August Book Club - Spare Brides by Adele Parks

I have just finished "Spare Brides" which I was pleased to find at my local Tesco almost half price or two for £7 so I bought a Inspector Wexford (Ruth Rendell) as well as a contrast!!

That aside, I was impressed by the different characters that Adele Parks painted. Each unique in their own way. Personally, I did not take to Edgar although I suppose he was the hero of the story. I preferred Lawrence. Amongst the women I thought Sarah was the nicest. Bea of course one felt a sympathy for and admiration that she was going to make a success of her new role, but Lydia and Ava were too artificial for my liking (Poor Cecily and Samuel didn't figure enough to get "known" a very sad and I am sure, often met with, situation.)

As with The Deaths, by Mark Lawson, last month, for me there was too much explicit sex again. I preferred it in "the old days" when an author would say "he took her in his arms and *** or possibly in Edgar's case "He took her roughly in his arms and ***** leaving the rest to one's imagination, lurid, or prudish depending on the reader!!
Milly.

My copy as arrived and it is a book that I'm sure my mam will enjoy. Thank you so much. I wasn't familar with the author myself but I'm sure this book will be a good read.

I received my book a few days ago and am half way through it. I'm really enjoying it. It's difficult to know if post war ladies actually talked and thought in such a 21st century way. I've been going to bed at 10pm every night, just to read more of my book, so that's a good sign!

Really different to her previous books - but Im loving it all the same!

Wow, I love this book so much, will take it on holiday and read it again!!! I love all the different characters and the era in which it is set. Well done Adele.

I have thoroughly enjoyed Spare Brides. It portrays life in the 1920's so well. So different from to-day's modern women. How the poor men who fought in the Great War suffered so badly afterwards & had no councilling. It was all bottled up inside their heads. Hard for them & their women. A 'Generation changed by war' how true. Well done Adele.

I've received it but am just finishing Wolf Hall before starting it

I got my book and have read some of it but like some people I am finding it not living up to my exspectations this is just like any mills and boon book not what I thought it would be

Loving this book so far, will definitely be finishing it and will read more of this author

Thank you for the copy of Adele Parks "Spare Brides,"I am currently half way through it and will add my comments soon.

Just started to read it and fell over, breaking both wrists, so I can't hold it at the moment.

Thank you for my copy, it arrived this morning. I too had forgotten about it. We have family arriving this week so I might not have time to read it for a while.

Have now finished my copy. Not my usual sort of read but made a pleasant change. A good holiday read. The back ground to how people ( better off people ) coped after WW1 was interesting and as others have mentioned it linked well with recent commemorations. The ending was rather contrived but then I hate reading books with sad endings ( and I am sure I am not the only one) so what is an author to do????
Were any of the characters, e.g. Ava based on any real person?
Does Adelehave as equal in mind?

I loved this book thank you. It provided a captivating snapshot of life for women in the 1920's. Money could not always buy the choice we take for granted. It is a book about challenges expectations and having the courage to move forward. In there own way all the characters triumphed over stagnation and found their own path. Inspiring to read without being heavy going.

I'm just about half way through Spare Brides and am enjoying it although it's not something I would have chosen myself. The characters are very well drawn (in that I want to know what happens to them.)
The manners and pretension remind me a bit of Jane Austen novels where the heroines have nothing to do except get themselves good husbands. The twist here is that there are so few eligible men and those that are are damaged by war. I am looking forward to finishing it to see how it turns out.

Thank you for my copy. We have a house full of visitors for the next month so I'm afraid sitting down and reading is off the agenda at the moment.

Loved this book. Historical novels are not my usual type and I approached this one with soft steps...it envelops you in the mindset of women just after the war and you become aware of what common traits women of today still feel and endure.Love,loneliness, embarrassment,fear of not belonging, disability, struggles within marriage, they all cross the boundries of class and time. This is a gripping book weaving the ups and downs of various characters without the sometimes confusing mesh that some authors use that just baffles me and loses my interest. I would recommend this highly.

Thanks for the book which arrived, coincidentally, on my birthday!
I shall read it after a book I'm reading, at the mo', which was recommended by my GD ....... what goes around, comes around!

Just got to finish current book then 'spare Brides' it is!

Many thanks for this book. At present I am catering for ten family members who are holidaying at 'Our House'!! So I am looking forward to a good read next week when all have gone home.

I was thrilled to receive my copy and am finding it an engaging read.

I was thrilled to receive my copy of Spare Brides and am finding it an engaging read. the true test is whether you care about the characters, and I do.

I've just finished Spare Brides. I liked the seasonal sections way of writing, with the relevant weather providing an atmospheric background . Each of the 4 main characters were well drawn, I imagined Miranda Hart as Bea.
I didn't like Edgar and wish the ending was different, so I wasn't really convinced by the love affair.
Sarah and Lawrence made a good couple, and I enjoyed Ava's emancipated character.
The 1920s jazz period was evoked and I loved the description of the various dresses the girls wore; how shallow of me!
It was refreshing to read how women's lives were changed by the Great War and its aftermath.

Finished last night.
I have to confess that I wasn't much taken with it at all. The subject matter was a good idea but surely a better story could have been made from the experiences of 'normal' women rather than socialites. I did get bored with the constant description of their clothes.
I can't say I thought any of the characters had any depth with the exception of Bea & I really didn't like any of them.
I doubt Edgar would have been welcomed into their society even if he was dashing.
I found several errors in the book (the clattering of crochet needles??!!) but as I had an unchecked copy hopefully a good editor/proof reader ironed them out.
I would have liked to read about some of the women in more modest areas of society who would have found living without their men much more of a problem than these spoiled, silly girls.
Sorry- not for me at all but you can't please everyone.

I finished mine this morning. With the title 'Spare Brides', I was expecting the story to be about more ordinary women who were left on the shelf due to a lack of men after WW1, rather than rather spoilt socialites. It is really only Bea who is 'spare' and who I had any sympathy with. Also felt for Cecily but for different reasons.

I did find it a bit heavy going until Edgar turned up and then it was fairly obvious which way the story was going to go although I didn't expect them to sail off to Australia at the end!

I would like to ask Adele what made her chose the title 'Spare Brides' and also what research she did for Edgar's vivid memories of the war