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Man At The Helm (2014)

by Nina Stibbe(Favorite Author)

3.72 of 5 Votes: 5

ISBN

0241003156 (ISBN13: 9780241003152)

languge

English

genre

Fiction

publisher

Penguin Viking

review 1: A nice quirky tale of a family who lose the man in their life resulting in the children thinking that they will have to help their mum find a new one! This is the first real novel from the pen of Nina Stibbe, although she has already had "Love, Nina" published - a series of letters written between her and her sister whilst working as a nanny in London. Ms Stibbe clearly has a way with words with a style all of her own. This novel, as with her previous work, is easy to read and explores numerous characters, mainly through the eyes of the children of the piece, which gives it a simplistic quality but not to the detriment of either the story or the style in which it is written, nor does it treat the reader as "simplistic", quite the opposite in fact. A book that is hard to p... moreut down - I always reached a point where I thought that will do for now, but ended up reading a bit more anyway. I particularly like that there is plenty of humour in here. I would definitely look out for Ms Stibbe's next literary venture!
review 2: I loved this book! It is very lightly written and flows really well. It is written in the first person and the protagonist/narrator begins her story as a nine year old child. One of the clever things that the author manages to do is to marry the very believable voice of Lizzie as a child with an adult viewpoint, as her story is being told by her older self. Another thing that impressed me was regarding the swearing that is used throughout the novel. The lightness of touch that Nina Stibbe brings to the writing almost glides you over the text causing the reader to accept what would be for most people rather strong bad language without a second thought! This novel is humorous, witty and very evocative of the era in which it is set. The author also has great insight into personal relationships through childhood, especially concerning friendships. A great read that I heartily recommend! less

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