This Honourable House Book

No-one can deny that Edwina Currie can always be relied upon to deliver a heady mix of sex, politics and betrayal. The skulduggery of the political scene, of course, is something she knows well, and each of her novels has utilised her insider's eye with maximum skill. This Honourable House is her slickest and most accomplished book yet, with a plot that rings some fascinating changes on her earlier work. Her politician hero Frank has watched his career reach Cabinet levels, and his distant past (not to mention his school friends who opted for lives of crime) is a mere memory. Of course, he has to cope with the usual baggage of a successful political career: a demanding wife, an equally demanding mistress and an all-knowing adviser who is forcing him to choose between them. Frank's dilemma leads him into some very deep waters, with the misplaced loyalty of his old friends having dire consequences, but his isn't the only story being told here. Social Security secretary Diane shares Frank's chequered past, and she is well known for a sexual appetite that would make even the most libidinous of politicians blush. But her relationship with an attractive new office recruit called Edward is about to make her life just as complicated as Frank's. These two main strands of Currie's narrative are cleverly linked, and she delivers all the drama and unbuttoned sex one might wish for. But her tale is even more ambitious, drawing other characters into a dangerous mix. And while Currie knows how to deliver the kind of entertainment that makes blockbuster novels bestsellers, she is still able to make some pertinent points about politics along the way without once forgetting her principal purpose: to entertain. And that she does effortlessly. --Barry ForshawRead More