Kersti's Corner

Madame Serpent

by Jean Plaidy

From the cover: Sullen-eyed and broken-hearted, fourteen-year-old Catherine de' Medici rode into France. Behind her and before her rode the nobility of Italy. She was to marry Henry of Orleans, second son of the King. Amid the glittering fetes, masques, jousts and banquets of the most immoral court in sixteenth-century Europe, the reluctant bride became a passionate but unwanted wife. Angry, humiliated and tortured by jealousy as she secretly spied on Henry's lovemaking, Catherine began to plan her revenge . . .

Unfortunately by the time revenge is at hand Plaidy decides to stop the book. While we get a glimpse at what might be we never get the story of it - something I think is a great shame as the truth turned out to be quite interesting.

In all a great read, just slightly dissappointed at the sudden ending.

How to Kill Your Husband (And Other Handy Household Hints)

From the back : All women want to kill their husbands some of the time "Where there's a will, I intend to be in it," wives half-joke to each other. Marriage, it would appear, is a fun-packed frivolous hobby, only occasionally resulting in death. But when Jazz Jardine is arrested for her husband's murder, the joke falls flat. Life should begin at 40 - not with life imprisonment for killing your spouse. Jazz, stay-at-home mum and domestic goddess; Hannah, childless career woman; and Cassie, demented working mother of two are three ordinary women. Their record collections are classical, not criminal. Cassie and Hannah set out immediately to prove their best friend's innocence, uncovering betrayal, adultery, plot twists, thinner thighs and toy boys aplenty en route but will their friendship survive these ever darker revelations?

Sexy, funny and wise, Kathy Lette's irresistible new novel is about women not Having It All But Doing It All. It's about how today's mother is often a married lone parent. It's about the fact that no woman has ever shot her husband while he was vacuuming. This is Kathy Lette at her brilliant best, casting her trade mark caustic eye on what goes on in the bedrooms and kitchens of ordinary married couples. A novel which will strike a cord with married women everywhere and ensure that, from now on, they all read the small print on their marriage licenses.

My thoughts : To be honest I wasn't so taken by this one. It starts with a bit of a confusing scene and then does a "flashback" which is what the rest of the book is about. A rather clumsy device to try to draw the reader in. I couldn't really get the characters - their reactions to events seem extraordinary and I really couldn't relate to the lead character. The men too I found a little 2 dimensional - would have been more interesting to have one guy who was decent in it. Lots of one liner type jokes but little real substance and the overall plot was just flat. Still, it moved well enough and I did finish it so it can't be that bad!