- Hardcover: 619 pages
- Publisher: Thorndike Press; Lrg edition (7 Jun 2007)
- Language English
- ISBN-10: 0786295791
- ISBN-13: 978-0786295791
- Product Dimensions: 2.2 x 1.6 x 0.3 cm
- Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars See all reviews (8 customer reviews)
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
3 of 4 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
I read, and thoroughly enjoyed, "The Ivy Chronicles", so when I saw that Karen Quinn had a new book out I didn't think twice about buying it. I'd like my money back now, please. Ivy was everything Christy is not - engaging, believable, funny, likeable. The plot of this novel clunks badly, leaping from incident to incident with no real narrative thread, and the ending is a big fat two-dimensional cliche which seems to have taken an express trip away from Planet Reality. (Goats? In a Manhattan apartment? You what?) There were moments when I found myself wondering if the two books had really been written by the same woman. Quinn's first outing was above the common run of pink-covered chicklit, but "Wife in the Fast Lane" belongs firmly in the slush pile with the rest. My advice: don't bother.
Format:Paperback
Maybe at some point the main characters learn from their mistakes and realise that they are shallow, thoughtless, callous, greedy, ungrateful, vain, hypocritical, and lack morals. Maybe at the end, they are transformed by their experiences. I don't know, as I could not put up with them all the way to the end of the book. I realise that puts me in a bad position to properly judge the book, and really tried to read it to the end, but it just got too much for me. I did manage to get more than three quarters of the way through, despite about the first third being written as if it was actually a summary, rather than a novel. However, even my mild interest in finding out what happened after the main element of the story finally got underway did not stop me groaning in agony at the idea that a supposedly intelligent, business-like woman with nannies, housekeepers, drivers etc. might be having a hard time looking after a schoolchild just because she has to arrange for a meal to be brought into school for her. The husband does not allow her to eat with them as he is a selfish git, but this is presented as only natural, as he has some personal problems. And his businesswoman high-flyer wife tiptoes around trying not to hurt his feelings, yet this is not presented as her being too weak to stand up to him. She is portrayed as being amazed at getting such a great catch. As I say, maybe there is a big turnaround at the end and these vile people all become human, but until then why not at least hint that their behaviour might be bad? Instead it seems as if you are supposed to identify with them in some way. I couldn't. Good luck to those who can.
I bought this as an audiobook, and the reader does a good job of the voices.
I bought this as an audiobook, and the reader does a good job of the voices.
2 of 4 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
Wife in the Fast Lane is Karen Quinn's second book. I loved The Ivy Chronicles and wasn't disappointed by Ms Quinn's second book which is great fun, but has a serious side. It is a `feel good' book without being saccharine and cloying, and the characters aren't two-dimensional but real and believable. Christy Hayes had a strange life, her mother died when she was a child, her father trained her to be an Olympic runner, then she built a huge business selling running shoes. She doesn't know much about relationships or families but soon learns by her mistakes when she acquires a husband and an adopted child in barely a year. There are some delightful characters, and some that are far from admirable, but all are believable. Even the bad guys in the story are understandably human, although not likeable. In the end, justice is done and everyone learns lessons. It isn't necessarily `happy ever after' but the opportunity is there for all the characters to make a happy life if they choose. Above all, the book is fun, reads well and leaves the reader wanting more. I look forward to Karen Quinn's next book.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
Entertaining, relaxing and fun to read!
I read The Ivy Chronicles last year and really enjoyed Quinn's simple (but not simplistic) style. This book is just as good in my opinion. Read more
Published on 19 Oct 2007 by Patience
She did it again!
The last two and a half days of my life were spent with my nose buried in Wife in the Fast Lane. As with The Ivy Chronicles, I couldn't put it down until I finished it - and I had... Read more
Published on 11 Sep 2006 by QuietOxonian
She's done it again!
Karen Quinn's second book is every bit as good as the first, keeping you laughing and turning pages so quickly that you suddenly realize that it's 3. Read more
Published on 12 Aug 2006 by Eve Ozer
Brilliant - couldn't put it down
I recently read the Ivy Chronicles and loved it, so it made my day to see that Karen Quinn had a new book out. Read more
Published on 8 Aug 2006 by Katie H
Deeper Meaning In A Light Read
Last year I read The Ivy Chronicles and loved every minute of it. A few weeks ago as I was entering the airport on my way to a much needed vacation after losing my business I... Read more
Published on 22 July 2006 by Anonymous
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