Customer Reviews
Tales of the Unexpected ... - By: Carole Farmer, 05 Oct 2005 
Gale carves up the Family Tree & puts it back together in ways that surprise to the last page. Much of this is achieved by exploiting the reader's prejudice about birth order & family relationships. Like mental judo, he probes for a weakness - & will throw you before you know it.
If it seems improbable - it is!! If you're able to laugh at your own prejudice, you'll like this ... & it's great for existing fans of teasy, clever Gale.
* OnlyMe reviews books from an Only-Child perspective.
Tales of the unexpected ... - By: Carole Farmer, 02 Oct 2005 Gale carves up the Family Tree & puts it back together in ways that surprise to the last page. Much of this is achieved by exploiting the reader's prejudice about birth order & family relationships. Like mental judo, he probes for a weakness - & will throw you before you know it.
If it seems improbable - it is!! If you're able to laugh at your own prejudice, you'll like this ... & it's great for existing fans of teasy, clever Gale.
Touching comedy - a family-centred Tales of the City - By: , 12 May 1999 I read this book recently on the strength of reading Gale's collection of short stories (a gift). The unlikely title & some of the plot-details on the cover may be off-putting to some. This would be a pity because Gale tells a story of many layers which succeeds because you actuallly care about nearly every character, & the intrigue of the plot as each character develops. (Yes the plot does depend on some unlikely coincidences, but by the time these are recognised, you don't reallly care, because of the way it works for the characters). At the end you understand the seemingly bizarre title, in fact the bittersweet conclusion left me a little moist-eyed. (Only Mark Helprin's books have done that to me before.)
Disappointing compared with reviews in the press - By: , 25 Mar 1999 
This was read by our book circle. We felt that the plot was too contrived & predictable & that the characters were more like caricatures than real people. If you suspend your sense of disbelief, you can enjoy the humour. From the opening, it could have made a good thriller, but the early promise wasn't fulfilled. Our overalll judgement was that we wouldn't recommend this novel to those who are short of time to read.
