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Editorial Review:
Love in Idleness is a wonderful first novel, a witty and closely observed study of a young woman's search for an adult identity. Anna Raine has just finished her degree and is desperate to begin her adult life, which she imagines will be filled with success, fame and sexually fulfilling relationships. When her glamorous Aunt Stella offers to let Anna stay in her London flat while she is away in Paris, Anna jumps at the chance to escape from her oppressive mother. But she has no friends in London and Mendelson's descriptions of the embarrassing situations that Anna gets herself into in her gauche attempts to meet people and find a job are excruciatingly funny.
Stella has secrets that the family won't talk about and, while trying to settle in to a new job in a bookshop, Anna keeps herself distracted from her loneliness by searching the flat for clues. She imagines romantic explanations for the secrecy and her obsession builds until she can think of almost nothing but Stella. When the errant aunt finally comes home, Anna' s pent-up feelings bubble over, but inevitably she has to cope with the fact that Stella, too, is only human. The book is filled with a warm affection for the hapless but slowly maturing Anna, and the descriptions of her everyday anguish will strike a chord with any reader who has ever been uncertain of their place in the world. The writing is assured, polished and in places very, very funny. This is a splendid debut. Charlotte Mendelson is an author to watch. --Elizabeth Sourbut
Customer Reviews:
Avg. Customer Rating: 4.0 / 5.0
FANTASTIC. I really loved this book it is such a refreshing change from all those 'chick lit' books that all seen to follow the same old tired formula. Love in idleness is very very funny and the characters are incredibly belivable. This book is interesting, intellegent and daring and the writing is very sharp and accurate.
Beautifully written and very moving This book is so good - managing to be moving, funny and has a great way with language. I so empathised with Anna and it brought back such memories of when I first faced the big wide world.
A great read a real page turner, very very funny. I really loved this book. Anna moves to london where she hopes to pass as an effective adult. The author portrays her feelings of solitude and attempts to be grown up with incredible accuracy and great humour. I loved Mendelson's writing she has a sharp talent for metaphor and her observations are startlingly true to life. Love in Idleness is not just another coming of age novel,it's a great book very well written and funny with sex, secrets and obsession with a twist.
Bliss ... A truly special read I didn't know what I was in for when I read this novel, but it's one of the best novels I've read for a long time. It's impossible to put down, even though the plot's not that complex. In fact, it's highly subtle, and gets you thinking, wondering - and reading! When Anna uses her aunt's flat in London, she becomes fascinated with the aunt - yes, a blood relation! - and gradually her fantasies become more and more heated. As the fantasies hot up, so does the plot involving a secret about the deliciously... more info
