Imagine the sexiest man you can think of. He's a walking stag weekend. He's a funny, disrespectful, fast, confident, irreverent pub crawl. He is also completely unscrupulous. He's about to destroy Connie's peace of mind, her plan for living happily ever after with her loving husband Luke. What will happen if her husband finds out? What will happen if he doesn't? Connie doesn't know the answers ... yet.
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Adele Parks' Playing Away is founded on that well-worn adage: the grass is always greener. Connie and Luke have been married a year and they're both ecstatically happy. Or are they? The reader quickly realises that Connie isn't short for Constancy. Away on a business trip, her loins irrepressibly draw her to the devilishly attractive John Harding and she rushes headlong into a heated affair. Connie soon becomes Con-Artist as she deceives her decent but dull husband. While her lover woos her with evenings at out-of-the-way, grubby pubs and with late-night calls and faxes, after pub closing-time, declaring his longing for her, Connie begins to confuse lust with fate and deludes herself he could be the one.
In Playing Away, the author has entered dangerous, forbidden territory by writing from the perspective of the adulteress--a traditionally unsympathetic character. However, Adele Parks has succeeded in making the reader despise the character's actions, without rejecting Connie, who is attractive, candid and exhilarating. So many novels these days focus on finding Mr Right, it is refreshing to come across one that looks beyond the wedding and proceeds to undermine the traditional stereotype--only men are tempted to stray. A scorching, subversive debut novel, this novel has all the ingredients of a successful modern romance but with a healthy dose of reality.
Adele Parks joins the new elite of twenty-/thirtysomething female authors who are sustaining the spirit of Helen Fielding's Bridget Jones's Diary. By deepening the genre's significance and adding a sting to the tail, they are finding innovative ways to achieve more resonance with today's women. Nicola Perry
Review
"Marie Claire" A light comic novel....This month's Pick of the Paperbacks (April 2000).
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First Sentence
"happy anniversary, darling." Read the first page
Front Cover | Copyright | Excerpt | Back Cover
"happy anniversary, darling." Read the first page
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
6 of 6 people found the following review helpful
By A Customer
Format:Paperback
What a read, everything, from the humour, the lust, the friends- to the 'big affair' was compelling. i was amused, touched, romanced, saddened and thrilled by the story, from start to finish. My attention was grasped from the prologue and just didnt let go, it was easy to relate with Connie and feel her feelings, think her thoughts. We all have friends to whom we can match with Connies and Adele Parks manner of describing her characters is excellent, giving her reader the full picture. This is the first book to have made me shed a tear, and as soon as i reached the end i turned back to the beginning, wanting to relive the whole story all over again. However, my sister in law has tonight dragged the book, from my reluctant grasp with the promise of returning it when she has read it.........................will i ever see it again! Aaaaarrrggghh!
12 of 13 people found the following review helpful
By A Customer
Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase
There's absolutely no way anyone can compare this book to the influx of "Bridget Jones Lookalikes" that have flooded the market over the past couple of years. I bought this book because I was intrigued by the description on the back, but I can honestly say it doesn't do it justice. I found this book one of the most compelling, heartbreaking and exciting I've ever read. If anyone's ever been in the position Connie finds herself in, you will smile when you recognise yourself in Adele Park's achingly good descriptions of the highs and lows that go with the territory of having an affair. It's so well written and sensitively true to life, that I felt throughly disappointed when I'd finished it. Not because the ending wasn't good - but because I couldn't read it anymore. Accusing "Playing Away" of being a "girly book" is a travesty. Thank you Adele, for writing something that I could have written myself if only I had the talent. An absolutely brilliant book.
3 of 3 people found the following review helpful
By A Customer
Format:Paperback
I couldn't stop reading this but I still can't work out whether that was because I was really enjoying it or because I was dreading Connie ending up with John! It's a book I can't compare with any others aimed at the 'thirtysomething' market because it's very raw, real and gets you thinking about marriage and why people get so complacent about it. The writing style (odd in places) gets you inside the mind of Connie to truly understand why she embarks on the affair despite being in a very young marriage. This is a book which I am still pondering over a few days later!
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3.9 out of 5 stars
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
5.0 out of 5 stars
my favourite author
I love every book that i have read of Adele Parks. Adele knows how to give readers an exciting packed dramatizing read .Adele Parks is my very favourite author. Read more
Published 1 month ago by bookmoviefanatic
5.0 out of 5 stars
Compelling read
Though I finished this book two days ago,the story and characters are still buzzing around my head!
As a long time married, I'm a bit confused by Connie's decision to embark... Read more
As a long time married, I'm a bit confused by Connie's decision to embark... Read more
Published 6 months ago by janice
5.0 out of 5 stars
What a debut!
I really enjoyed this book and couldn't put it down - thoroughly enjoyable debut novel. I can't believe I actively disliked Connie most of the time but was also very fond of her,... Read more
Published 8 months ago by V Depledge
5.0 out of 5 stars
Love Adele's book
This was the first novel I read by Adele Parks and what a way to be introduced to her writing! I couldn't put this one down and got really drawn into the story. Read more
Published 10 months ago by Little Miss Star*x
5.0 out of 5 stars
Cor!
This was the second book I ever read from Adele, and I read it 2 days and then read it again straight after in another 2 days. Read more
Published 11 months ago by MrsSmithand2
1.0 out of 5 stars
such a difficult read
I read this during the past ten days - it took absolutely ages, I found it long, drawn out and difficult to read. Read more
Published 15 months ago by L. Keely
5.0 out of 5 stars
Perfect!
Read this before other Adele Parks books.It will make sence when you read Young Wives Tales after.
Great book if you like chick-lit. Read more
Great book if you like chick-lit. Read more
Published 23 months ago by Rhi
5.0 out of 5 stars
Exciting Read
A very good book. Also a quick read too. I finished it in a week because I wanted to know what happens next! Read more
Published on 30 Oct 2009 by Samantha Slater
3.0 out of 5 stars
Good, dirty fun.
On the face of it, I should have hated this book. The central character is shallow, self-obsessed, unbelievably selfish, vain and smug and she doesn't improve, or appear to learn... Read more
Published on 15 Jun 2009 by Love Books
2.0 out of 5 stars
Very slow read
Not the best read, a bit slow with the story not a page turner, first time I have read this author not sure if I will try another of her books
Published on 20 May 2009 by Mrs. Anne Birks
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