On the backburner of the plot is a couple who face financial ruin after discovering they are Lloyds of London investors the early 1990's, a startling cautionary tale about corporate oversight that, had people been paying attention to this mildly successful (in its time in the UK) chick lit publication, might have prevented our current recession. HOWEVER, I have to give the author props for the continued relevance of her subject matter, despite this novel's having been published originally 15 years ago.

Also, as opposed to naivete, characters are short-sighted and ignorant, which doesn't make for enjoyable reading. The word that always rises to the forefront of my consciousness when I read Wickham is 'SPITE.' Characters are so SPITEFUL. While 'Sophie Kinsella' epitomizes all that is right with chick lit-the frothy story lines, the witty one-liners, the pratfalls, the likable naivete of the main characters-in her books, Madeleine Wickham does the opposite. Oh Madeleine Wickham, how you continue to disappoint me, even as your pseudonym generally leaves me happy. But by the end of the party, nothing would be certain. She was glad to welcome Stephen and Annie, their impoverished former neighbours, less glad to see newly wealthy Charles and his aristocratic wife Cressida, and barely able to tolerate the deadly competitive Don and Valerie.Īs the four couples gathered on the sunny terrace, it seemed obvious who was winning in life and who was losing. And if she suspected that he had a hidden agenda, she managed to hide it in a cloud of Pimm's-induced laughter. He hadn't actually told Caroline, his brash and beautiful wife, what the real reason for the party was. Bought out of his bonuses as an investment salesman, it was complete with stable, cocktail bar, jacuzzi, shell-shaped bedheads and, of course, the tennis court (towered over by an authentic Wimbledon-green umpire's chair).

After all, he had the perfect setting – the White House. It was Patrick's idea that they should have the tennis party weekend. A hilarious, deadly, 'friendly' tennis tournament weekend, which is really about anything but tennis!

The Tennis Party by Madeleine Wickham