- Hardcover: 256 pages
- Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing PLC (4 May 2009)
- Language English
- ISBN-10: 0747599068
- ISBN-13: 978-0747599067
- Product Dimensions: 21 x 15.4 x 2.8 cm
- Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 147,410 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
Designs for a Happy Home
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More About the Author
Product Description
Review
'A strikingly original and funny novel, which hits its targets with deadly accuracy. I loved the writing and Alizia's voice The whole organisation of the book is superb a winner' Helen Dunmore 'I read this very engaging book in two sittings. The character of Alizia is really original, funny and touching. Why have I never thought of keeping our drawing room furniture suspended from the ceiling when not in use? Designs is a genuinely original piece of writing and one which I thoroughly enjoyed. I am sure the book will do well. It deserves to' Paul Torday, author of Salmon Fishing in the Yemen
Product Description
'Design - For Life!' ...'And Live - For Design!' (Magic Mottoes 2 & 3) Can Interior Design make you a better person? Alizia Tame believes it can. In this book she will take you on a journey through the most private Interior of all: her thoughts and feelings. Everyone has heard of her creations - the Bridge Hallway, the Funnel Office, the Dawson House with its sofas that run on rails: now you can experience the life that lies behind them. Meet her husband Jem - the postmodern potter - who is in many ways her inspiration. Share the thrills and anxieties of juggling family and career. Discover the truth about her partnership with Fisher Paul and Simon Sanders at IntArchitec, the world's most innovative Design practice. Remember that when your world flips upside-down it is sometimes the most surprising people who turn out to be your friends For while Alizia has a Design for everything from relationships to work to motherhood, the people who matter most to her refuse to fit. As the gloss she has put on her life begins to crack she realises there may not, after all, be a Magic Motto for everything. And where can she find happiness then? Designs for a Happy Home is the sparkling story of a sometimes impossible, often infuriating but ultimately loveable heroine whose pilgrim's progress through modern marriage is at once funny, poignant and unforgettable.
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
If you only read "Designs for a Happy Home" to marvel at the author's ability to write convincingly in many different voices, that's a good enough reason. I was rather nervous in the first few chapters. The novel is a journal comprising writing by Alizia, the main character, and other contributions that she solicits.The author chose to make the writing style of Alizia slightly ridiculous. The threat was that in sustaining this, he would tip over into easy ridicule. He deftly avoided that trap and the development of Alizia's style as the novel becomes darker is so .... what's the word... ok, perfect.
Alizia is an interior designer and some of the jewels in the novel are the elucidation of some of her fantastic creations. The mind boggles at some of the contraptions that Reynolds comes up with.
Reynolds writes beautiful prose In an argument with her husband that, on the surface is a reasonably conducted affair, for Alizia: "And in me, it was like I was sand, draining out of myself between my toes. I saw my face as if had been painted in a fresco, great black hollow eyes and a black wailing mouth from which no sound came out".
He is a kind novelist and a very funny one. Highly recommended.
Alizia is an interior designer and some of the jewels in the novel are the elucidation of some of her fantastic creations. The mind boggles at some of the contraptions that Reynolds comes up with.
Reynolds writes beautiful prose In an argument with her husband that, on the surface is a reasonably conducted affair, for Alizia: "And in me, it was like I was sand, draining out of myself between my toes. I saw my face as if had been painted in a fresco, great black hollow eyes and a black wailing mouth from which no sound came out".
He is a kind novelist and a very funny one. Highly recommended.
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
I picked up this book quite randomly and now I've read it I can't believe I've never heard of this writer or this book before or that there's hardly any reviews for it. It's in the style a self-help/interior design book, full of over-enthusiastic 'magical mottoes' from seemingly shallow interior designer Alizia Tame. A fun start but it soon moves beyond satire into something quite wonderful and touching and by the end those mottoes don't seem quite so throwaway. As someone who's always hoping that 'this book' or 'that wallpaper' will change my life, it's awesome to find a book that actually, kind of DOES do that. I've emerged from it with a slightly altered view of my own world - and now I want to redecorate! For all the right reasons!
Just a shame the paperback version doesn't have such a gorgeous cover as the paint-chart hardcover that attracted me to it - looks a bit chick lit-ish. A shame 'cos there's much more to it than that.
Hope we see lots more from this writer.
Just a shame the paperback version doesn't have such a gorgeous cover as the paint-chart hardcover that attracted me to it - looks a bit chick lit-ish. A shame 'cos there's much more to it than that.
Hope we see lots more from this writer.
1 of 2 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
This book is a surprisingly good read, and I do mean surprising. Alizia Tamé is more than just an unreliable narrator--she's unpredictable, which is even more interesting. In most comic fiction, you get a feel for the writer's tone pretty early on and either cotton to it or not, depending on your own sense of humor. Reynolds accomplishes something quite different here. Not only does he use a variety of narrative points-of-view, he also plays with the reader's perspective on Alicia. At first, she seems like a two-dimensional cartoon ripe for parody, yet along the way she deepens to become a sometimes-sympathetic, sometimes-maddening focal point.
Designs for a Happy Home walks a fine line between parody and sincerity, without falling wholly into either camp. It's a light read and a page turner, yet one that never follows an expected formula. For me, that's what made spending time with Alizia a real and unique pleasure.
Designs for a Happy Home walks a fine line between parody and sincerity, without falling wholly into either camp. It's a light read and a page turner, yet one that never follows an expected formula. For me, that's what made spending time with Alizia a real and unique pleasure.
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