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Praise for Fay Weldon: 'Fay Weldon is a national treasure.' Literary Review 'She merges a quintessential, zappy Sixties sharpness with the ability to update her feel for the pulse of whatever is hip or chic or symbolic of each dawning era. Weldon oozes readability, so unlike the Powers of Boredom that crawl from so many publishers' lists. She should be cloned.' Scotsman 'You can always trust Fay to be provocative.' Daily Mail 'One of the most prolific, entertaining and provocative of contemporary women writers.' Sunday Telegraph Praise for Mantrapped: 'When she's on form - marshalling those elegant, deadly, sentences - there's simply no touching Weldon as a writer.' Liz Hoggard, Observer '[A] rich, sad, life-affirming book' Independent on Sunday
A British doyenne of elegantly savage modern comedies of manners returns to form with a cautionary tale of childcare. Weldon (Mantrapped, 2004, etc.), with some 24 novels and numerous nonfiction works and short-story collections to her name, has a justified reputation as one of the most acerbic judges of human and gender frailty. In this latest mixture of family saga and morality fable, Hattie and Martyn, a couple of 30-something unmarried London yuppies, bear the brunt of her scrutiny, representatives of the comfy, left-leaning middle classes who claim to live by their principles but only, it turns out, when it suits their needs. After the birth of their first child puts financial pressure on the household, they decide to employ a married, Polish au pair, Agnieszka, whose arrival restores marvelous order to the domestic chaos: Hattie can go back to work; the couple's sex life can resume; and all manner of other compensations follow, which help the pair swallow their repugnance at employing what is in effect a servant. But Agnieszka is not quite what she seems-neither Polish, nor married. The story is narrated by Hattie's grandmother, Frances, who interleaves the Agnieszka episodes with anecdotes from the larger family. References to the mitochondrial line recur, as Weldon, taking the long view, expands her theme of genealogical descent via the female side. Too many characters are invoked here, but Weldon's domestic observations and aphorisms are nevertheless to be relished, as is the surprising conclusion. Sly, salty, savvy. (Kirkus Reviews)
A British doyenne of elegantly savage modern comedies of manners returns to form with a cautionary tale of childcare. Weldon (Mantrapped, 2004, etc.), with some 24 novels and numerous nonfiction works and short-story collections to her name, has a justified reputation as one of the most acerbic judges of human and gender frailty. In this latest mixture of family saga and morality fable, Hattie and Martyn, a couple of 30-something unmarried London yuppies, bear the brunt of her scrutiny, representatives of the comfy, left-leaning middle classes who claim to live by their principles but only, it turns out, when it suits their needs. After the birth of their first child puts financial pressure on the household, they decide to employ a married, Polish au pair, Agnieszka, whose arrival restores marvelous order to the domestic chaos: Hattie can go back to work; the couple's sex life can resume; and all manner of other compensations follow, which help the pair swallow their repugnance at employing what is in effect a servant. But Agnieszka is not quite what she seems-neither Polish, nor married. The story is narrated by Hattie's grandmother, Frances, who interleaves the Agnieszka episodes with anecdotes from the larger family. References to the mitochondrial line recur, as Weldon, taking the long view, expands her theme of genealogical descent via the female side. Too many characters are invoked here, but Weldon's domestic observations and aphorisms are nevertheless to be relished, as is the surprising conclusion. Sly, salty, savvy. (Kirkus Reviews)
Jane Shilling, The Times
'Weldon’s style, that virtuoso of intelligence and insinuating garrulousness achieves a kind of ideal equilibrium between therapy and gossip.'
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