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Friends Like These
 
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Friends Like These (Paperback)

by Victoria Routledge (Author)
4.2 out of 5 stars See all reviews (21 customer reviews)

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Product details

  • Paperback: 384 pages
  • Publisher: Time Warner Paperbacks (20 May 1999)
  • Language English
  • ISBN-10: 0751527122
  • ISBN-13: 978-0751527124
  • Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars See all reviews (21 customer reviews)
  • Amazon.co.uk Sales Rank: 658,645 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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    #4 in  Books > Fiction > Authors, A-Z > R > Routledge, Victoria

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Product Description

Amazon.co.uk Review
Victoria Routledge's exhilarating first novel, Friends Like These, is a warm and witty story about a group of Cambridge graduates. The friends, who had been inseparable at college since their Fresher's Week meeting, arrange a weekend reunion in the Lake District. The weekend has several objectives: to celebrate the engagement and plan a wedding for Mike and Laura as well as to renew bonds with their closest friends. The weekend moves from the domesticity of Laura and Rachel trying to "out-cake" each other to the unexpected arrival of jet- setting actress, Caroline, whose sole objective seems to be to turn heads. Their friendships are indeed renewed but not until Caroline's atrocious behaviour is exposed and the many years of bottled-up anger is vented with scintillating effect. Friends Like These is fresh and funny with tight, sparkling dialogue and quick-witted insight into the friendships of seven twenty- something graduates with very different life goals. --Pat Naylor

Product Description
Out of university and doing one of those "Look, no hands!" jobs in a PR firm, Rachel is persuaded to join some old friends on a celebratory weekend in the Lake District - with mixed feelings. She remembers the good old days - the fun, the laughs, the gossip - but also remembers the bad bits.

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Customer Reviews

21 Reviews
5 star:
 (11)
4 star:
 (7)
3 star:
 (1)
2 star:
 (1)
1 star:
 (1)
 
 
 
 
 
Average Customer Review
4.2 out of 5 stars (21 customer reviews)
 
 
 
 
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

 
3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars Frothy, Friendly....and a great Debut!, 29 May 2000
By A Customer
Victoria Routledge completely captured me with this book. Being at university myself, I could relate easily to the group of friendships. The style in which the book is written gives the characters life and bounce and the situations were very much lifelike. I didn't want the book to end but at the same time I wanted to see how Rachel got her revenge and how the story would be left....I even went to Cambridge, rode on a punt, eating strawberries and drinking Pimms with a couple of friends.

The book, to me was totally unputdownable - and I am very much looking forward to reading Kiss Him Goodbye (which i own but have not yet had the time to read). I think Victoria Routledge is definitely a budding novelist - and at the age of 24 - well on her way to being highly featured in the future.

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3 of 4 people found the following review helpful:
2.0 out of 5 stars A bit too fabulous dahling, 28 Jun 1999
By A Customer
Light, nice and fun, but...

As primary-coloured pop fiction, I wasn't expecting much, but was still disappointed by the presumption that we all find glossy oxbridge media dahlings utterly riveting. Don't get me wrong, it's far more entertaining than flat-caps and whippets, but the stereotypes are bound to have anyone West End whincing. Yes, these people exist; yes, we all recognise them; yes these things happen; but their juxtapostion seems all artificial, the stereotypes are tied together by cliches, London just dosn't feel authentic (there weren't nearly enough Australians...).

The second half of the book seemed to sit better with me, and, aside from a few points which felt rather belaboured, Victoria Routledge's writing was good enough, the plot was fine, it's just the environment and characterisation were too simple. Friends Like These will I'm certain be a success, however although I'll probably read her future books, I sincerely hope that Victoria Routledge dosn't decide, given it's success, to use FLT as a template for future stories, as she seems capable of much better.

2 out of 5 aint great, but 40% is still a pass in most exams, I'm a harsh marker, and compared to most pop fiction it probably deserves a three.

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3 of 4 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars Don't pass up the opportunity to read this book., 8 Jun 1999
By A Customer
Whichever way you look at it, this book is tremendous. If you're looking for some holiday reading, its inexorable freshness will leave you in the most upbeat of moods for most of the summer. If you want believable insights into what today's twenty-somethings are really like and what they really aspire to, then choose "Friends Like These" over "Friends" any day. The plot, such as it is, concerns a group of university pals reuniting for a weekend in the Lake District. The book's greatest achievement is the way it combines frequent hilarity (you will laugh out loud) with an implacable feeling of secrecy and choked emotion, which lingers like a buzzing fly at the back of the reader's mind until the inevitable denoument. Imagine Mary Wesley with the insight of Sue Townsend and the underlying tension of Forster...or better still, just read this book instead.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews

4.0 out of 5 stars Very enjoyable and realistic
I really enjoyed reading this and could really relate to the characters and how hard it is to maintain college friendships once you have all moved on.
Published on 19 Mar 2001

3.0 out of 5 stars So so...
Light, frothy, somewhat amusing. It wasn't as entertaining a read as I had been led to believe by other reviews. Read more
Published on 18 Oct 2000

5.0 out of 5 stars brilliant for the beach - and for reading again
I picked this up to take on holiday after reading the reviews on Amazon and I wasn't disappointed. All right, so it's about getting married and growing up and record shops, but... Read more
Published on 8 Aug 2000

1.0 out of 5 stars Did I read a different book?
I picked up this book based on the glowing reviews written by other reviewers and was utterly dissappointed. I just couldn't continue past the early pages! Read more
Published on 28 Jul 2000

5.0 out of 5 stars Utterly unputdownable!
I absolutely loved this book! Friends like these is like a beautiful dream you never want to awaken from. Read more
Published on 17 Jul 2000 by courtneyallis69@hotmail.com

4.0 out of 5 stars One of the best books I have ever read
This was a great read, full of excellent characters - it made me so angry the way Caroline treated Rachel, but I'm glad she fought back at the end. Read more
Published on 5 Jul 2000

4.0 out of 5 stars What Fun!
For only being 24 what a great debut by Ms. Routledge! The characters were completely believable and likeable - at least most of them were. Read more
Published on 23 April 2000

5.0 out of 5 stars A really fresh and funny novel
I was facing spending a very miserable week at home with flu only to be cheered up no end when someone gave me Victoria Routledge's first book. Read more
Published on 7 April 2000

4.0 out of 5 stars Sometimes a bit TOO close..
Having left university shortly before I read about this book, I waited eagerly for it to come out. Its "plot", all about the love-hate relationships between a group of... Read more
Published on 2 April 2000

4.0 out of 5 stars Good when it gets going
At first, Victoria Routledge seemed to write as if she was trying to win a literary prize. It didn't work, and then suddenly the focus changed and the whole book became a lot... Read more
Published on 18 Jan 2000 by bradgirl

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