A Desirable Residence

March 3, 1997
In her second comedy of manners, following her witty and charming The Tennis Party, Wickam chronicles the experiences of three families at various junctures of middle age whose lives intersect, initially, in suburban London. Liz and Jonathan Chambers have just taken a major financial step in buying Silchester Tutorial College when Liz returns to her family's recently vacated London house to meet with Marcus Witherstone, her real estate agent, who has arranged a viewing for a prospective renter, Ginny Prentice. "Sometimes I wonder why we didn't just stay put, with our nice little comfortable lives. But, you know, life's about more than just being comfortable," Liz muses that afternoon, defining the story's chief concern: the fear that life will hold no further delights and surprises. The characters' identity crises lead them into various ventures, illicit affairs and illegal business deals in their attempts to fight the clock and the prospect of commonplace existence. The succession of attachments and separations between these families are entertainingly related, for Wickham has a clever eye that renders her characters' emotions and fears universal rather than stereotypical. Especially well wrought are the relationships on the periphery: the tension and compassion between Jonathan Chambers and his sulky teenaged daughter; the curious menage of Ginny and Piers Prentice and their friend, Duncan. The narrative is a lighthearted romp through other people's lives, with a ring of truth that adds a bittersweet edge.

Starred review from February 15, 2010
Chick lit superstar Wickham (The Wedding Girl
) is in stellar form in her latest, a story of intersecting fates set in suburban London. Self-centered Liz Chambers, bored with her job and under a mountain of debt, frequently lashes out at her even-tempered husband, Jonathan, and begins an affair with wealthy realtor Marcus Witherstone, who proposes that Liz and Jonathan rent their unsold house to a young couple, Ginny and Piers Prentice, with whom Liz and Jonathan's sullen teenage daughter, Alice, strikes up an unexpected friendship. Ginny, meanwhile, pins her hopes on would-be actor Piers getting a part in a soap opera, and Jonathan is put on a pedestal by Marcus's wife, Anthea. Marcus begins regretting a shady business deal that could land him in huge trouble, and as Liz grows more delusional, Ginny becomes more worried and desperate, and Anthea more unforgiving and relentless. It all comes to a head at a party Ginny throws on the eve of Piers's big audition. A well-executed and unexpected ending caps the dizzying action and demonstrates why Wickham is so deservedly on her genre's A-list.