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Product Description
Sunday Times Culture, September 18th, 2005
"Liz Jones' Diary is candid, observant, and for that reason, laugh-out-loud funny."
The Times, September 3rd, 2005
"With this book she will irritate, nag and obsess her way into the hearts of many readers."
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
7 of 7 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
Liz and Nirpal seem like opposites. They are, in many ways, but the glue that keeps them together is that they need each other.
Liz is a former anorexic fashionista who adores her cats. She's a vegetarian. Her anal-retentive tendencies (to which she fully admits) grate after a while, as do the obsessive details about beauty products used/ bedlinen bought etc. But it's essential to help you get a feel for her character. But contrary to how other readers have described her in other reviews, she doesn't come across as "mad". A bit eccentric, perhaps, but her kind heart and longing for love are every bit as normal and ordinary as those of any woman, and that's what so many people who read her column can relate to.
Moving on to The Husband, I had expected to resent Nirpal, based on an interview he did about being "the most hated guy in the UK" and on other stuff he's written (and also on comments about him on British Asian websites).
Instead, I found a very complex rendering of a very real man. He loves his wife, but feels trapped in marriage. He can be callous to her emotional needs (he seems to despise anything sentimental, having had a tough upbringing). But he's also gentle to her cats, inconsolable when his friend dies, etc.
They are both flawed people who, somehow, need each other. Their relationship seems like fiction, but the dynamics are so human.
I wholeheartedly recommend this book. And, at the risk of sounding like Jerry Springer's Final Word I wish both of them the best of luck in the choices they end up making.
Liz is a former anorexic fashionista who adores her cats. She's a vegetarian. Her anal-retentive tendencies (to which she fully admits) grate after a while, as do the obsessive details about beauty products used/ bedlinen bought etc. But it's essential to help you get a feel for her character. But contrary to how other readers have described her in other reviews, she doesn't come across as "mad". A bit eccentric, perhaps, but her kind heart and longing for love are every bit as normal and ordinary as those of any woman, and that's what so many people who read her column can relate to.
Moving on to The Husband, I had expected to resent Nirpal, based on an interview he did about being "the most hated guy in the UK" and on other stuff he's written (and also on comments about him on British Asian websites).
Instead, I found a very complex rendering of a very real man. He loves his wife, but feels trapped in marriage. He can be callous to her emotional needs (he seems to despise anything sentimental, having had a tough upbringing). But he's also gentle to her cats, inconsolable when his friend dies, etc.
They are both flawed people who, somehow, need each other. Their relationship seems like fiction, but the dynamics are so human.
I wholeheartedly recommend this book. And, at the risk of sounding like Jerry Springer's Final Word I wish both of them the best of luck in the choices they end up making.
13 of 14 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase
I never thought that the intimate minutiae of someone else's relationship could be so addictively page turning. I received this from Amazon two days ago and cannot put it down. On some pages I am on her side- he is exasperating and thick skinned and seems to think marriage is simply an upgrade in accommodation. On the next page, I can see his point- she is uptight and obsessively tidy with the rigidity of rules and laws that are often unique to those who have been accustomed to their own space for many years. She brings the definition of high maintenance to its kness and invents new levels of it. She is frustrated when he fails to read her complex unspoken list of wants.
However, what is inescapably likeable about Liz Jones is that she is searingly honest and innately herself with every word- albeit it an occcasionally whiny, insecure self. She does not try to be anyone else and produces some artlessly laugh out loud dialogue. For all her experience and her media savvy career, there is a touching naivite about this woman who has only had four boyfriends in her life before her husband. Her gratitude is palpable.
Sometimes you feel like shouting at her but at the same time, you can't help liking a woman who treats her cats like royalty and isn't afraid to say that she cries or that she feels silly.
I highly recommend this as an intriguing read that feels like a long phone call with a friend, that will regularly change your opinions moment by moment.
I ended up liking both parties, and the four cats.
However, what is inescapably likeable about Liz Jones is that she is searingly honest and innately herself with every word- albeit it an occcasionally whiny, insecure self. She does not try to be anyone else and produces some artlessly laugh out loud dialogue. For all her experience and her media savvy career, there is a touching naivite about this woman who has only had four boyfriends in her life before her husband. Her gratitude is palpable.
Sometimes you feel like shouting at her but at the same time, you can't help liking a woman who treats her cats like royalty and isn't afraid to say that she cries or that she feels silly.
I highly recommend this as an intriguing read that feels like a long phone call with a friend, that will regularly change your opinions moment by moment.
I ended up liking both parties, and the four cats.
10 of 11 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
If you love Liz Jones's column that appears in YOU magazine with the Mail on Sunday, then you can't miss this book, which charts how journalist Liz Jones met her husband and the ups and downs of their married life. There are some great laugh out loud moments, but bearing in mind the characters are all real, sometimes it just seems very sad. Once you've finished the book, you'll feel like you know Liz, Nirpal (and the cats!) and care very much about what happens next...
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
real life
Funny, poignant, realistic, truthful, all words and more to describe this book. I read the book after the second one, The Exmoor Files, but it didnt matter. Read more
Published 8 months ago by Ms. Z. Cumberpatch
Liz Jones diaries
This is quite simply one of the funniest books I have ever read. Cant wait to start her latest.
Published 24 months ago by J. C. Ball
One Star Missing
As a story, I was fascinated by it as one might be fascinated by a car crash. How Liz and Nirpal even stayed together for as long as they did is amazing. Read more
Published on 21 Jan 2010 by Sue
liz jones diary
i think liz jones is an excellent writer and i love all she writes about.
Published on 7 Sep 2009 by Mrs. La Dudley
Lovely Liz
Why doesnt Liz have a lovely man to look after her? When you read her diary you feel as if you know her and you can feel her pain when she has her doubts about being loved enough. Read more
Published on 4 Sep 2009 by Mrs. T. G. M. Bond
Brilliant!
I have been a fan of Liz Jones for a number of years now - this book is as good as I had hoped it would be. A great read - very moving and funny. Read more
Published on 28 July 2009 by Sarah.
Absurd
The characters featured are portrayed as ludicrous and theatrical, rather than sincere, autobiographical individuals. Read more
Published on 29 Feb 2008 by LaVey
So Funny
I don't really know how funny this book is meant to be. This is taken from the column that Jones' writes, chronicling her own life, and is intensely personal. Read more
Published on 16 Nov 2007 by Mrs. K. A. Wheatley
Actually quite funny
This is actually quite a funny book and a very good read, which I hadn't expected because her columns annoy me so much (mostly due to her extreme neediness that keeps her with... Read more
Published on 3 Oct 2007 by Countess Olenska
Like watching a car accident
This book might well be worth reading if only to remind yourself that no matter how badly things are going, you are not as sad and pathetic as these characters. Read more
Published on 2 Dec 2006 by Book Angel
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