I was asked to read this book by a friend, who wanted a second opinion, which is yes this book is bonkers, but then the Amazon blurb does warn you:"Brenda has had a long and eventful life and she has come to Whitby to run a B&B in search of some peace and quiet. She and her best friend Effie like nothing better than going out for tea at the Walrus and the Carpenter or dinner at Cod Almighty and keeping their eyes open for any of the mysterious goings on in town. And what with satanic beauty salons, more than illegal aliens, roving psychic investigators and the frankly terrifying owner of the Christmas Hotel there are no shortage of nefarious shenanigans to keep them interested. But the oddest thing in Whitby may well be Brenda herself. With her terrible scars, her strange lack of a surname or the fact that she takes two different shoe sizes, Brenda should have known that people as, well, unique as she is, just aren't destined for a quiet life."
And shenanigans just about sums it up. I love books like this, they are fun and play around with popular culture. There are other authors out there I would recommend before this one, Terry Pratchett (and long may he continue to write) and Jasper Fforde, but this book passed the time nicely. If you don't like fantasy fiction don't read this book.
7 comments:
Hey - thanks for stopping by my blog!
Sounds like wonderful easy reading to me. Does anyone actually know anyone called Effie and what's it short for??
Thanks for popping by here.
I don't know anyone called Effie in real life, but in the book her name is the rather splendid Effryggia!
I've just read and posted about the second in this series, 'Something Borrowed'. I know Magrs as a writer for young adults and children but this is the first time I've come across him as a adult writer. I'm going back now to read the first instalment.
Table talk I've got the second book on order as a Christmas present as I want to read more about Brenda and Effie's exploits and discover whether they get to the bottom of the sheninigans at the Christmas Hotel. I hope you enjoyed it? And where did you post your review as I would like to read it, if possible please? I hadn't come across this before, only because I was asked to read it, and only know Magrs as a co-writer of a book I have on creative writing, which I am ashamed to say that I haven't read.
Riverwillow, I blog on
http://web.mac.com/ann163125/Table_Talk/Table_Talk_Blog/Table_Talk_Blog.html
If you go over to the main page it's Saturday 22nd's post.
Table Talk I found your blog, lovely, and I've bookmarked it. As its such an interesting blog I would like to link to it on here, if that's OK - let me know.
Also, as you never know just who swings by here, I've deleted the comment with your email address and I'm sure your spam folder will be grateful.
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