- Paperback: 320 pages
- Publisher: Penguin; Open Market ed edition (15 May 2008)
- Language English
- ISBN-10: 0141038454
- ISBN-13: 978-0141038452
- Product Dimensions: 18 x 11 x 2.4 cm
- Average Customer Review: 3.6 out of 5 stars See all reviews (16 customer reviews)
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 1,837,791 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
Shire Hell
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Product Description
Review
Praise for Notting Hell
'Shiveringly brilliant' Jilly Cooper
'An addictively funny read about the lives of the rich and richer ****' Heat
'A wickedly funny comedy of modern manners' OK!
--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.Product Description
Mimi and Ralph have left social climbing, pushy parenting and their marital problems behind them in London, and moved west to the bucolic green depths of the country. Or so they thought. Yes, there's mud and masses of fresh air, plenty of handsome hayseeds and there's Rose, Mimi's new best friend and Dorset's answer to Martha Stewart. But what should be Shire Heaven is, it turns out, just as tricky to navigate as Notting Hell. There's low-level conflict between the racehorses in vintage/Diesel/Ralph Lauren and the brood mares in Barbour/Boden, there's guerrilla warfare between the landowners and eco-warriers and naked hostility between Old Money, New Money and No Money. Yes, in honeybourne, if you don't have:1) A landscaped garden within 1000 acres (minimum) of prime land2) A helipad for your trophy guests3) An organic farm shop selling 16 sorts of home-made sausages4) Four pony-mad polo-playing children5) A literary festival in your mini-stately6) A bottom that looks smackable in jodhpursThen, well...you're Mimi basically.And that's just the start of her problems. Mimi also has a secret. But can she keep it?
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
6 of 6 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
Mimi and Ralph Fleming have sold their house in Notting Hill and moved to Honeyborne in West Dorset. The population of that village is made up of a few people - gentry and lesser folk - who have lived there for ages and of a number of wealthy newcomers. The latter in particular bring with them all the competitive attempts at one-upmanship that characterized them in Town; and Mimi, ever fashion-conscious, now has to learn what is fashionable in the countryside. There is a lot about horses and horsy women, and a nice extended set-piece description of a country house shooting party.
Rachel Johnson ploughs much the same furrow as she did in her previous novel, Notting Hell. If you were amused by the recounting of what is chic in Notting Hill, you will be amused by this novel also; but if, like me, you wearied a little of this relentlessly sustained theme by the time you came to the end of the former book (see my review), your heart may sink a little at more of the same here. In Notting Hell there were some hilarious situations which made me laugh; but in this book, though it has some intricate plotting, the comedy of manners is not matched - at least in my opinion - by comic situations. It seemed to me that the author was for long stretches somewhat on autopilot. As in the last book, we have alternating female narratives: one by Mimi and the other by Rose, the only companionable friend and confidant Mimi has been able to make in Honeyborne. The situations are similar also: in Notting Hell a wealthy American outraged the other residents of the garden square by erecting an intrusive `garage'; in Shire Hell a (somewhat) impoverished local landowner plans to erect a huge wind-turbine on a beautiful hill-top, for which he will collect a handsome sum from an electricity company. There are the same erotically-described infidelities, though in the countryside this is apparently so natural that it is not a subject for gossip and side-taking as it was in Notting Hill, and husbands have to put up with it because, apparently, divorce puts you out of the loop in the countryside. Clare, whose narrative had alternated with Mimi's in Notting Hell, makes her appearance and towards the end fruitfully ties the two books together. Just how fruitfully emerges at the very end; but, in between, Rachel Johnson inserts a sensational revelation which, contrary to the notion that in a village community everyone knows what everyone else has been up without that being a subject of gossip, does create a buzz.
Mimi is involved in one heart-felt situation, and in the end I did rather like her.
Rachel Johnson ploughs much the same furrow as she did in her previous novel, Notting Hell. If you were amused by the recounting of what is chic in Notting Hill, you will be amused by this novel also; but if, like me, you wearied a little of this relentlessly sustained theme by the time you came to the end of the former book (see my review), your heart may sink a little at more of the same here. In Notting Hell there were some hilarious situations which made me laugh; but in this book, though it has some intricate plotting, the comedy of manners is not matched - at least in my opinion - by comic situations. It seemed to me that the author was for long stretches somewhat on autopilot. As in the last book, we have alternating female narratives: one by Mimi and the other by Rose, the only companionable friend and confidant Mimi has been able to make in Honeyborne. The situations are similar also: in Notting Hell a wealthy American outraged the other residents of the garden square by erecting an intrusive `garage'; in Shire Hell a (somewhat) impoverished local landowner plans to erect a huge wind-turbine on a beautiful hill-top, for which he will collect a handsome sum from an electricity company. There are the same erotically-described infidelities, though in the countryside this is apparently so natural that it is not a subject for gossip and side-taking as it was in Notting Hill, and husbands have to put up with it because, apparently, divorce puts you out of the loop in the countryside. Clare, whose narrative had alternated with Mimi's in Notting Hell, makes her appearance and towards the end fruitfully ties the two books together. Just how fruitfully emerges at the very end; but, in between, Rachel Johnson inserts a sensational revelation which, contrary to the notion that in a village community everyone knows what everyone else has been up without that being a subject of gossip, does create a buzz.
