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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
BRILLIANT!!!,
By
This review is from: Crossed Wires (Paperback)
Rosy Thornton has written 4 books, and the first of her books I read was the most recent, Tapestry of Love. Having loved that, I went on and brought her other three.This one is very different to the other two I have read so far and is more of your typical `chick lit' with a dash of real life thrown in for good measure. The book introduces us to Mina who is working at the call centre that she doesn't particularly like, but it pays the bills. Her next caller happens to be Peter who has had an accident in his car. For some reason the two of them click and they are eventually drawn into each others lives despite the geographical difference. We get to see a bigger portion of Peter's life that we do Mina's but as the story progresses this makes sense. The two of them share common ground in that they are both single parents. The element of real life I mentioned in the story is that of the parent role of these two people. It is written really well and we get to see the trials and tribulations their kids put them through, which I am sure many parents could relate to. Peter and Mina find themselves drawn over experience and as a reader we get to see how things pan out, and how mistakes can be made when you only have one version of events. The thing that really struck me is the fact that there is no real storyline that is the major thread of this book. I know that sounds strange, but that is what makes it so special. This is about two people facing every day things that many people will understand. We meet their children, friends and family who also made the book even better. Peter has twin girls and Mina has a daughter and they are very close in age making the subtle link and bond between Peter and Mina very real. The children in this book, Cassie and Kim the twins and Sal, Mina's daughter, all played a part in the story in their own way. We get to see their lives and how things affect them and how this in turn affects their parents. We also see Mina's mum and stepdad Dave as they tackle the issues surrounding Mina's younger sister Jess. On the other side of the fence we see Peter's friends and neighbours Jeremy and Martin (who I adored as characters) as well as Trish who occasionally babysits for him. I can honestly say that I really, really enjoyed this. I was so shocked that such ordinary events could be structured into such a lovely book, as normally we have a main story to entertain us. In my opinion this just goes to show how good a writer Rosy Thornton is, a woman that can take every day, mundane stuff and turn it into a story. My only gripe was that I wanted it to last a little longer. Don't be put off if you read the back and think it's a typical story revolving around a single parent woman who wants to be rescued. It's truly the opposite and was an absolute pleasure to read.
7 of 8 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
A warm, finely-crafted novel,
By A Heyer Fan (UK) - See all my reviews
This review is from: Crossed Wires (Paperback)
Having read Rosy Thornton's previous novels, More Than Love Letters and Hearts and Minds, I was looking forward to Crossed Wires and I wasn't disappointed. I think it's her best yet.Single mum Mina works in an insurance call centre in the north of England. She comes into contact with Peter, a Cambridge University Geography lecturer, when he phones to report an accident - his landrover hit a tree while he was trying to avoid a cat. Peter is a single parent too, a widower who is bringing up his twin daughters alone. Peter and Mina are separated by distance and background, but despite this a relationship develops between them. Crossed Wires is a finely-crafted novel of immense warmth. The situations are beautifully observed and the interesting, believeable and endearing characters drew me in completely. I loved the way Rosy Thornton explored all the relationships, especially Peter and Mina's, and I finished Crossed Wires with a smile on my face. Bravo.
7 of 8 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Barriers and preconceptions,
By
This review is from: Crossed Wires (Hardcover)
I have read this author's previous two novels and enjoyed them so I was looking forward to this one. At first I wondered whether I was going to like it because I am not particularly interested in children and the blurb suggested this was mainly about the problems involved in bringing up children as a single parent. But I started reading and found that it was equally about how two people can have a meaningful relationship when they're separated by geography and lifestyle. Peter is a lecturer at Cambridge University and Mina works in the call centre of an insurance company. They 'meet' when Peter rings to report an accident to his Land Rover.The reader is in the privileged position of seeing more of Peter's life than Mina and vice versa, and consequently is aware of the pre-conceptions and misconceptions which have arisen. Both Peter and Mina are single parents and this gives them something to talk about apart from car insurance and gradually a relationship develops. To say any more about how this happens would be to give away too much of the plot, but I found it intriguing and satisfying. Yes there is a lot in the story about the difficulties faced by single parents but the problems are universal human problems and consequently of interest to anyone. Not all plot strands are tied up by the end of the book, which I found interesting and even the minor characters such as Mina's Mum and flaky sister and Peter's friends Jeremy and Martin and his research assistant Trish are fascinating. I could certainly see another novel developing out of this one. I shall await this author's next book with interest.
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