Man and Wife - Softcover

Parsons, Tony

3.5

4,401 ratings by Goodreads

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1782920382 ISBN 13: 9781782920380

Publisher: CB Creative Books, 2013

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MAN AND WIFE is a novel about love, marriage and very modern families. It is a book for anyone who ever felt torn between work and home, their parents and their children, their present and their past. Harry Silver is a man learning to juggle his many commitments – to his wife, his ageing mother, his stepdaughter, his ex-wife and his beloved son. Things have never been more complicated – and when the most beautiful girl in the world walks into his life, they do not get any easier. Meanwhile Harry’s mother, the woman who has been the calm and supportive centre of his troubled life, and who stood so steadfastly by his father until he died, is not getting any younger or stronger. But there are still valuable lessons that this mother can teach her grown-up son about family, commitment and, above all, the true meaning of love. The much-loved sequel to the runaway bestseller MAN AND BOY, MAN AND WIFE stands on its own as a moving novel about our families in the new century, written with all the humour, emotion and superb story-telling that have made Tony Parsons a favourite author in over forty countries.

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Review:

Man and Wife, the sequel to Tony Parsons' bestselling debut Man and Boy, follows the marital and parental misadventures of Harry Silver, a mawkish North London television producer. 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 Man and Wife, 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, Amazon.com

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.’ The 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.’ The Mirror

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