Playing Away (WHS) - Softcover

Parks, Adele

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0141016442 ISBN 13: 9780141016443

Publisher: Penguin, 2003

Synopsis

Imagine the sexiest man you can think of. He's a walking stag weekend. He's a funny, disrespectful, fast, confident, irreverent pub crawl. He is also completely unscrupulous. He's about to destroy Connie's peace of mind, her plan for living happily ever after with her loving husband Luke. What will happen if her husband finds out? What will happen if he doesn't? Connie doesn't know the answers ... yet.

About this title

Review:

Adele Parks' Playing Away is founded on that well-worn adage: the grass is always greener. Connie and Luke have been married a year and they're both ecstatically happy. Or are they? The reader quickly realises that Connie isn't short for Constancy. Away on a business trip, her loins irrepressibly draw her to the devilishly attractive John Harding and she rushes headlong into a heated affair. Connie soon becomes Con-Artist as she deceives her decent but dull husband. While her lover woos her with evenings at out-of-the-way, grubby pubs and with late-night calls and faxes, after pub closing-time, declaring his longing for her, Connie begins to confuse lust with fate and deludes herself he could be the one.

In Playing Away, the author has entered dangerous, forbidden territory by writing from the perspective of the adulteress--a traditionally unsympathetic character. However, Adele Parks has succeeded in making the reader despise the character's actions, without rejecting Connie, who is attractive, candid and exhilarating. So many novels these days focus on finding Mr Right, it is refreshing to come across one that looks beyond the wedding and proceeds to undermine the traditional stereotype--only men are tempted to stray. A scorching, subversive debut novel, this novel has all the ingredients of a successful modern romance but with a healthy dose of reality.

Adele Parks joins the new elite of twenty-/thirtysomething female authors who are sustaining the spirit of Helen Fielding's Bridget Jones's Diary. By deepening the genre's significance and adding a sting to the tail, they are finding innovative ways to achieve more resonance with today's women. Nicola Perry

Review:

'When it comes to fiction reflecting feminine issues, Adele Parks has her finger on the pulse' (Glamour)

'Wonderfully plotted, moving and insightful...shot through with funny, tender and observant moments' (Daily Mail)

'Full of emotional set-pieces and real insight into relationships between men and women' (Heat )

'A fabulous mix of comedy, real life and emotional depth' (Daily Express)

'A wicked pleasure' (Woman & Home)

'She is a particularly acute observer of relationship ups and downs, and her stories are always as insightful as they are entertaining' (Daily Mirror)

'Guaranteed to keep you hooked until the end' (She magazine)

'Parks writes with wit and a keen eye for detail' (Guardian)

'Deliciously down to earth' (The Times)

'Entertaining and sophisticated' (Marie Claire)

About this edition

• Publisher: Penguin
• Publication date: 2003
• ISBN 10: 0141016442
• ISBN 13: 9780141016443
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 384