Wish You Were Here is Phillipa Ashley’s assured and hugely enjoyable follow up to her entertaining debut novel, Decent Exposure (previously reviewed here ).
It’s a fairly straightforward boy meets girl, boy dumps girl, boy and girl meet again years later tale, but as with Decent Exposure, it’s the getting there that’s three quarters of the fun.
Beth Allen met and fell head over heels in love with Jack Thornfield on an adventure holiday in Corsica. He proposed to her, she accepted and then he did a runner. Years later, circumstances throw them together again …
The characters are well-written and engaging, the narrative never drags and as a bonus there are even one or two moments when you genuinely wonder which way it’s headed next.
One of Phillipa Ashley’s great strengths is her deft hand with dialogue. It flows easily and never sounds contrived or artificial. She also manages to create characters who are far more than romantic stereotypes. The back story of her heroine Beth is created with care, and the satellite characters - the family, friends and colleagues - are fleshed out rather more than is often the case in light romantic fiction.
Jack Thornfield is deliberately kept a little more enigmatic because the mystery of why he so ungallantly dumped Beth is central to the story, but we are still allowed inside his poor male head from time to time as he grapples with his unorthodox situation and his laconic PA, (who is, incidentally, a real joy - and drawn at least partly from life, unless I’m very much mistaken).
Other major ‘pluses’ are the locations - the Lake District, London and Corsica - the latter in particular described so vividly that you can almost see the heat haze shimmering before your eyes.
Incidental pleasures along the way include a cactus splendidly christened Brad Pott, a van painted like a Friesian cow and an obnoxiously glossy girlfriend it’s a real pleasure to dislike.
Wish You Were Here is simply a fun read - well-crafted and perfect for those times when you want to be diverted from the cares of the world for a while without feeling that you have to put your brain on ‘hold’.
Little Black Dress, Headline Books. 2007. 279pp. ISBN-978 0 7553 3463 6.
Glad that this one is as good as the first and it sounds a cut above most romantic fiction, with the strongly drawn characters & intelligent writing. Your review reminds me how few books are set in Corsica, or maybe I’m just unaware of them. But if there were so many, surely I’d know about some of them, wouldn’t I? And the cover art is amusing & has a definite flavor.You’ve certainly made me eager to read Ms. Ashley’s books, especially since I want to see what excuse Jack has for dumping Beth.
Sounds good! Great review. Good Christmas prezzie material methinks. And yes, I too want to know why Jack dumps Beth. Will just have to read it and find out… P.S Merry Christmas to all!
[...] I also discovered I’d had a very nice review for Wish You Were Here from Vulpes Libris. Posted by Phillipa in Uncategorized @ 6:34 [...]
Sounds really interesting !
I have found my holiday fun read !
As a native french speaker in love with the english language, I always read a few english books, especially on holidays when I do want to be diverted … but without the feeling that I have to put my brain on “hold” !