‘She’s a party girl. He’s a Party Leader. Things are about to get complicated…
Jenny Hannigan might be a good-time party girl but all she secretly craves is a life of domestic bliss and solid respectability.
So when she crashes into the arms of Richard Allam- the young, handsome, recently separated politician hotly tipped to lead his party to victory in the upcoming election- she thinks she’s found exactly what she is looking for.
But Jenny isn’t exactly politician’s wife material so Richard recruits the intensely private but charismatic publicist Dev Tennant to ‘spin’ Jenny to the Party…and the public.
As the election gathers momentum, it turns out that Jenny has more than one skeleton in her closet and Dev is working overtime to try and keep them there’.
Fun loving Jenny is thrilled when her politician boyfriend Richard Allam, who’s recently separated from his wife, finally agrees to bring their relationship into the open. Her enthusiasm is dampened somewhat when she discovers Richard has hired his friend Dev, a brilliant spindoctor, to make her more appealing to the British public. As Dev works with Jenny and uncovers more about her rather colourful past, it becomes glaringly obvious that Jenny is completely wrong for Richard, but completely right for Dev.
Jenny was so lovely that I felt very indignant on her behalf whenever anyone was mean to her! She’d had a pretty tough time in her past but didn’t let it bring her down or make her bitter. She was kind and unassuming, and perhaps a little naïve. Jenny’s quirky style was a joy to read about, I hated seeing her trying to change herself to fit in with the expectations of Richard’s colleagues. I’ve encountered few characters who’d make a worse politician’s wife, and yet she was devoted to self-absorbed Richard, a man who quite clearly didn’t deserve her.
Richard’s wife Julia was almost the polar opposite of Jenny, and I found her equally as enthralling. She was poised and conservative and had worked hard to mould herself into the perfect partner to aid Richard in his political ambitions, only to have him leave. Her only real similarity to Jenny was that she also didn’t allow herself to wallow in self-pity, a quality I admired in both characters.
The club formed by Jenny’s ex-boyfriends to support each other in getting over her was absolutely inspired. The idea seems a little over the top and unrealistic but it worked wonderfully within the novel, creating some hilarious little moments.
There were some extremely funny episodes in this book, Murphy obviously has a real knack for comedy, and one scene involving a fish finger stuck to a ceiling was particularly memorable. There were several real laugh-out-loud moments that I really relished. Murphy’s comic timing is consistently spot-on.
Politics and chick lit aren’t an obvious pairing, but this novel turned out to be very, very good. ‘Girl In A Spin’ was wonderfully fun and intelligently written escapism. With such a fantastically lovable heroine combined with much hilarity and Delicious Dev, this novel couldn’t fail to please. Murphy achieves the near impossible – she makes politics sexy and fun. I for one can’t wait for her next novel.
4 and a half stars
Jenny Hannigan might be a good-time party girl but all she secretly craves is a life of domestic bliss and solid respectability.
So when she crashes into the arms of Richard Allam- the young, handsome, recently separated politician hotly tipped to lead his party to victory in the upcoming election- she thinks she’s found exactly what she is looking for.
But Jenny isn’t exactly politician’s wife material so Richard recruits the intensely private but charismatic publicist Dev Tennant to ‘spin’ Jenny to the Party…and the public.
As the election gathers momentum, it turns out that Jenny has more than one skeleton in her closet and Dev is working overtime to try and keep them there’.
Fun loving Jenny is thrilled when her politician boyfriend Richard Allam, who’s recently separated from his wife, finally agrees to bring their relationship into the open. Her enthusiasm is dampened somewhat when she discovers Richard has hired his friend Dev, a brilliant spindoctor, to make her more appealing to the British public. As Dev works with Jenny and uncovers more about her rather colourful past, it becomes glaringly obvious that Jenny is completely wrong for Richard, but completely right for Dev.
Jenny was so lovely that I felt very indignant on her behalf whenever anyone was mean to her! She’d had a pretty tough time in her past but didn’t let it bring her down or make her bitter. She was kind and unassuming, and perhaps a little naïve. Jenny’s quirky style was a joy to read about, I hated seeing her trying to change herself to fit in with the expectations of Richard’s colleagues. I’ve encountered few characters who’d make a worse politician’s wife, and yet she was devoted to self-absorbed Richard, a man who quite clearly didn’t deserve her.
Richard’s wife Julia was almost the polar opposite of Jenny, and I found her equally as enthralling. She was poised and conservative and had worked hard to mould herself into the perfect partner to aid Richard in his political ambitions, only to have him leave. Her only real similarity to Jenny was that she also didn’t allow herself to wallow in self-pity, a quality I admired in both characters.
The club formed by Jenny’s ex-boyfriends to support each other in getting over her was absolutely inspired. The idea seems a little over the top and unrealistic but it worked wonderfully within the novel, creating some hilarious little moments.
There were some extremely funny episodes in this book, Murphy obviously has a real knack for comedy, and one scene involving a fish finger stuck to a ceiling was particularly memorable. There were several real laugh-out-loud moments that I really relished. Murphy’s comic timing is consistently spot-on.
Politics and chick lit aren’t an obvious pairing, but this novel turned out to be very, very good. ‘Girl In A Spin’ was wonderfully fun and intelligently written escapism. With such a fantastically lovable heroine combined with much hilarity and Delicious Dev, this novel couldn’t fail to please. Murphy achieves the near impossible – she makes politics sexy and fun. I for one can’t wait for her next novel.
4 and a half stars
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