The Woman who Went to Bed for a Year
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Proof, once more, that Townsend is one of the funniest writers around (The Times )
Townsend's wit is razor-sharp (Daily Mirror )
Townsend's wit is razor-sharp (Daily Mirror )
Product Description
The day her gifted twins leave home for university, Eva climbs into bed and stays there. For seventeen years she's wanted to yell at the world, 'Stop! I want to get off'. Finally, this is her chance. Perhaps she will be able to think. Her husband Dr Brian Beaver, an astronomer who divides his time between gazing at the expanding universe, an unsatisfactory eight-years-old affair with his colleague Titania and mooching in his shed, is not happy. Who will cook dinner? Eva, he complains, is either having a breakdown or taking attention - seeking to new heights. But word of Eva's refusal to get out of bed quickly spreads. Alexander the dreadlocked white-van man arrives to help Eva dispose of all her clothes and possessions and bring her tea and toast. Legions of fans are writing to her or gathering in the street to catch a glimpse of this 'angel'. Her mother Ruby is unsympathetic: 'She'd soon get out of bed if her arse was on fire. 'And, though the world keeps intruding, it is from the confines of her bed that Eva at last begins to understand freedom. "The Woman Who Went to Bed for a Year" is a funny and touching novel about what happens when someone stops being the person everyone wants them to be. Sue Townsend, Britain's funniest writer for over three decades, has written a brilliant novel that eviscerates modern family life. Sue Townsend is Britain's favourite comic author. Her hugely successful novels include eight Adrian Mole books, "The Public Confessions of a Middle-Aged Woman (Aged 55 )", "Number Ten", "Ghost Children", "The Queen and I" and "Queen Camilla", all of which are highly acclaimed bestsellers. She has also written numerous well-received plays. She lives in Leicester, where she was born and grew up.
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
26 of 27 people found the following review helpful
Format:Kindle Edition|Amazon Verified Purchase
Sue Townsend had a great idea. Invent a woman who spends a year in bed! Eva Beaver is not ill, physically or mentally. She decides to go to bed to think.
With your main character in bed, you need an array of supporting characters to give some interest. I can imagine Townsend plotting these characters thinking they would be dynamite. Dr Brian Beaver (great name!), a dull astronomer who's constantly confused for an astrologer. His mistress, Titania (great name!). The weary and working class mother and mother-in-law, Ruby and Yvonne. The Beavers' autistic twin children. Poppy, the nymphomaniac who pretends to befriend the twins at university and wreaks havoc in the lives of hapless men. And finally Alexander, the dread locked would-be artist who falls in love with Eva. He and a facially scarred veteran from the war, Stuart, are the two token "nice" men, counter balancing Brian Junior and Senior.
The problem is that after a promising start, full of current social references and pithy pathos, Townsend runs into the problem of what to do with a bedridden woman.
There are a couple of references to Cold Comfort Farm and I believe Townsend thought she was creating something in this genre. But Eva Beaver is no Flora Poste. She languishes in bed, demanding food, and becomes an unlikely seer and guide with queues of distressed people wanting to see her.
So many of the characters are deeply unpleasant. Nothing new there: literature is full of characters like this. But there's nothing compelling about Beaver and his son. Even learning that Poppy had had a tragic past didn't make me feel sympathy for her. I just turned the pages when she appeared.
Townsend attempts to shock with careless and frequent mentions in schoolgirl language of the professor's affair with Titania, who turns up at night to sleep with him in his shed.
As for Eva, she is supposed to be in bed thinking, but what does she think about? We gain very little insight into what has driven her to her bed. She doesn't seem particularly bothered about her husband's affair. As we get to the closing pages, Townsend has the Herculean challenge of raising Eva from her bed and giving us insight into what sent her there and why it's now time to get up. But I was still none the wiser. There was a passing reference to the sort of tragedy and misfortune that every woman has to deal with at some point in her life. Is Townsend attempting to use Eva as an allegory for all womankind: put upon, heroic, passive? I suspect she was trying to find a higher purpose for Eva but to me it didn't work. Quite a few good chuckles though.
With your main character in bed, you need an array of supporting characters to give some interest. I can imagine Townsend plotting these characters thinking they would be dynamite. Dr Brian Beaver (great name!), a dull astronomer who's constantly confused for an astrologer. His mistress, Titania (great name!). The weary and working class mother and mother-in-law, Ruby and Yvonne. The Beavers' autistic twin children. Poppy, the nymphomaniac who pretends to befriend the twins at university and wreaks havoc in the lives of hapless men. And finally Alexander, the dread locked would-be artist who falls in love with Eva. He and a facially scarred veteran from the war, Stuart, are the two token "nice" men, counter balancing Brian Junior and Senior.
