Man and Wife - Softcover

Parsons, Tony

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0007141866 ISBN 13: 9780007141869

Publisher: HarperCollins, 2002

Synopsis

Harry Silver returns to face life in the “blended family.” A wonderful new novel about modern times, which can be read as a sequel to the million selling Man and Boy, or completely on its own.

Man and Wife is a novel about love and marriage – about why we fall in love and why we marry; about why we stay and why we go.

Harry Silver is a man coming to terms with a divorce and a new marriage. He has to juggle with time and relationships, with his wife and his ex-wife, his son and his stepdaughter, his own work and his wife's fast-growing career.

Meanwhile his mother, who stood so steadfastly by his father until he died, is not getting any younger or stronger herself.

In fact, everything in Harry's life seems complicated. And when he meets a woman in a million, it gets even more so...

Man and Wife stands on its own as a brilliant novel about families in the new century, written with all the humour, passion and superb storytelling that have made Tony Parsons a favourite author in over thirty countries.

About this title

Review:

Man and Wife, Tony Parsons' third novel, is the sequel to his bestselling debut Man and Boy. Like its predecessor, it traces the marital and parental misadventures of Harry Silver, a mawkish North London television producer--whose life bares a passing resemblance to Parsons' own.

Harry has remarried. Second wife, Cyd, and her feisty daughter, Peggy; provide him and his Phantom Menace obsessed son, Pat, with a family. Harry’s luck couldn’t be better. His television show, "Fish on Friday", is a hit and Cyd's posh catering company, "Food Glorious Food", is thriving. However, Harry is not the only one starting again. His ex-wife Gina has also remarried. Her partner Richard (who must be the only thirtysomething male on the planet who hates Star Wars) is Pat's "new father". When the couple announce they are moving to America--taking Pat with them--Harry reacts, in time-honoured fashion, by attacking Richard.

Separated from his son by the Atlantic and struggling as Peggy's stepfather, Harry begins to yearn for a good old-fashioned "normal, family life"--the kind his lovely old mum and dear departed dad enjoyed. Rather surprisingly, he decides that Kazumi, an attractive Japanese photographer friend of Gina's, could be the answer to his prayers.

Male frailty and the perils of modern parenting are Parsons forte but this book, although occasionally touching, is overburdened by plot twists, unlikely conceits and whiffs of reactionary sentimentality. Parsons' fans are unlikely to be disappointed but, to indulge in a vaguely pertinent comparison, this follow up is definitely more Attack of the Clones than The Empire Strikes Back.--Travis Elborough

Review:

Praise for Man and Boy:

‘Wistful, touching and funny, it looks back at the glory days of the family without losing hope for the future. In the end, it is a deeply touching book: a love letter to a son from his father, and to a father from his son’
Mail on Sunday

‘One of the finest books published this year... Hilarious and tear-jerking in turns’ Express

Praise for One For My Baby:

‘One For My Baby... covers almost the entire spectrum of human emotion with the same combination of self-deprecating humour and well-intentioned bafflement that endeared Man and Boy to millions of readers’ Observer

‘One For My Baby is stylish, polished, complex and it really gets its teeth into the big issues of sex, love, family and friendship’ Mirror

About this edition

• Publisher: HarperCollins
• Publication date: 2002
• ISBN 10: 0007141866
• ISBN 13: 9780007141869
• Binding: Paperback