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A review by taetris
The English Harem by Anthony McCarten
2.0
**spoilers ahead**
Tracy is a cash-till girl who day-dreams while she works. One day she is fired because of this and lands herself another job in a Persion restaurant. She quickly learns that the owner, Sam, has two wives and four children. Later we learn that the four children are not his own; rather, he married his widowed sister-in-law. The second wife is the widow of a man he killed in an accident (not his fault). To provide for her, he makes her his "wife" (common-law only). After a quick love affair, they live as room mates. Tracy falls in love with and marries (common-law only) Sam. Tracys father reports the family to social services, whereupon the children are taken away for a night and can only return when wives 2 and 3 move out. The court case goes their way in the end. Tracys jelous ex-boyfriend Ricky waylays Sam and beats him up. As a result, Sam has an aneurysm in his brain which then becomes uncurable. He dies soon after. Sams younger brother comes home and marries all three "widows". Tracys parents also start a polyamourous relationship with their neighbour, Emily. It is then revealed that Tracy day-dreamed the whole thing.
The idea was a bit weird at first but the writing and dialogue were good, so I stuck with the book and had to know what happens in the end. McCarten knows how to write, but the plot devices and themes where cliché and weird, respectevly. The twenty-year-old girl marrying the middle-aged man was unrealistic enough, but the brother marrying his three widowed sister-in-laws and their all going along with it was to much. The relationship of Tracys parents capped it all.
I really hate the plot device of "and it was all a dream", which was used here in the most cliché way possible, thereby explaining - but not making up for - the extremely unrealistic plot.
Tracy is a cash-till girl who day-dreams while she works. One day she is fired because of this and lands herself another job in a Persion restaurant. She quickly learns that the owner, Sam, has two wives and four children. Later we learn that the four children are not his own; rather, he married his widowed sister-in-law. The second wife is the widow of a man he killed in an accident (not his fault). To provide for her, he makes her his "wife" (common-law only). After a quick love affair, they live as room mates. Tracy falls in love with and marries (common-law only) Sam. Tracys father reports the family to social services, whereupon the children are taken away for a night and can only return when wives 2 and 3 move out. The court case goes their way in the end. Tracys jelous ex-boyfriend Ricky waylays Sam and beats him up. As a result, Sam has an aneurysm in his brain which then becomes uncurable. He dies soon after. Sams younger brother comes home and marries all three "widows". Tracys parents also start a polyamourous relationship with their neighbour, Emily. It is then revealed that Tracy day-dreamed the whole thing.
The idea was a bit weird at first but the writing and dialogue were good, so I stuck with the book and had to know what happens in the end. McCarten knows how to write, but the plot devices and themes where cliché and weird, respectevly. The twenty-year-old girl marrying the middle-aged man was unrealistic enough, but the brother marrying his three widowed sister-in-laws and their all going along with it was to much. The relationship of Tracys parents capped it all.
I really hate the plot device of "and it was all a dream", which was used here in the most cliché way possible, thereby explaining - but not making up for - the extremely unrealistic plot.