Most Helpful Customer Reviews
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5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Everyday, mundane life - or better?, 7 Nov 2001
By A Customer
ORDINARY MIRACLES, by Grace Wynne-JonesIt was the brain-teaser of a title that stood out, on the library shelves. Ordinary Miracles. What things could be both ordinary, and miracles? Apart from a couple of twists - a lesbian daughter, a pet house-pig called Rosie - it is not the bare plot that makes this book so delightful. The things that happen to the main character, unenthusiastically approaching 40, are fairly ordinary. Jasmine is uncomfortable with her husband's work, and his colleagues. She discovers her husband is having an affair. She leaves her husband, gains confidence, and finds new love. Ordinary enough. But what price learning how you want to live, discovering someone who loves you - all that kind of thing? The idea is that these things, so ordinary that we all hope for them, are special. So special, they are pretty amazing. They are ordinary miracles. Heavyweight stuff? Not in the hands of this author, who can turn out a laugh-out-loud quip twice a paragraph. Sometimes, this is pure comedy... A happy ending in a novel is not normally described as a miracle. But, I think the author's point is that some things are less ordinary than we think. The fact that people often achieve love and self-acceptance should not be taken for granted. We could see it as amazing - we could even see it as a miracle. The author deliberately chose an everyday tale, but her skill in mixing serious observations with witty, unexpected, quirky comments is not ordinary. It seems to me very good. Even a bit miraculous.
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2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
I recommend this heartily - beautiful, 25 Jan 2008
Grace Wynne-Jones isn't an author I'd heard of before, but I'll definitely be looking out for her books in future, because I really enjoyed this one. Ordinary Miracles is the story of Jasmine Smith, a married almost-forty-year-old, who fantasises about wild sex with film stars. She likes her husband but isn't 'in love' with him, and she's very dissatisfied. Jasmine craves change.
The change comes about, but not in the way Jasmine expected. She finds out her husband is having an affair, and leaves him. She moves in with a long-term friend, Charlie who provides a nice muscular shoulder to cry on, and some security. After a while, Jasmine realises he'd like to provide her with much more than just friendship. What frightens her is the fact she feels the same. Not willing to let herself trust another man, only to be cheated on again, she retreats into herself and wonders whether she should give her marriage another try.
And as if she didn't have enough on her plate, Jasmine's daughter has announced that she thinks she may be a lesbian. Muddling through things as best she can, Jasmine slowly begins to get her life back on track and look forward to a glittering future. But will it be alone... or will she allow Charlie into her heart?
Apologies for sounding cheesy, but this is a beautiful book. It's chick-lit, but not your typical kind. The characters are older and the storyline is deeper. There's heartache, loneliness, friendship, hot sex and scandal in this novel - it has everything! I was completely hooked from start to finish, and found myself dabbing away the odd tear. However, I found the ending a little bizarre. But other than that, an ace read and one I'd recommend to fans of funny and heart-warming novels.
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2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
A wonderful heart-warming read., 3 Mar 2007
This is a charming book with a lovable, quirky heroine, Jasmine,a husband who doesn't appreciate her and has some wakening up to do, a handsome hunk called Charlie who is well aware of her attractions,and a pig called Rosie. Wonder and wander with Jasmine as she ponders her own self-worth in the charming surroundings of Charlie's rambling house, an animal rights march in Dublin with Rosie and with her daughter, Katie, trying to decide if she's a lesbian. Jasmine is in the middle of a whirlwind of emotions about her sadly missed father, a husbandwho misses the meaning of love and her own uncertainty about what love is anyway.
Tenderness comes to the rescue in the end and Jasmine is swept off her feet as any self-respecting heroine should be, but not before she has learned that fear can be faced and loneliness fade when the the soul of the world wings near.
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