Review: A Crowded Marriage

A Crowded Marriage by Catherine Alliott

Publication Date: May 2011
Publisher: Sourcebooks
Genre: Contemporary Romance
Pages: Paperback, 480pp
ISBN-13: 9781402253195
ISBN: 1402253192

(Received for review from Sourcebooks)

Purchase: Barnes & Noble, Book Depository, IndieBound

Catherine Alliot on the WEB: website, facebook

Book Trailer: This is a snippet with Catherine Alliott discussing how she got started writing and answering a few questions. It was to promote her book, One Day in May, but I think you will find it interesting and her accent is just a joy to listen to...

Synopsis (Book Blurb):

'Til death do us part just might cause you to wring someone's neck

Imogen Cameron can't quite figure out how she and her husband, Alex, have plummeted from living in their beloved London townhouse to scraping by in his ex-girlfriends guest cottage. But although the scenic pictures might inspire her flagging artistic career, and getting out of the city might do their son good. Imogen wonders if all the country air in the world could calm the crowds that are invading her marriage.

There's a gaggle of psychotic chickens, an infuriatingly bossy vet, that oh-so-sweet ex-girlfriend - and the feeling that her husband is preoccupied with more than just his job.

International bestselling author Catherine Alliott delivers an "intelligent, acutely drawn picture of a difficult marriage" (Daily Telegraph), crafting a witty, sophisticated, and poignant exploration of relationships and family.

Thoughts:

Bestselling author Catherine Alliott brings readers the story of a marriage that is in turmoil and a life on the rocks. Readers will love Alliott's laugh out loud humor and her trademark wit. Alliot's ability to create great dialogue between her characters as well has her knack for telling a great story will have readers falling in love with her books.

Imogen Cameron and her husband Alex find themselves in a dire financial situation. They can no longer afford their London home or the extravagances of their life. When an old friend offers to loan them the use of her guest cottage it seems like the perfect solution. But Eleanor is is Alex's ex-girlfriend. Imogen knows that the country would be good for their son Rufus as well as great inspiration for her career as an artist. But, she isn't too sure about the relationship between Alex and Eleanor. Alex seems remote and removed from Imogen and she worries even as she begins to really love the country. She is tasked with taking care of the farm animals and must continually work with a bossy vet who happens to be gorgeous. With psychotic chickens, sheep and a flirtatious ex-girlfriend, Imogen has begun to worry about the state of her marriage...

This was an interesting book. It has a deep subject, a difficult marriage. But there are some very funny moments within the book. I think author Catherine Alliott tells a story that looks at the difficulties of marriage and families from a lighter perspective. Things change, life goes on! Alliot has a knack for creating really witty dialogue between the characters which provides for a lot of comic relief. I like a book that can take a subject that could be sad and frustrating and show a different side to it.

I liked all of the characters in this book, even the ones who were a little on the devious side. I thought Alliot showed two women that were soooo different from each other and the one man who stands between them. It was hard for me to understand how Alex could have gone from a flirtatious shallow socialite to Imogen, a very intelligent and artistic woman. Those are two extremes on the spectrum. The relationship between Alex and Imogen is very superficial though, it seems he is more interested in following Eleanor around than spending time with Imogen and Rufus. But all marriages are different and when it all played out everything seemed to fall into place.

The addition of the sexy veterinarian was a nice touch. I thought the relationship between Imogen and all of the animals was a fun aspect of the story and it allowed for a lot of misadventures and added to the humor element. Readers will find this book somewhat slow in the beginning but it really picks up about a hundred pages. It takes awhile to get the stage set for everything to work out, but when that's all out of the way, the last part of the book was hard to put down. I liked it a lot. And I look forward to reading more books by Catherine Alliott.

A Crowded Marriage is available NOW from your favorite bookseller.

I'm giving this one 4 out of 5 apples from my book bag!




Catherine Alliott worked in London as a copywriter in advertising. She now lives in Hertfordshire with her husband a barrister and their three children. Catherine's first novel, The Old-Girl Network, became an instant bestseller across the UK, as did her subsequent novels, Going Too Far, The Real Thing, Rosie Meadows Regrets..., Olivia's Luck, and A Married Man.