To Have and to Hold FROM THE PUBLISHER
Alice has always dreamed of a rose-covered cottage in the English countryside, filled with children and animals and home-cooked meals. Her favorite attire is old jeans; her best manicure features garden dirt under the nails. But when her teenage crush—a wealthy, dashing, man-about-town named Joe—wants to make her his bride, Alice is willing to play Cinderella to Joe's prince. Never mind that he wants her to change—a diet, ice-blond highlights, stilettos, snooty gallery openings—and that he's allergic to nature and kids. She tells herself she's happy to sacrifice for love, and besides, every woman in London wants to be in her shoes. But that's just the problem—and Joe soon reveals a penchant for being hopelessly unfaithful. When an indiscretion with a female colleague forces him to transfer to New York, Alice's life turns upside down. To her surprise, however, the move is a blessing in disguise. Revamping a country house in Connecticut, Alice shrugs off her stifling façade of glamour and rediscovers the simple joys in life with the help of friends, fresh air, and a bold return to her old self. As Joe continues to sneak around, and her best friend's beau offers a tempting glimpse of what real love could be like, Alice must decide how much Cinderella she can take before her deepest desires win out—if she can summon up the courage to break Joe's spell.
Delicious, witty, and packed with sparkling sex appeal,To Have and To Hold is a compulsive read that will have you up all night, rooting out loud for its endearing heroine. Jane Green's popularity continues to soar, and this zesty newest addition to her canon is on a one-way trackto the bestseller lists.
SYNOPSIS
What happens when your Prince Charming turns out not to be so charming after all? In To Have and To Hold, bestselling author Jane Green offers a sizzling, highly entertaining look at romantic relationships after we say “I do.”
Alice knows she should be happy. A charming twenty-eight-year-old with a successful catering business, she’s always dreamed of a rose-covered cottage in the English countryside, filled with children and animals and home-cooked meals. Her favorite attire is comfy jeans, her best manicure features garden dirt under the nails. But when her teenage crush—the wealthy, dashing man-about-town Joe Chambers—wants to make her his bride, Alice is more than willing to play Cinderella to Joe’s prince. Never mind that he wants her to change—a diet, ice-blond highlights, stilettos, snooty gallery openings—and that he’s allergic to nature and kids. She tells herself she’s happy to sacrifice for love, and besides, with Joe’s stunning good looks and high-profile career at a top financial firm, every woman in London wants to be in her shoes.
But that’s just the problem. Despite Alice’s efforts to be the perfect wife, Joe soon reveals a penchant for being hopelessly unfaithful. When a notorious indiscretion with a female colleague forces Joe to transfer to New York, Alice’s life turns upside down. As Joe continues to sneak around, and her best friend’s beau offers a tempting glimpse of what real love could be like, Alice must decide how much Cinderella she can take before her deepest desires win out—and if she can summon up the courage to find real happinesson her own.
Delicious, witty, and packed with sparkling sex appeal, To Have and To Hold is an unputdownable read that will have you rooting out loud for its endearing heroine. A #1 bestseller in Britain, this latest tale from the beloved, utterly winning Jane Green proves that the search for true love doesn’t always end when someone dons a veil, and offers a lively, refreshing take on modern marriage.
FROM THE CRITICS
Publishers Weekly
In bestselling British novelist Green's sixth novel, a less-than-perfect London marriage disintegrates stateside. Alice loves her husband, the dashing Joe Chambers, even though he works late and travels a lot-he can be so wonderful (when he's around) and she still can't believe he picked mousy little her. (Of course, he transformed her into a blonde-highlighted, Jimmy Choo-sporting sophisticate first.) Blind to Joe's incessant philandering-even after an office sex act gets him banished to New York-Alice accepts his guilt gifts and hopes for the best. She doesn't want to leave her London life, but she's always loved nature and the rustic life, so Joe buys, in addition to a Manhattan apartment, a house in fictional Highfield, Conn. As the prologue warns, it's not just any house; it belonged to (fictional) 1930s writer Rachel Danbury, whose novel The Winding Road blew the lid off the town with its saga of infidelities. "Does history repeat itself?" Of course! Green tracks, in great detail, Joe's further infidelities, Alice's dissatisfactions, their fights and reconciliations; she also dips into the POVs of Josie Mitchell (Joe's lover) and Emily, Alice's best friend. Alice is mostly sympathetic, but for someone who thinks of herself as "a post-feminist child of a feminist," she sure bends over backward to please the snake she married. The one plot twist, involving Emily and her beau, Harry, is sweet but predictable. Green's style relies heavily on exposition, and while her prose is clean, her story is padded-kind of like one of those sexy bras that rat Joe likes. 6-city author tour. (May 18) Copyright 2004 Reed Business Information.
Library Journal
English rose Alice moves to New York with her breathtaking but swinish husband, and while he's busy being unfaithful, she rediscovers herself by fixing up their new country home in Connecticut. Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information.
AudioFile
Alice Chambers is trapped in a life she doesn't know she hates, with a wealthy but wandering husband, a slightly crazy best friend, and no real self to speak of. When husband Joe is transferred to New York because of an infidelity with a co-worker, Alice is less than thrilled about making the move. The change ultimately transforms her life and those in her circle. Elizabeth Sastre reads the novel as though your best girlfriend is telling the story. She is warm, com-passionate, funny, and decid-edly human in her delivery, making each character quirky and likable, regardless of whether she is reading parts for Alice, Joe, or his mistress. Green fans will love her performance, and those new to Green's work should find these characters endearing. H.L.S. © AudioFile 2005, Portland, Maine
Kirkus Reviews
Mousy woman weds philandering jerk. A lackluster array of supposedly sophisticated characters fall in and out of love and marriage in Green's uninspired sixth outing (a "#1-bestselling blockbuster novel in Britain," we're told). Alice Chambers is a shy but successful caterer who's romanced by Joe, a good-looking womanizer: he's oh-so-amused by her essential innocence and what passes for self-deprecating wit about terribly important things like expensive footwear that pinches ("Bloody Jimmy Choos"). Airheads on both sides of the Atlantic will be impressed by heaps and heaps of brittle oh-darling dialogue and brand-name-y prose, plus a general sense of throwaway fabulousness that would bring a chilly smile even to Anna Wintour's narrow lips. Joe and Alice move through a slice of Manhattan that's as thin and unreal as they are-from Bergdorf's on 57th St. to the posh Vietnamese eatery Le Colonial a few blocks south, and that's it, though Wall Street is mentioned once or twice. (That's where Joe does something with money, darling.) Throwaway fabulousness, however, does not come cheap. Joe prefers New York for female-fondling escapades, but Alice flees to Connecticut and takes up gardening, finding comfort in fluffy puppies and vicarious adultery, thanks to women writers. Her carelessly elegant attire escapes the dreaded Westport effect-no navy plaid skirts and boiled-wool blazers for our Alice-as Diesel jeans and muddy Wellies get her noticed. Or is it actually her trim tummy and newfound self-confidence? And what about Joe, who's worried about getting his bunny boiled by an out-of-control mistress? Oh, darling, it's all so ironic. And all written in the present tense, too . . . . Come back,Jemima J (2000)!Agency: Gelfman Schneider Agency
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