How about "unisex?"

Alright then..Jakki and Marc, when you've finished reading, we'll discuss!

LOL.......You know what it's like Liz after a migraine, how words tend to come out all wrong and your brain feels somehow 'scrambled' Unisex IS what I meant :lol:

I am slow, and I am sorry I've had a few problems and have been over stressed. So much noise I can't even think straight let alone read.

I can't go into the garden without sawdust flying everywhere and the incescent sound of electric saws and drills and hammers.
Cackling of witchy neighbours as they do their best to annoy.

I can't open windows or doors and still I hear it all day and night.

I've not been gettign to bed til gone 1 am and then It's not quiet enough to sleep til gone 3am thaks to my neighbours and I have to be up at 6.

Everytime I picked up my beloved book I fell asleep I'm that tired.

I promise I will write my report b y this Friday.

Don't rush, Issi darling. Rest you mind at ease. We're very informal here in our little Book Club, so you can write something whenever you're ready.

Thanks Liz, I'm here with my review at last. I stuck industrial strength ear plugs in my ears, took some calm tablets, a very small nip of Cognac and got on with the pure enjoyment of reading this months book.

When I first started reading 'The Beach House' I felt instantly at one with Nan ( the main character who owns 'The Beach House' ) Her cycling through the street expecting aknowledgement from neighbours as she passed by nodding a cheery hello to them but only ever receiving sneers, or an immediate look the other way.
How nice it is of people to shun someone who refuses to be belittled by society and who is happy, cheerful and carefree come what may.
I would have been her friend for sure.

As each chapter turned, my first thoughts were 'Oh......is this going to be one of those 'each chapeter is anotheer tale' book? and I hoped not. I then remembered the synopsis on the back of the book and I couldn't wait for erveryone to come together and for lives to be changed.
I soon realized how important it was to really get to know the other characters in the book, to fully aknowledge and understand their problems in order to watch them find that 'happier place' we all search for from time to time.
I never felt weighted down by their problems though, as sometimes you can do in a book. Sometimes I've read books that have left me needing a break after the first chapter alone, som much had happened.
This felt easy, problems we can all associate with, or at least empathize and sympathize with meant the book for me flowed seamlessly.

I was so sad to have finished the book, I wanted to know more and will certainly experiment with more of Jane Green's novels. To me this was a perfect, easy summer read and one most people ( except men really ) will enjoy regardless of the genre you normally read.

It's good to move outside your box reading style now and then. To give another author a chance is to braoden your literature horizons.

I was pleasantly surprised by this book. As I said earlier, I was at first afraid it was a "chic book," but by the second chapter I could see how different it was going to be. I became immersed in the characters' lives, but as you wrote, Jakki, I never felt weighed down by their problems. I found the way in which the characters finally came together very clever, and the surprise near the end of trhe book was completelt unanticipated and very much enjoyed!

I was not only surprised by the book but fall in love with the author It was her second book i've read and i am looking for more!

The characters were so realistic - i felt like i am watching them and not reading about them - i wish i could describe things like this! At the beggining i was a bit judgemental about all, and then i somehow learned all the details and liked every single person. The biggest surprise for me was Bee, who i really disliked at the beginning and then found her to be, in a way, similar to me!
Just one thing is disturbing me: would it be so easy to pretend to be dead and change identity? Wouldn't Nan's husband need any documents to marry?

I am impressed by the easiness Jane Green is writing with - heavy subjects sound natural and i feel the pain of characyters. I guess i liked most Daff, which i constantly find surprising - in most of the books i identify with people at least 35 years old - am i loosing my youth ?

No, you're gaining in wisdom.