- Mass Market Paperback: 339 pages
- Publisher: Plume Books (Mar 2001)
- Language English
- ISBN-10: 0452281784
- ISBN-13: 978-0452281783
- Product Dimensions: 20.1 x 13.5 x 2.3 cm
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 5,555,776 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
| ||||||||||||||||||
Did you know you can trade in your old books for an Amazon.co.uk Gift Card to spend on the things you want? Plus, get an extra £5 Gift Certificate when you trade in books worth £10 or more before June 30, 2012. Visit the Books Trade-In Store for more details. |
Product details |
More About the Author
Tag this product(What's this?)Think of a tag as a keyword or label you consider is strongly related to this product.
Tags will help all customers organise and find favourite items. |
Sell a Digital Version of This Book in the Kindle Store
If you are a publisher or author and hold the digital rights to a book, you can sell a digital version of it in our Kindle Store.
Learn more
Customer Reviews
There are no customer reviews yet on Amazon.co.uk.
5 star
4 star
3 star
2 star
1 star
Most Helpful Customer Reviews on Amazon.com (beta)
Amazon.com:
46 reviews
7 of 7 people found the following review helpful
Ragged and haphazard
20 Nov 2001
Format:Mass Market Paperback
One of the reviews on the back of the book suggested that this was a "satire." Interesting review, that. Was that reviewer entirely aware of the definition of "satire"?
Holden definitely seems to think she is writing satire, but she couldn't be more obvious or self-conscious about it. Her take on the genre is to use as many bad puns as possible (she even goes as far as to use "heir" in another pun in the novel - an unforgivable sin, in my opinion).
At the same time, the plot is an equally obvious attempt at humor. The writer's-blocked main character (Anna) gets dumped by her perfect boyfriend after he hooks up with a fellow wedding attendee. By coincidence, Anna met up with a woman (at the same fateful wedding) who gave her some life-changing career advice. Anna follows through and finds herself (passive voice intentional) in the middle of the biggest mess imaginable. She has to nanny of a spoiled-rotten rich kid, while running the alcoholic mother's household and dodging the father's advances. All for an almost nonexistent salary. Anna may try to stand up for herself, but is always thwarted by ... something or other. But we're still supposed to feel sorry for her. I'm sorry, but this much plot contrivance is too much.
Holden definitely seems to think she is writing satire, but she couldn't be more obvious or self-conscious about it. Her take on the genre is to use as many bad puns as possible (she even goes as far as to use "heir" in another pun in the novel - an unforgivable sin, in my opinion).
At the same time, the plot is an equally obvious attempt at humor. The writer's-blocked main character (Anna) gets dumped by her perfect boyfriend after he hooks up with a fellow wedding attendee. By coincidence, Anna met up with a woman (at the same fateful wedding) who gave her some life-changing career advice. Anna follows through and finds herself (passive voice intentional) in the middle of the biggest mess imaginable. She has to nanny of a spoiled-rotten rich kid, while running the alcoholic mother's household and dodging the father's advances. All for an almost nonexistent salary. Anna may try to stand up for herself, but is always thwarted by ... something or other. But we're still supposed to feel sorry for her. I'm sorry, but this much plot contrivance is too much.
12 of 14 people found the following review helpful
A Different Kind of Love Story
28 May 2001
Format:Mass Market Paperback
Add another good one to the wave of wacky British humor novels. Wendy Holden's submission has upped the ante. Wry, sardonic and blatanly intelligent, Bad Heir Day is a novel that will have you laughing, shouting and itching to wring someone's neck all in the course of one sentence.
Anna is not your everyday hopeless singleton. Of course, she wants to snag her a husband, and a rich one would be nice, but she also has a smart head with finely-honed red-flag detecting skills. After the first few days at her new job as writer's assistant to the wealthy and snooty Cassandra Knight, Anna quickly realizes she's nothing more than a glorified nanny. Cassandra's son Zak is a holy terror armed with devious pranks and dirty jokes. What's worse, Cassandra's husband Jett, a has-been heavy metal rocker with a lusty penchant for nannies, is the epitome of male sleaziness. And frankly, Anna can't take it anymore. So when she meets Jamie Angus, the heir to Dampie Castle on a remote island in Scotland, Anna clings to him tighter than stink on a junebug. And while the idea of being shacked up with a wealthy heir in an old royal castle amid the mist and heather of beautiful Scotland seems exciting and adventurous, well... let's just say Anna learns more about it than she ever wanted to know.
Bad Heir Day is a riotous story bursting with unforgettable scenes. The antics of Cassandra and Zak are what sitcoms are made of -- the novel could have completely went off on a tangent with their story and I would have been utterly satisfied. Although, while the first two-thirds of the novel had me in stitches, I will admit the ending tied up too conveniently and the humor became sparse. However, I am intrigued by the storytelling talent of Wendy Holden and haved placed her other novel, Simply Devine, on my list.
4 of 4 people found the following review helpful
AWFUL!!!!!!
23 Aug 2003
Format:Mass Market Paperback
I hate this book. I'm finally almost finished with it and then I'm throwing it away. It is one of the worst I've read. Try Good in Bed by Jennifer Weiner for a good read.
Were these reviews helpful?
Let us know
Customer Discussions
|
This product's forum
Active discussions in related forums
Search Customer Discussions
|
Related forums
|
Listmania!
Look for similar items by category
Look for similar items by subject
Feedback
- Would you like to update product info or give feedback on images?
- I am the Author, and I want to comment on my book.
- I am the Publisher, and I want to comment on this book.
