Reviews

Weird, fascinating, intriguing, depressing. Those are some of the words I would have picked to describe this book. This was so far out of my comfort zone that it was almost ironic. Actually it kind of was. My taste of books is exactly like the sort that Mary Fisscher writes, or the antagonist of this book.
Reading this book was like a morbid curiosity. The book made me feel miserable-- if ever you want to lose the faith in humanity especially the male part, read a fay weldon book. I was expecting a sort of revenge story where the heroine would escape her horrible domestic life, learn to love herself and find someone to love her who is she is in return. The exact opposite happened in this book. I guess that's why it was described as "satire" but honestly isn't satire meant to make us learn something or show it from a different light? If the point was that all men are horrible than I definitely got that from this book. Other then that I don't really see the meaning of this book. The moral of the story. Maybe I'm reading into it too much, though. Maybe there's no clear moral at all to derive from this book.

jess156's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional sad tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

andrew_j_r's review against another edition

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3.0

I essentially already knew the story of this book, because of the television series in the 80s. In fact I purchased the book after recently watching the DVD of that series. In TV show, Ruth is a character you genuinely feel sorry for. Unfortunately, in the book you don't.
It really is hard to put your finger on precisely why. The elements are all there, and in some cases the dialogue is word for word. The main reason I actually read the book was due to something that the television show that ambiguous: does Bobbo know that this vision of Mary Fisher is actually his ex-wife? Well at least the book satisfied me on that front. As for the rest of it, I don't buy Ruth's disassociation with her children.
It is ultimately a highly original story, worth reading for the sheer originality of it. It's just without the magnificent Julie T Wallace as the central character, it really doesn't have the same appeal.