Leaving Patrick - Softcover

Leith, Prue

3.62

151 ratings by Goodreads

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0140281517 ISBN 13: 9780140281514

Publisher: Penguin, 1999

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A captivating and beautifully written first novel for women who love intelligent, gripping commercial fiction. High powered city lawyer Jane is leaving her husband, Patrick. Their marriage has lost its way, she thinks, and she feels there must bemore to relationships than theirs. She travels to India on holiday where she falls for Rajiv the tour guide, and they have a passionate affair. Meanwhile Patrick battles on in London to revive his ailing restaurant, and falls for the treacherous, wily journalist Stella. But has Jane thrown away the real thing, without even realizing it?

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Review:

Leaving Patrick marks a new departure into fiction for ace restaurateur and businesswoman Prue Leith. The novel centres round Jane: 36, a successful shipping lawyer, well-paid, ambitious, a gifted and dedicated shopper. She is married to the affable Patrick, a fairly successful restaurateur, who is devoted to her. Yet she seethes with discontent. Somehow it all isn't enough, the money, the comfort, the designer clothes and expensive haircuts. There seems to be no space for passion in their lives. And does she want to have the baby that Patrick longs for? Leaving Patrick plunges straight into this blossoming mid-life crisis. Indeed by the end of the 12-page Prologue, Jane has abruptly left Patrick, and the remaining 400 pages are devoted to a patient and compassionate exploration of the aftershocks of this cataclysm, as Jane begins the long process of transforming her life with a trip to India. Patrick, too, begins a journey, though of a different kind, which brings him at one point close to personal and professional disaster. Prue Leith has produced a highly intelligent if not especially ambitious first novel: she writes fluently and well, and is endlessly interested in the details of her characters' lives. She certainly knows her milieu, that of the well-heeled urban professional classes. Perhaps unsurprisingly, we don't learn much about the world of shipping law; but we do pick up a lot of fascinating information about the restaurant business. --Robin Davidson

Synopsis:

City lawyer Jane is leaving her husband, Patrick. She feels there must be more to relationships than theirs. On her travels around India she falls for Rajiv. Meanwhile, Patrick battles on to revive his ailing restaurant and falls for Stella. But has Jane thrown away the real thing?

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