The problem is that after a promising start, full of current social references and pithy pathos, Townsend runs into the problem of what to do with a bedridden woman.
There are a couple of references to Cold Comfort Farm and I believe Townsend thought she was creating something in this genre. But Eva Beaver is no Flora Poste. She languishes in bed, demanding food, and becomes an unlikely seer and guide with queues of distressed people wanting to see her.
So many of the characters are deeply unpleasant. Nothing new there: literature is full of characters like this. But there's nothing compelling about Beaver and his son. Even learning that Poppy had had a tragic past didn't make me feel sympathy for her. I just turned the pages when she appeared.
Townsend attempts to shock with careless and frequent mentions in schoolgirl language of the professor's affair with Titania, who turns up at night to sleep with him in his shed.
As for Eva, she is supposed to be in bed thinking, but what does she think about? We gain very little insight into what has driven her to her bed. She doesn't seem particularly bothered about her husband's affair. As we get to the closing pages, Townsend has the Herculean challenge of raising Eva from her bed and giving us insight into what sent her there and why it's now time to get up. But I was still none the wiser. There was a passing reference to the sort of tragedy and misfortune that every woman has to deal with at some point in her life. Is Townsend attempting to use Eva as an allegory for all womankind: put upon, heroic, passive? I suspect she was trying to find a higher purpose for Eva but to me it didn't work. Quite a few good chuckles though.
30 of 32 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover|Amazon Verified Purchase
I pre ordered this book as I have collected every book Sue Townsend has ever written and I could not bear to wait a minute longer than necessary. I was dubious of the content as it suggested a depressing story line with none of the famous Townsend laugh out loud moments. However, the story unfolds with lots of humour (albeit some of it dark). I simply couldn't put the book down once I started. It is an intriguing insight into human nature, families and relationships, all beautifully exaggerated to form the story line. I was not disappointed... my only complaint would be it dragged on a bit at the end but that may have been my impatience to find out the conclusion. I just hope there are more Sue Townsend books to come, hopefully with a bit more light humour!
3 of 3 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover|Amazon Verified Purchase
I read all Sue's books and I like them very much. Unfortunately not this one. Whatever message Sue wanted to bring out in this book, I did not get it. Nobody can expect a novel to be 100% related with actual life, but this one is just being unrealistic all the way. No matter how frustrating one's life is, this Eva's behaviour is so ridiculous (imagine asking people to get rid of your poo poo because you want to stay in bed!)that I started to hate her, instead of feeling any kind of sympathy. If not because of the price I paid for this book, I would have thrown it out of my window! On second thought best to recycle the paper!
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
Not one of Sue Townsend's best
I like Sue Townsend's work very much but I'm afraid I didn't get on all that well with this book. It is well written, easy to read and amusing in places but I thought that it... Read more
Published 2 days ago by Sid Nuncius
Lifes big issues in the guise of the banal - well done Sue
I'm a big fan of Sue Townsend and her Adrian Mole books so was excited to read this one. The plot revolves around the Beaver family and what happens when Eva Beaver (! Read more
Published 3 days ago by Mrs. Fiona Wilton
Another Gem of a Townsend
The last Townsend book I read was Adrian Mole and the Weapons of Mass Destruction. I have not venture outside Townsend Adrian Mole realm. Read more
Published 4 days ago by Anistitis
The Woman who Went to Bed for a Year
This book started out well being a female of a similar age I felt quite a bit of empathy with Eva Beaver. Read more
Published 10 days ago by Sandra Craske
Sounds like a good idea to me . . .
Most of us must at some time have been attracted by the idea of taking to our beds and letting the world pass us by. Read more
Published 11 days ago by Damaskcat
Darkly Brilliant
I have loved Sue Townsend's writing ever since I first discovered Adrian Mole aged 13 and 3/4. I always look forward to a new book coming out, and in The Woman Who Went to Bed for... Read more
Published 12 days ago by Mrs. K. A. Wheatley
Not as funny as I expected, but well written
I received this book via the Amazon Vine programme, basically because I thought The Secret Diary of Adrian Mole Aged 13 3/4 was so good (I bought it was it was first out and... Read more
Published 15 days ago by Tinhead
better at the start than at the end
this book was funny in the beginning but i found towards the end it was messy and a but silly although i understood the thoughts behind the story it lost me towards the end and... Read more
Published 15 days ago by jenko
Sparkling - Townsend at her finest
I can see the mixed reviews of this book on here already - but I have to say that I loved it and thought it was brilliant! Read more
Published 16 days ago by Easterchick
Funny in parts, but overall a disappointment
Eva Beaver (poor woman) has had enough of life and so one day, while her husband Brian is taking their eighteen-year-old twins, Brian Jnr and Brianne, to university, she gets into... Read more
Published 19 days ago by Sukie
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