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I do like Erica James' novels, so was delighted to be given 'Hidden Talents' for a recent birthday. This is the ninth of her published books, and in my opinion one of her best. At nearly 500 pages it's not a particularly quick read, but that makes it all the better value.
'Hidden Talents' is primarily about Dulcie Ballantyne, who is in her early 60s. She is a published writer in a low-key sort of way. She decides to organise a small informal writing group in her home, and advertises locally.
Dulcie is also a lady with a secret. Unknown to any of her friends she's been having an affair for the past three years with a married man called Richard. As the novel opens, Dulcie is extremely worried because Richard is in hospital after a heart attack. She can't get much information from the nursing staff because she's not related to him; she obviously can't phone his family to find out what's happened either....
Meanwhile, four very different people decide to join Dulcie's writing group.
There's Beth, a widow in her 40s who's dreading her only son Nathan going away to university the following year. She joins the group to give her a new interest. She and Nathan get along well, but are rather plagued by Beth's parents-in-law who insist on being 'helpful' and inviting them to enormous meals, while driving them both wild with constant references to Nathan's father Adam. It's clear that there is something unusual about the way Adam died, but his parents won't admit to it....
Beth and Nathan are friendly with Adele Waterman, an elderly lady who lives in the flat below theirs, who is planning to move to a retirement home. We meet Jack, an estate agent, who first appears in the novel when he comes to value Adele's flat and is shown around by Beth. While Jack is successful and confident in his work, he's having a hard time in his private life. We quickly learn that his wife recently left him and moved in with his former best friend, taking their two daughters with her. Jack is angry and bitter, and when he spots the advert for the writing group, he joins thinking it might give him a new direction, and could also be cathartic in coming to terms with some of his anger....
The third member of the group is Jaz, a feisty 17-year-old who is part of a large, boisterous family. She goes to the same sixth form college as Beth's son Nathan, and has started to be friendly with him. Jaz has always been something of a loner, but longs to fit in somewhere. She has two loud older brothers, and two wild younger sisters, and suffers from being not just the middle child, but the only one who is academically inclined. She joins the group in the hope of finding some privacy and time to herself to develop her interest in writing. However she doesn't want to be teased by her family, so she pretends that she's spending Thursday evenings with her best friend Vicky....
Finally there's Victor, a rather caricatured misfit. He wears trousers that are too short for him, and is convinced that he's a brilliant writer. Right from the start he annoys the rest of the group with his pompous attitude, his dislike of playing ice-breaker games, and his general condescension. This inevitably draws the other group members together somewhat, particularly when they realise they have connections outside the group, while Victor is unknown.
The book is told, a chapter at a time, from the perspective of each of these main characters. I found this slightly jarring at first, but soon started to feel involved with each one; the technique worked well, since inevitably they all start to get to know each other and to be part of each other's lives. Their pasts unravel slowly, revealed both in their writing and in their interaction with each other, and also when we see them with their families and friends. In the process they also learn a lot about themselves.
I enjoy character-based novels in general, and felt that this was one of the best I had read for a long time. Erica James has a gift of writing from the viewpoints of a wide variety of people, and I found them all believable and likeable - even the rather sad Victor, once his situation was explored a little more deeply.
There's low-key romance, confrontation when - inevitably - Jaz's parents find out about the group, a little travel in Italy, plenty of ideas for aspiring writers in the guise of the writing group, and an intertwining of the various subplots that I felt worked extremely well. There are contemporary issues gently touched upon: betrayal, children of divorced parents, grown-up children who surprise their parents, the potential dangers of Internet acquaintances. The mixture was just right for my tastes, with the tiniest amount of suspense here and there, making me almost unable to put the book down once I was about three-quarters of the way through.
I liked, too, the birds-eye view I had of all the characters once I had got to know them. There are some surprises and one or two shocks within the book; surprises, that is, from the perspective of the people concerned. But the book was cleverly written, so that just enough hints were dropped to make me aware of what was coming up in each situation, a page or two before each one was overtly revealed. As I don't much like unexpected and dramatic plotting, I found this reassuring. It made me feel as if I were on the same wavelength as the author. However if you're the kind of person who likes to be surprised in a book, you might find it a bit frustrating.
Anyone who likes this sort of character-driven book would probably enjoy this, as would aspiring writers, and indeed those interested in how a group of dissimilar people can gel together so quickly when meeting for a common purpose. Fans of Rosamunde Pilcher, Maeve Binchy and similar authors would almost certainly like Erica James too.
I would have particularly have enjoyed this as a teenager, since one of the main characters was herself still at school. So I'd recommend it to anyone of about fourteen and older who wants a light read with a little more substance than many modern novels, as well as adults. The natural appeal of this sort of book is to women, but I should think many men could enjoy it too.
