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Linda A | all galleries >> Galleries >> Linda's Photo Diary for 2003 > public humiliation
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7th July 2003

public humiliation

I'm the sort of person who reads by the yard. I buy books 5/6 at a time and work my way through them in a couple of weeks. I try to balance 'the good and intelligent' with the 'oh what the heck about the quality of the writing - it's a good read'. This book by Allison Pearson fell into the latter category when I bought it.

I've been back at work today and on the train so I have read a good chunk of it. It is a surprising book because it's 'chick-lit' but for grown ups! I have so much empathy with the heroine - Kate Reddy that it's almost painful watching her juggle her work and homelife and, even though I don't have kids, I feel just like her in every other respect.

Today, while on the way home, I got to the bit where she goes to the funeral of a good friend - I won't say any more in case you are planning to read it. I was on a crowded commuter train from Waterloo to Ascot at this point. The depth of sadness in those few pages is extraordinary. I found myself reading with great, fat tears welling up inside my eyelids, rolling over my cheeks, onto my chin and plopping onto my very nice, Paul Smith 'client visit' blouse, making very big stains on my otherwise pristine outfit.

So, the moral of this story is that even in the most lightweight of fiction, it is still possible to have very deeply emotional experiences. The other one is dig the fingernails into the palm of the hand - it's less embarrassing!


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