Anyone for Seconds? by Laurie Graham.
Laurie Graham writes heart-warmers. (See review below) And that’s fine with me, especially when they
are as down-to-earth and entertaining as her latest title – which is a sequel
to ‘Perfect Meringues’, according to the jacket notes, a book that our library
has missed out on, even though it has a number of her other stories, but: NEVER MIND!
‘Anyone for Seconds’ with its redoubtable protagonist
Lizzie Partridge is a Blues-banisher extraordinaire, a laugh-out-loud chronicle
of six months in Lizzie’s life as she deals with a front door swollen with
damp, mice (though this turned out to be a dust-bunny because she hates
housework), the selfishness and uncaringness (is there such a word?) of her
close family and friends, and the loss of her job as a TV chef on daytime telly
– well, it wasn’t her fault; those two
cows roped in to sample her wonderful desserts wouldn’t eat a thing; in fact one of them said that sugar was bad
for everybody - she was obviously an
anorexic! Well, it wasn’t Lizzie’s fault
if diplomatic relations failed and she ended up trying to shove one of the
desserts down the anorexic’s throat, nor was she expecting the anorexic to
rally her skeletal strength and knock out Lizzie’s two front teeth.
No: it wasn’t a
good day. Lizzie avoided being charged,
but now she’s out of a job. Her partner
Tom has left her too, that kind, wonderful man whom everyone in the family
liked – and when told that he’d gone, they’d said ‘but he was so nice!’ Even Lizzie’s dour 89 year old mother said
she Could Have Done Worse, and Lizzie’s high-flying defence lawyer daughter
thought Lizzie was mad to let him go.
Well, no-one knew The Dark Side of Tom:
the man who washed everything BEFORE loading the dishwasher; the man who tried to whisk your plate away
before you’d finished everything on it – yes, he was definitely OCD and it was
a relief to leave a magazine or anything else on the floor if she wanted to
without having it consigned to ‘a proper place’ complete with eye-rolling. But she still misses him.
Well, never mind.
She’ll just disappear for a week and see how long it takes for all the
Near and Dear to miss her; it will do
them good to have some worrisome moments trying to track her down – Heavens,
they might even ring the police! Well,
serve them right for treating her so casually, taking her for granted: there’s nothing like a bit of tough love to
wake everyone’s ideas up.
Needless to say, Lizzie’s mystery disappearance doesn’t
produce the reaction she desired; her
Near and Dear have other, more pressing matters on their minds and life for a
slightly overweight (well, comfort food should do just that, shouldn’t it?) 64
year old ex-TV chef becomes more complicated before it gets better.
As always, Ms Graham’s
portrayal of family dynamics is right on the money; we read about ourselves in all of her books,
but seldom are our stories told with such humour and flair. At the risk of sounding oxymoronic (oh come
on, who cares!) this book is serious good fun.
SIX STARS.
Early Birds, by Laurie Graham.
Early Birds is the sequel to ‘The Future Homemakers of
America’, Ms Graham’s 2001 story of the
young wives of American Airmen stationed in Norfolk, England in the
1950’s. They weathered many an emotional
and physical storm together, especially Lois, married to Herb, the best, most
faithful husband anyone could wish for, but choosing instead to take an English
lover who was anything but stable – the resulting child from that unhappy
liaison being raised by Herb as his own.
Now
it is 2000 and the young women have become elderly; Peggy Dewey, who narrates their latest
adventures, has had a chequered career of her own: her marriage to Airman Vern Dewey collapsed
when he retired from the Air Force; she
bowed out because she objected to having the living room furniture thrown
across the room – at her. Now she and
her inadvertent companion Grice, a much younger Gay man, have been asked to
assist in the care of Vern, whose second wife has died: Peggy’s daughter Crystal has been trying –
and failing – to look after Vern, who now has Alzheimer’s. Would they PLEASE get their selfish asses out
of Texas and come to Maine to give her some help? PLEASE??
So
they do. For their living circumstances
in Texas are anything but ideal. They
are between the classic rock and the hard place – surely, looking after Vern so that Crystal can work
at being a taxidermist (!) and work at her shaky marriage to vegetarian Marc
can’t be that difficult. Can it?
Ms
Graham writes beautifully of family relationships, fractured and
otherwise: Lois and Herb come to visit
to give some respite care for those at the coalface of Vern, only for Lois to
extend the visit by breaking her hip in a fall – which is common in ladies of a
certain age, but she is anything but common, and certainly not a docile
patient. Then the huge, nation-wide
tragedy occurs: the attack and collapse
of the Twin Towers, with its accompanying terrible loss of life shocks the
world and conspiracy theories abound, even in Maine: Vern’s stepson Eugene has constructed a
bunker and fills it with canned food – all very well and good until the shelves
collapse while he is underneath. Things
are only middling! (As my dear old
Granny used to say.)
Peggy begins a very cautious
and tentative relationship with one of their remote ‘next-door’
neighbours; it literally takes years to
progress to the point where Grice says ‘Remember. If you marry him you must promise to adopt
me.’ Well, he is such a fabulous
character that I would adopt him myself if I could! Funny, touching and tender, this lovely
story’s feel-good factor is guaranteed. FIVE STARS
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