The Idea of Perfection - Softcover

Grenville, Kate

3.65

3,526 ratings by Goodreads

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0330392611 ISBN 13: 9780330392617

Publisher: Picador, 2002

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'Grenville makes awkward atmospheres and fumbling encounters wonderfully vivid. Read it and cringe' The Times

The Idea of Perfection is a funny and touching romance between two people who've given up on love. Set in the eccentric little backwater of Karakarook, New South Wales, pop. 1374, it tells the story of Douglas Cheeseman, a gawky engineer with jug-handle ears, and Harley Savage, a woman altogether too big and too abrupt for comfort.

Harley is in Karakarook to foster 'Heritage', and Douglas is there to pull down the quaint old Bent Bridge. From day one, they're on a collison course. But out of this unpromising conjunction of opposites, something unexpected happens: sometimes even better than perfection.

'From these two reticent characters, besieged by two lifetimes of regret, doubt and dismay, Grenville manufactures an extraordinary comedy of manners, made all more powerful by her own reticence as a writer' Guardian

'Outrageously entertaining' Daily Mail

'Mined throughout with little pockets of danger and depth' Guardian

'A truly amazing writer' Rosie Boycott, chair of the Orange Prize jury

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Review:

Grenville makes awkward atmospheres and fumbling encounters wonderfully vivid. Read it and cringe (The Times)

From these two reticent characters, besieged by two lifetimes of regret, doubt and dismay, Grenville manufactures an extraordinary comedy of manners, made all more powerful by her own reticence as a writer (Guardian)

Outrageously entertaining (Daily Mail)

Mined throughout with little pockets of danger and depth (Guardian)

A truly amazing writer (Rosie Boycott, chair of the Orange Prize jury)

An honest and compelling celebration of imperfection (Observer)

A funny and touching romance (Daily Express)

Being the only book voted for the Orange Prize shortlist by both the official judging panel, always an all-female affair, and a shadow panel of men sitting for the first time, was testament to The Idea of Perfection's universal appeal (Australian News)

Grenville has created a unique exploration of human weaknesses and how combining these weaknesses can make a strength (Irish Independent)

A funny, off-beat love story (Daily Mail)

Book Description:

By the winner of the Orange Prize for Fiction 2001, this is a witty and tender romance that demonstrates that sometimes, unexpectedly, there can be something better than perfection.

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