxious, when she gets angry, she doesn‘t do anything drastic but instead someone tells her to stop immediately and she just stops. That‘s not how feelings work. It‘s unrealistic and stupid because how can a book so much about cheating and being rejected and being „the boring, normal one“ be so without feeling?
Maybe I‘m overreacting. But what I definitely hated was how she spent 80% of that book pining after her husband, trying to get him back, saying how no other man can compare and suddenly she‘s with the guy she explained wasn‘t the one for her.
MAKE HER END UP ALONE AND FIGHT FOR HERSELF BEFORE SHE JUMPS FROM ONE RELATIONSHIP TO THE NEXT.

[Michele Bolay · Rating 2 out of 5]

I love British chick lit, and I have enjoyed Alliott's other novels, but I gave up on this one. I don't always need characters to be likable, but Olivia was so unlikable that I found it hard to root for her or even care about what happened to her. Also, all of the bitchy snark about the physical characteristics of people who weren't thin and conventionally attractive got very tedious very quickly.

[Rochelle Hickey · Rating 3 out of 5]

Olivia’s Luck by Catherine Alliott is about a woman named Olivia who finds love again after her husband leaves her during a major house renovation.

It’s a perfect beach read with more than one subplot bringing dimension to this rom-com. There were surprises and a few twists and turns that left me guessing which is rare for this genre. It’s a fast, enjoyable read with a range of characters that play off of each other well. Definitely worth a read!

[Leslie · Rating 3 out of 5]

Olivia is frenetic and frazzled as she navigates home renovation, a precocious daughter, and her cheating husband leaving her. She comes off as a sap and not very swift, constantly on the edge of collapse. Her so-called best friends aren't really honest with her and she gullibly believes what her oversexed neighbor says. Her hysteria, at several points in the book, would have been ended with a good slap across her face if this were a movie instead of a book. The reader has sympathy for her, but Olivia manages to wind herself up so much it's hard to like her. The ending finally came after another exhausting wind up and was fairly unsatisfying as much was still unresolved. This book was billed as comedic, but it isn't funny, actually, the heroine is rather pathetic.

[Nicki · Rating 3 out of 5]

Typical Catherine Alliott story. Her heroines always seem to be rich twits and Olivia is no exception. I didn't really like her honestly. Nor Nina or Hugh or Molly. The smoking really put me off.
Not bad for light reading, but it's hard to care what happens romantically to people you haven't warmed to.
The builders story was hammy and didn't ring true either. Very long also.
Not to put anyone off who feels like a bit of chick lit, it's mildly amusing and the writing is good, it's just not overly convincing. Read a lot worse.

[Rachel Brand · Rating 5 out of 5]

A hilarious read, this book is laugh-out-loud funny. My favourite of Catherine Alliott's books!

[Jana]

This book is so about life. This would happen to me or my family, at least the falling down part. LOL!! Catherine gives you funny with enough depth that you aren't bored

[Suzanne Pixley · Rating 4 out of 5]

Taking charge of your life

Amazing what troubles a young English woman can find herself in within a short time and how she stands tall and faces them all. Her husband announces he's having an affair and walks out only too return a few months later. The work crew remodeling her house become her friends but later find themselves involved in manslaughter and involve her and her house.. She falls in love with a composer neighbor but is then told her best friend is in love withdrawal and how much you the same man. Somehow by the book's end, all is resolved and she manages to stand straight and tall, taking charge of the chaos. The English setting adds to the reading. Lots of humor. Story is believable.

[Ilse · Rating 2 out of 5]

Een boek over een vrouw die in de steek gelaten is.
Ik denk niet dat er veel mensen zitten te wachten op de klaagzang van een vreemde in de steek gelaten vrouw.
In mijn vriendenkring, met alle plezier. (al klinkt dat anders dan ik het bedoel).
Maar ik heb echt niet de behoefte om dan over een vrouw te lezen die probeert haar leven op de rails te krijgen, dan ook nog eens behoorlijk impulsief is en maar doet en doet en doet zonder ooit na te denken over de gevolgen.
het boek hangt met haken en ogen aan elkaar, en kabbelt van chaos naar chaos.
sorry, eens en nooit meer

[Janice Hatcher · Rating 4 out of 5]

Humorous and interesting. Thoroughly enjoyable.

