- Hardcover: 464 pages
- Publisher: Century (5 Oct 2000)
- Language English
- ISBN-10: 0712684298
- ISBN-13: 978-0712684293
- Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars See all reviews (15 customer reviews)
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 4,400,039 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
Virtue
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More About the Author
Product Description
Product Description
Anna and Harriet share a burden: hellishly saintly mothers. So armed with a wicked sense of humour, they set out to paint the town red.
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
4 of 4 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
Serena Mackesy is a unique talent, the type of writer that you don't stumble across everyday. She's a victim of bad cover art, however - don't let the horrible cover put you off this book. If you are a died-hard chick lit fan, this may not be the book for you. Or, it may! I love the silly stuff as much as the next woman, but I find Mackesy (in both The Temp and Virtue) delivers a deeper, darker tale. Virtue is the story of two women who have been dear friends and surrogate families for years. Anna and Harriet are different in many ways - Harriet is beautiful and aloof, frittering away her life making art out of popcorn and useless objects. Anna is not so beautiful, but makes up for it by sleeping with just about any warm male body. Oh, and they both work in a tawdry club where they dress up like school girls and "punish" the customers. The real driver of their story though is the relationships - or lack of - that they have with their mothers. Harriet's mother is somewhat of a Princess Diana figure (everyone has carefully stepped around that in the reviews, but there it is) who died in a spectacular fashion years before. She's now being bandied about as a potential saint and Harriet has some real issues with that. Anna's mother is a Nobel prize winning scientist/musician (yes - too good to be true) and is certainly nobody's saint. Throw in a handsome and noble policeman, a handsome (and noble in his own way) Australian school teacher on holiday, a tabloid columnist, and a few other dodgy characters and you've got quite a interesting crew. But reading along, you don't realize where Mackesy is taking you - and it get's fairly horrifying (in a good way, really!) Ultimately, you find yourself thinking about good and evil and what family - whether you're related or not - means. I truly loved this book and am saving it for (several) years, to pass along to my daughter when she's older. Mackesy writes some of the wittiest and intelligent dialog I've read and has a true gift for a plot twist. She shows the depth and talent with Virtue to break out of genre writing and go "mainstream" and I hope she does. Fabulous book - do yourself a favor and read it!
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
Whilst I enjoyed reading The Temp I just enjoyed the characters and the story in this book more. As someone else mentioned if I had judged this book by its cover alone then I woudn't have read it. I am looking forward to her next book.
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
... this is the book for you.
Virtue veers from the formula and gives us two friends, Harriet and Anna, both descendants of revered mothers - one a renown scientist, the other a deceased actress/philatrophist. The two meet in college and are roommates later in life.
Harriet is actually Lady Harriet so home is a castle.
Virtue veers from the formula and gives us two friends, Harriet and Anna, both descendants of revered mothers - one a renown scientist, the other a deceased actress/philatrophist. The two meet in college and are roommates later in life.
Harriet is actually Lady Harriet so home is a castle.
Harriet's mother's grave has been exhumed and her body is perfectly preserved despite being dead for 15 years. This brings about a call for her to be canonized as a saint. Which means the media run rampant in their getting a story from Harriet.
Meantime, Anna is dealing with the discovery of her own mother's sordid history and its bearing on her relationship with her today. Anna lies and tells her mother that she works in a library when she and Harriet are actually waitresses/dominatrixes at a club.
Don't look for parallels to your own life in an effort to solve your own problems -- but if you find them, kudos -- you are one interesting person!!!!!
Most Recent Customer Reviews
Not just another chick-lit cliche.
I came to this book after reading about a dozen formulaic girl-meets-boy-has-big-bum Bridget Jones rip-offs and older-divorced-meets-new-hunk type things(which Rafaella Barker does... Read more
Published on 7 Dec 2001
Brilliant - kept me guessing all the way
Enjoyed the temp a lot - but with Virtue Serena Mackesy shows real aplomb in the thriller genre. Perhaps not edge of the seat but entertaining to read and kept me guessing all the... Read more
Published on 26 April 2001 by "jonnoiom"
Absolutely terrible!
I really enjoyed 'The Temp' so I bought this book and looked forward to another entertaining read. Unfortunately I was very disappointed (sorry to disagree with all the other... Read more
Published on 11 Jan 2001
Go Girl!
Well, I think this is the only book I have rushed out and bought the moment it came out. When I was feeling a bit skint, too. Food can wait... Read more
Published on 4 Dec 2000 by sobanski@bigfoot.com
This is a brilliant book, a compelling read - buy it
Mackesy has written another charming, wonderful book. "Virtue" is well rounded, the story has been brilliantly developed and you can't help getting involved with her... Read more
Published on 1 Dec 2000
Sums up what having a 'best friend' is all about
If I had judged this book by its cover I would never have bought it.
Virtue is a wonderful book about love and friendship. I cannot praise this book enough - go buy!
Published on 6 Nov 2000
this book is a must read!
I first discovered Serena Mackesy from her fabulous work in the Indy, then 'The Temp' and now 'Virtue'. Her work just gets better and better! Read more
Published on 2 Nov 2000
Keep them coming........
Having read 'The Temp', I, like others did not believe that 'Virtue' could follow as well in its footsteps. Many authors are stuck on a theme, and churn 'samey' books out. Read more
Published on 23 Oct 2000 by emmawalker@hotmail.com
Ignore the guff on the back and trust me - READ THIS BOOK
I was completely put off this book by the awful description on the back which doesn't tell you anything about it and tries to make this wonderful book sound like a slick piece of... Read more
Published on 23 Oct 2000
You must read this book!
This is one of those books you pick up and have to read from cover to cover. I laughed and cried and loved all the characters. Read more
Published on 22 Oct 2000 by njchapman@easynet.co.uk
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