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The Wives of Bath: A Novel Review
Real estate wizard Hugo Fine and his wife Amanda attend birthing class only to encounter Amanda's nemesis, Alice, and Alice's husband Jake. The expectant mothers had met previously when they worked for an American magazine and thoroughly despised each other. The hatred does not abate during the prenatal course. The couples' differences are summed up in their birthing plans. Jake, editor of the environmental magazine Get Trashed, and Alice expect to deliver at home, complete with whale music and birthing pool. Amanda is opting for first-class delivery all the way, including an elective Caesarean at the most exclusive hospital.
Amanda's plans are all for naught when she goes into labor early, and the high-class hospital refuses to admit her. She ends up at the public hospital, protesting, "I'm too posh to push." But push she does.
Meanwhile, Alice also has gone into labor and her all-natural home birth plans are not going smoothly. The birthing pool is not put together. Jake struggles at length to assemble it. But while he's still deciphering the instructions, news comes that the midwives aren't available. Amazingly, Alice's insurance from her old job still covers her --- and lands her at the exclusive hospital Amanda had yearned for. So off the two environmentalists go, in the hospital limousine. Hugo runs into Jake at the fancy hospital after Amanda demands to convalesce there. In spite of common ground, the two new fathers continue to detest each other.
When the babies come home, it's still rough sailing for both couples, and their lives continue to intertwine in unexpected ways. Becoming parents intensifies the personalities of all four, and actually sets frivolous Hugo on a sweetly redemptive path. In fact, THE WIVES OF BATH is truly Hugo's story. The book honors his transformation, which was splendid.
Descriptions of Jake and Alice recycling toilet paper tubes as napkin holders, calling the worm hotline when their garbage-recycling worms prove to be anorexic, and serving lentil soup in recycled cottage cheese containers are hilarious, as are some of Hugo's antics as he learns to be a good father. Although Amanda is so constantly a horror that the reader wonders why Hugo stays with her for ten minutes, never mind marrying her and having a baby with her, it's all in good (sometimes, very black) fun.
This was not the superficial silliness I somehow expected from the book cover, but rather a thoroughly enjoyable read that managed to be wickedly funny, surprisingly sad, and had a few startling twists in the tale. Now that I've discovered this author, I'll definitely search out her other books.
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The Wives of Bath: A Novel Overview
From the bestselling author of Azur Like it and Farm Fatale comes a domestic comedy set in the world of coupledom and new parenthood Bath, England—the swanky town once home to ancient Roman spas and Jane Austen heroines—is the setting for this brilliant new novel. Birthing class brings together two sets of expectant parents, who couldn't be more different. Hugo and his spoiled wife Amanda plan to throw money at the problems of parenthood, making use of private hospitals and nurses, while environmentally friendly Jake and Alice have arranged a home-delivery complete with birthing pool and whale music. When Amanda decides she's not cut out for motherhood and Hugo must look elsewhere for a sympathetic ear, the couples are inextricably drawn together once again, resulting in hilarious social comedy, as only Wendy Holden can write it. "Fans of her writing know that Holden's skill, wit, and aplomb make her stand out in the oft-sugary genre." —Gotham "Holden is very good indeed." —The Baltimore Sun
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