Lorna, 39, is married to misanthropic Ralph, who in turn is wedded to his 27 pipes and his artificial-grass business. In fact, it's a menage a trois, the third party being Lorna's Monster, a gleefully sadistic personification of her panic attacks.
The Monster has a field day when, after a botched foot operation, Lorna is sent to convalesce among the deaf and demented inmates of a nursing home from hell, where the staff have more problems than the patients. But, despite her surroundings, she begins to blossom, making new friends, discovering untapped talents, and a reawakened interest in sex, thanks to the attentions of an ardent young care-worker. She is even offered a challenging new job. Meanwhile Ralph is being sued by a vindictive business client and fears he will lose his house and his livelihood.
In another of her wickedly black comedies Wendy Perriam chronicles an unconventional marriage, showing the bond that can develop between two people who have experienced a 'lost childhood'. She also takes a swipe at the medical profession and, by graphically illustrating the plight of residents in low-grade care homes, offers a devastating critique of the way society treats the old and infirm. Yet throughout, the novel is leavened by the author's exuberant wit.
Genre: General Fiction
The Monster has a field day when, after a botched foot operation, Lorna is sent to convalesce among the deaf and demented inmates of a nursing home from hell, where the staff have more problems than the patients. But, despite her surroundings, she begins to blossom, making new friends, discovering untapped talents, and a reawakened interest in sex, thanks to the attentions of an ardent young care-worker. She is even offered a challenging new job. Meanwhile Ralph is being sued by a vindictive business client and fears he will lose his house and his livelihood.
In another of her wickedly black comedies Wendy Perriam chronicles an unconventional marriage, showing the bond that can develop between two people who have experienced a 'lost childhood'. She also takes a swipe at the medical profession and, by graphically illustrating the plight of residents in low-grade care homes, offers a devastating critique of the way society treats the old and infirm. Yet throughout, the novel is leavened by the author's exuberant wit.
Genre: General Fiction
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