'Hidden Talents' is primarily about Dulcie Ballantyne, who is in her early 60s. She is a published writer in a low-key sort of way. She decides to organise a small informal writing group in her home, and advertises locally.
Dulcie is also a lady with a secret. Unknown to any of her friends she's been having an affair for the past three years with a married man called Richard. As the novel opens, Dulcie is extremely worried because Richard is in hospital after a heart attack. She can't get much information from the nursing staff because she's not related to him; she obviously can't phone his family to find out what's happened either....
Meanwhile, four very different people decide to join Dulcie's writing group.
There's Beth, a widow in her 40s who's dreading her only son Nathan going away to university the following year. She joins the group to give her a new interest. She and Nathan get along well, but are rather plagued by Beth's parents-in-law who insist on being 'helpful' and inviting them to enormous meals, while driving them both wild with constant references to Nathan's father Adam. It's clear that there is something unusual about the way Adam died, but his parents won't admit to it....
Beth and Nathan are friendly with Adele Waterman, an elderly lady who lives in the flat below theirs, who is planning to move to a retirement home. We meet Jack, an estate agent, who first appears in the novel when he comes to value Adele's flat and is shown around by Beth. While Jack is successful and confident in his work, he's having a hard time in his private life. We quickly learn that his wife recently left him and moved in with his former best friend, taking their two daughters with her. Jack is angry and bitter, and when he spots the advert for the writing group, he joins thinking it might give him a new direction, and could also be cathartic in coming to terms with some of his anger....
The third member of the group is Jaz, a feisty 17-year-old who is part of a large, boisterous family. She goes to the same sixth form college as Beth's son Nathan, and has started to be friendly with him. Jaz has always been something of a loner, but longs to fit in somewhere. She has two loud older brothers, and two wild younger sisters, and suffers from being not just the middle child, but the only one who is academically inclined. She joins the group in the hope of finding some privacy and time to herself to develop her interest in writing. However she doesn't want to be teased by her family, so she pretends that she's spending Thursday evenings with her best friend Vicky....
Finally there's Victor, a rather caricatured misfit. He wears trousers that are too short for him, and is convinced that he's a brilliant writer. Right from the start he annoys the rest of the group with his pompous attitude, his dislike of playing ice-breaker games, and his general condescension. This inevitably draws the other group members together somewhat, particularly when they realise they have connections outside the group, while Victor is unknown.
The book is told, a chapter at a time, from the perspective of each of these main characters. I found this slightly jarring at first, but soon started to feel involved with each one; the technique worked well, since inevitably they all start to get to know each other and to be part of each other's lives. Their pasts unravel slowly, revealed both in their writing and in their interaction with each other, and also when we see them with their families and friends. In the process they also learn a lot about themselves.
I enjoy character-based novels in general, and felt that this was one of the best I had read for a long time. Erica James has a gift of writing from the viewpoints of a wide variety of people, and I found them all believable and likeable - even the rather sad Victor, once his situation was explored a little more deeply.
There's low-key romance, confrontation when - inevitably - Jaz's parents find out about the group, a little travel in Italy, plenty of ideas for aspiring writers in the guise of the writing group, and an intertwining of the various subplots that I felt worked extremely well. There are contemporary issues gently touched upon: betrayal, children of divorced parents, grown-up children who surprise their parents, the potential dangers of Internet acquaintances. The mixture was just right for my tastes, with the tiniest amount of suspense here and there, making me almost unable to put the book down once I was about three-quarters of the way through.
I liked, too, the birds-eye view I had of all the characters once I had got to know them. There are some surprises and one or two shocks within the book; surprises, that is, from the perspective of the people concerned. But the book was cleverly written, so that just enough hints were dropped to make me aware of what was coming up in each situation, a page or two before each one was overtly revealed. As I don't much like unexpected and dramatic plotting, I found this reassuring. It made me feel as if I were on the same wavelength as the author. However if you're the kind of person who likes to be surprised in a book, you might find it a bit frustrating.
Anyone who likes this sort of character-driven book would probably enjoy this, as would aspiring writers, and indeed those interested in how a group of dissimilar people can gel together so quickly when meeting for a common purpose. Fans of Rosamunde Pilcher, Maeve Binchy and similar authors would almost certainly like Erica James too.
I would have particularly have enjoyed this as a teenager, since one of the main characters was herself still at school. So I'd recommend it to anyone of about fourteen and older who wants a light read with a little more substance than many modern novels, as well as adults. The natural appeal of this sort of book is to women, but I should think many men could enjoy it too.
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