Francesca's Party Book

Within the first few pages of Patricia Scanlan's ninth book, Francesca's Party, a life is turned upside-down: Francesca follows her husband of 22 years to Dublin airport to bring him the mobile phone he's forgotten. But in the terminal building she watches as her beloved Mark passionately kisses Nikki Langan, "a beautiful, bright, sexy sensual woman", and realises that everything has changed. Patricia Scanlan catapults us into the emotions of a woman who has been happy as a domestic goddess, but now feels overwhelmed with bitterness: She felt so belittled and used and worthless. How would she ever get through this? The future seemed so empty and dark, full of despair and struggle. It is a bleak awakening, but not, ultimately, an unrewarding one. Francesca is forced to re-assess her life, and to find the courage to start again. She goes from wailing into the pillow like a banshee and wondering how to tell her two sons that their dad is a philanderer, to a confident woman who uses her charm and organisational skills to forge a career in PR. She buys a house and even manages to find some sympathy for her "deceiving, lying despicable bastard" of a husband and his troublesome new relationship. Scanlan celebrates Francesca's hard-worn independence with insight and verve, and the reader would tend to agree that this particular character has "an awful lot to look forward to". --Eithne FarryRead More