I chose this book because is sounded like it would be a fun romp. However, it was more the very funny story of Olivia and her troubles. An unfaithful husband, the other woman working at her daughter's school, a trio of workmen remodeling her kitchen and, well enough spoilers! Her life is as chaotic and frustrating and amazing as it could possibly be. Except for a few British references, I'm American, I thoroughly enjoyed reading about her life.

[Melissa Hall]

I don't know how to rate this book. I was stunned by repeated instances of casual racism and homophobia -- sometimes masked as jokes (slitty eyes/Prince Phillip), sometimes used as character development (Nanette, the randy neighbor), and once as a descriptor (upon seeing Nina -- hips and bottom rolling like a black girl's), just to name a few. I read it on an e-reader and decided the book must be from the mid-20th century. Nope, 2017. Alliott is published by Penguin UK. I have no idea how this stuff made it one to the page and past an editor. Yikes.

[Anne Brooke · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a well written older women's romance and great fun in parts. I also really liked the main character. However, the plotline with the builders isn't needed and towards the end the story goes off in a pointless plot arc which absolutely doesn't fit with the rest of the novel. Because of this, the conclusion of the romance is too rushed and unlikely, which is a shame. I also could have done with more of the quirky daughter who seems to disappear in the last fifth of the book! However, it's definitely readable.

[Amy Smith · Rating 2 out of 5]

Enjoyed the British linguistics but found it to be a frivolous read with a bunch of shallow judgmental characters.

This one passage was the most insightful thing in the book: “Years of rich, privileged people playing carelessly with other, less privileged people’s lives. Let the little family of the ‘lower orders’ beside the garage in Finchley......just get on with it, just cope, whilst those who’d created the carnage, those carefree, rich, amorous men....absconded themselves.”

[Tash · Rating 3 out of 5]

I always enjoy Catherine Alliiots books for a bit of pure, lighthearted escapism and a good laugh, however this is my least favorite of hers I've read so far. The main character was just a bit toooo manic and the 10 year old daughter unrealistically had the knowledge and maturity of at least a 13 year old.
I was still happy to read to the end as her style is so easy to read but this won't be on my recommended list.

[Kate McDougall Sackler · Rating 3 out of 5]

I actually liked this book more than I thought I would. It is about a woman married to a pompous jerk who finds out he has been unfaithful to her. They break up, get back together and ultimately she must decide if she really wants him back. It does have funny moments, but I had trouble believing someone intelligent could be so clueless. Throw in some renovations, builders, a famous composer, and a dead body (a literal cover up), and things get chaotic.

[Kirstyn · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book starts off lovely and the romance is cute and everything is going along, you know, normally and then it suddenly goes nuts. I mean it's a funny book and I enjoyed most of it until the end section which is just really far-fetched and ridiculous.

[Gail · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book was good till about a 3rd of the way through then it all went a bit daft and the storyline was just unrealistic.i finished till the end but it was ruined for me with all the builder parts of the story ..wouldn't read again although im disappointed as it started so well

[Julie Kendrick · Rating 5 out of 5]

Brilliant. So much going on I couldn’t wait to pick this book up at the end of the day and delve back into the interwoven stories. I love Catherine’s characters and her stories are so rich with the odd bombshell dropped here and there you can’t ask for more.

[Jenny L · Rating 4 out of 5]

A daft and enjoyable yarn. Good long story full of quite made characters - all very upper middle class and just fun.

[Lisa van Zyl-Jones · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great story. Lots of different threads and characters. Very easy page turning read.

[Catherine · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really enjoyed reading about the twists and turns of Olivia's Luck. It was a like a holiday to read this book as I was transported away into her world.

[Nessa · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another fabulous read from this author. Love Catherine's books.

[Thelma MacDonald · Rating 5 out of 5]

Enjoyed this book very much, fast paced with lots of humour. Interesting characters as well as the main character

[Miranda Beer · Rating 5 out of 5]

Loved every minute!

[Louise · Rating 5 out of 5]

A really laugh out loud book absolutely loved it

[Frances Littell · Rating 3 out of 5]

A domestic saga that went on and on and on

[Rachel Warn · Rating 3 out of 5]

Light read- middle class recently jilted mother in a country village with a few twists and turns between builders and a composer in her street. Somewhat predictable but readable

[Abby · Rating 2 out of 5]

Frustrating at times.