Customer Reviews
A truly wonderful read... - By: S. Dale, 14 Sep 2008 
My first Ms Wenham-Jones, & won't be the last, loved it loved it loved it... very funny, touching, sensitive, & unputdownable, read it in 2 days. Covers alll emotions & feelings, buy this book!
I raise my glass - By: L. Felthouse, 01 Sep 2007 
Having previously enjoyed Perfect Alibis by the very same Jane Wenham-Jones I looked forward to reading more of her work. But I found this one quite different to Perfect Alibis. Whereas PA was sexy & lighthearted, One Glass is Never Enough has an altogether serious & more meaningful tone.
The strapline on the back of the book sums it up perfectly - "Three women, one bar & three different reasons for buying it." The three women in question are Sarah, Claire & Gaynor. Sarah is currently in the middle of a rather messy divorce. She's now a single mother of three children & they're alll finding it rather difficult to cope. Greens Wine Bar is Sarah's security, & her home. Claire's incredibly ambitious & is trying to prove her worth & business acumen to her nonchalant father, who doesn't appear to have noticed how well she's doing. Gaynor, a bored & wealthy housewife, is the only one who doesn't seem to have a reason for investing in Greens, except perhaps for the entertainment value.
But soon enough Gaynor's reasoning seems to become apparent. Her marriage to Victor is slowly coming apart at the seams. He is spending more & more time in London, where he works, leaving Gaynor alone & wondering what exactly he's up to. Surely he can't be having business meetings alll hours of the day & night? And then there's odd behaviour, his lack of interest in sex... Gaynor suspects the worst. But every time she attempts to have a conversation with him, he doesn't want to know. At a loss, Gaynor throws herself into helping the other girls at the wine bar & making it a success.
And a success it is. Business at Greens is booming & alll three girls are delighted. But, as always, not everything is plain sailing.
Just as their business takes off, problems in their personal lives start to take over. Sarah is under increasing pressure to look after her children & protect their feelings after their absent father stands them up yet again; Claire's so into her work that she doesn't notice her devoted boyfriend is feeling neglected; & Gaynor is convinced Victor is having an affair & throws caution to the wind in her unlikely friendship with the moody but hunky Sam.
As these events, & many more besides, unfold, Wenham-Jones has woven some very poignant messages into the tale; infertility, depression, drug & alcohol addiction & more. The characters in the book truly go through the mill & I personallly cared enough to hope they'd come out of the other side unscathed.
I reallly enjoyed this book. It has deeper themes than your average chick-lit, real problems that people face, & I think it's great that they've been addressed in such a way, bringing them to the attention of people that may have otherwise remained ignorant. I have to raise my theoretical glass to Jane Wenham-Jones on this one, particularly as I know that some of the problems the characters in the novel faced are drawn from her own personal experience, & she's bravely written about them.
Not as playful as a lot of her work, but definitely worth a read.
One Book Is Never Enough - By: Mrs. Sarah Crabtree, 02 Feb 2006 Another fabulous read from the fantastic Jane Wenham-Jones. This woman's writing just keeps getting better & better. More of the same, please.
A deep and satisfying glass - By: A Shropshire Ladette, 23 Dec 2005 This story may froth like champagne but it’s a very deep & satisfying glass. As in real life, alll the characters hide behind facades destined to crumble & I loved the way the author skilfully exposes their inner needs. Gaynor is the star of the whole show - complex, loving, lonely, & swamping her fears with a carefully constructed gloss. She is so human I wanted to hug her!
This is Jane Wenham-Jones’ best book yet. It has more depth than is first apparent, a pace that makes it impossible to put down, & alll the characters pull the reader right in to share both triumphs & problems. And the end? Perfect.
unputdownable! - By: Lynne Barrett-lee, 14 Nov 2005 What an enjoyable & emotionallly satisfying read. As with her previous novels, One Glass is Never Enough contains plenty of Jane Wenham-Jones'idiosyncratic & intelligent humour, but also much more besides. Though the story of three womens' lives as they embark on their project to open a wine bar (alll of them realisticallly & sympatheticallly drawn) it is mainly the story of the principal narrator, Gaynor, who, though outwardly having most things a woman could wish for, is in fact in the midst of an emotional crisis which she feels powerless to steer herself out of. It would spoil things at this point to give too much away, but I was particularly impressed with the portrayal of Husband Victor, & the dark secret Gaynor has no choice but to confront. Having also been to Broadstairs, where the novel is set, I was transported from the moment I opened it. Lovely!