Mimi is involved in one heart-felt situation, and in the end I did rather like her.
4 of 4 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
I adore Rachel Johnson -she is a witty and intelligent writer. The characters are spot on and as a West London and Dorset home owner they made me weep and wince at times. This is the sort of book you want to read in a Diptyque candle lit bath or snuggle up under White Company fresh linen with a bar of Green and Blacks. A gorgeous girly indulgence. But I think the story loses the thread at times- expect brilliant characters but not an edge of your seat plot.
3 of 3 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
The town and country set have long needed a send-up, and Johnson is the ideal writer to take over from Jilly Cooper in this field. Mimi, the former chronicler of Notting Hell has sold up for a mere £2 million and moved to Home Farm, a chaotic Dorsetshire farmhouse which does not bear comparison with her friend Rose's immaculate one. Her children are not pleased (I especially enjoyed her daughter's complaints on "gurl" about the dreariness of it all, which greatly resemble my own petal's moans)and the contrast between visiting fairs with knitted yoghurt and city slicker pursuits is wittily described.
But what appalling people! The lazy, hypochondriac Pierre, who carries a log around in order not to be asked to do anything by his enrage wife is one thing; the multimillionaire who describes himself as a "Jewray Henry" another. If these are the kind of snobs who set up their own literary festival and who smugly pat themselves on the back for having wind-farms then the guillotine can't come here too soon. I'm sorry the Johnson didn't turn her pen to the contrast between the real poverty in such areas and the kind of idiots who fret over the choice between Boden and Barbour. Less name-checks and more of the genuine venom of Notting Hell would have made it a stronger sequel.
But what appalling people! The lazy, hypochondriac Pierre, who carries a log around in order not to be asked to do anything by his enrage wife is one thing; the multimillionaire who describes himself as a "Jewray Henry" another. If these are the kind of snobs who set up their own literary festival and who smugly pat themselves on the back for having wind-farms then the guillotine can't come here too soon. I'm sorry the Johnson didn't turn her pen to the contrast between the real poverty in such areas and the kind of idiots who fret over the choice between Boden and Barbour. Less name-checks and more of the genuine venom of Notting Hell would have made it a stronger sequel.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
Amusement - 5; Plot 3
I enjoyed reading Shire Hell, although the plot wasn't strong enough to make it unputdownable. In fact, a third of the way through, I wondered if there was a plot, since it seemed... Read more
Published 19 months ago by Jan-Jan
A good holiday read
An engaging, funny holiday read. I had not read the first book, Notting Hell, but I would reccomend reading that first to get to know the main characters.
Published 21 months ago by J. HOWARD
tire shire
I enjoyed Notting Hell but found this sequel quite boring and tedious to persevere with. Again predictable, and the story too played out. Read more
Published 23 months ago by L. Burtally
A tribute to a biblical institution
Both Notting Hell and Shire Hell are nothing but tributes to the "Family" a sacred institution, by judging the emphasis the author gives it, I wonder if Ms. Read more
Published on 14 Nov 2008 by M. Huerta
Sheer hell
Some people obviously like this book, and that's great, but I can't see why. It's little more than a string of designer label name-checks and two-dimensional posh characters who I... Read more
Published on 9 Nov 2008 by Love Books
Maybe I missed something...
I'd never read any of Rachel's books, but fancied something easy to read that would conjure up lovely countryside images - the concept of a blanket and cup of cocoa in a book. Read more
Published on 22 July 2008 by Lady V
A Slice of the Good Life
Having raced through Notting Hell & loved every juicy minute of it, I was really chuffed to discover Shire Hell in WhSmiths, Waterloo. Read more
Published on 7 July 2008 by Emma Goss-custard
Everyone in my dorm has read it
I am not usually very good at reading anything other than Harry Potter but my mother bought Notting Hell, the prequel to this, and I read it and enjoyed it so much. Read more
Published on 19 Jun 2008 by Posy Wood
Not as good as Notting Hell
This one is not as good as Notting Hell. The cast of characters is a bit confusing and hard to keep straight. Read more
Published on 17 Jun 2008 by Book Lover
shire pleasure
Read Notting Hell and loved it and was so glad to see the 'sequel'! I'm not even close to the have yachts and grab scraps of Boden at the NCT nearly new sale but find both books... Read more
Published on 8 Jun 2008 by M. A. Cuddeford-jones
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