Raising the Roof Book

The heroine of Jane Wenham-Jones Raising the Roof has just bought a one-way ticket to a dungeon of debt--a ramshackle house in the grottiest street in town. Cari's house has got woodworm, dry rot, blocked pipes and a slimy green carpet that reeks. Plus there's no one to do her stud work (not that she knows what stud work is). It's certainly not the fast track to becoming a property mogul she thought it would be when she signed on the dotted line. Before you can say fixed-rate mortgage, she's skulking on the kitchen floor with a pile of unpaid bills on the doormat and the bailiffs at the door. Her sister's had a nervous breakdown, her infuriating mother won't leave her alone and her tenant--who was meant to be the answer to all her prayers--is a drug addict hell-bent on destroying what's left of her house. And she can't work out who's her knight in shining armour--Henry, the podgy supermarket manager with heady dreams of becoming area manager; Guy, the curly-haired journalist with an expert sexual touch or Ben, the massive builder with a House of Horror grin.Raising the Roof is a thirtysomething girl-seeks-boy spin-off that's got more than a few cracks in its plasterwork. Cari's an unbelievably dizzy heroine, who's more interested in wrinkles and weight loss than the cycle of spiralling debt she's facing. And it's often hard to empathise as the foundations of her life--and house--crumble. But if it's light-hearted, frivolous escapism you're after, Raising the Roof is worth the downpayment.--Jane HoneyRead More