Maggie Dana

This online UK bookseller, The Book Depository, has free shipping anywhere in the world. I'm English, but live in the States and have always had to either wait for my favourite English authors to be published over here, or buy the English edition and pay shipping via Amazon UK which usually doubles the price of the book. So I'm really thrilled to have discovered this site: http://www.bookdepository.co.uk/

Hello Natty: I'm another newcomer ... you'll love it here. People are super friendly and nice and their book reviews are the best ever. (Now who was it who paid me to say this? I can't remember, but thanks for the cash. The good news is that it showed up today in unmarked bank notes; the bad news is they're Albanian.) Maggie

Good idea, Michelle. I wonder if any would respond to an invitation from you. Might be worth a try.

Natty, you've hit a big nail on its head, here. Books with the sort of prologue you describe are, to my way of thinking, a lazy approach to telling the story.

I hate to say this, but Tenth Circle isn't her best by a long shot. It's one of the few Picoult books I didn't like. That said, I'm finally starting to really enjoy this one, Change of Heart, after being dubious for the first 50 or so pages. The story's getting to me, and I'm especially liking Marin, the attorney. Clearly, it'll be a wrenching ending because this is a lose-lose situation.

What I love about UK libraries is that they pay the author a small royalty every time his/her book is checked out. An infinitesmal amount, to be sure, but in these economic times, every little bit helps. Not so in the US, where I live. Authors receive a standard royalty, once, from each library when it buys the book; after that, nothing at all. To my disappointment, though, I won't, as a non-UK-resident, receive any royalties from UK libraries when my novel (to be published this June) is checked out, even though I'm a National Insurance Card-carrying UK citizen.

Who knows where this bias (preference?) came from, and maybe it's not much of a bias in UK publishing, but in the US (where I live) and on the US-based writer's forum where I tend to hang out, writers (especially newbies) are advised by both the forum's published authors and contributing agents and editors to avoid prologues if at all possible. There was even a thread recently on the same forum, started by a newbie writer who was agonizing over what the 'rules' said about using one space or two after a full stop. Everyone weighed in on both sides of the issue to the point where I felt compelled to step in and tell them it really didn't matter, that if their work was fresh and innovative an agent (or editor) wouldn't give a rat's a** if they used one, two, or ten stupid spaces after terminal punctuation. Then one of the resident agents joined the fray and backed up what I'd said. Hopefully, the thread has now died down. Writers can be a very sensitive lot.

I think what many editors don't care for, or perhaps feel their readers don't care for, are lengthy prologues, say, of more than four pages. Anything longer, they feel, should be called Chapter 1. That said, there are times when calling something 'chapter 1,' doesn't work for a variety of reasons (setting up the scene, narrative flow, back story, etc.), but if the prologue is, in fact, back story, this is usually the last thing an editor wants at the beginning of a book. In these days of sound bites and instant gratification, most readers want to be dumped (so editors claim) into the meat of a story right away. No time for elegant preambles and gorgeous descriptive bits, unless it's lit-fic. Then all bets are off. If I can pull any more information out of my writers' forums to help shed light on this (that is, if any of you can stomach any more of my maundering on the subject), I'll be glad to share.

I listened to this on audio (in my car) and almost drove off the road. Hilarious, just hilarious. I ought to get the book and see if it's even funnier when read. I've never read her Mole stories, but my daughter thought they were fabulous; then I read Number 10 (I think that's the right title), and it was good, but I didn't enjoy it nearly as much as Queen.

(This blurb is taken from dust jacket) It's Eleanor who starts the Friday night get-togethers. From her window she sees two young women with small children, separate, struggling, and plainly lonely -- and decides to ask them in. Gradually a group of six different and disparate women forms. They range in age from Jules, who is twenty-two and wants to be a DJ, to Eleanor herself, who is a retired professional and walks with a cane. They include one wife, three mothers, three single women, and five working women. All of them, in their own way, need and value the tradition of Friday nights spent together with a bottle of wine and children often underfoot. And then one of them meets a man -- an enigmatic, significant man -- and the dynamic changes. The bonds that have been so closely forged are tested -- and some of them break. *** I bought this in hardcover because that's how I always buy Joanna Trollope's books. Normally, I'd dive right in, but this time I read Amazon reviews first and was dismayed to see so many negative ones. And I disagree with all of them. Those readers, as far as I'm concerned, totally missed the subtlety of this story, its well-wrought characters, and attention to detail. Anyone looking for a 'one-size-fits-all-happy-ending' sort of story won't find them in this one, or in most of Trollope's novels. Her talent, I feel, is in introducing you to interestingly flawed people, then moving them a little further along on their separate journeys without necessarily solving everything for them, or for the reader. I was prepared, given the reviews, to be disappointed but am happy to report that this novel entertained and delighted me (and made me think) the way her others have done. My favourite, I think, is The Spanish Lover; my least favourite (in that I've only read it once rather than multiple times) is Girl from the South. I find Trollope's writing style enormously appealing. She's the only author who can head-hop (multiple points of view on the same page) without it driving me potty; and one of few authors whose use of adverbs I find charmingly (hah!!!) appropriate.

Phew, glad I'm not the only one who didn't care for this. I heard the author being interviewed on NPR (National Public Radio in the U.S. ... the only stations without constant ads) and he was fascinating (and funny) and the book sounded wonderful, so I got it (luckily, from my library) but couldn't get beyond 50 pages or so. I tried, I really tried, then reckoned I just didn't connect with this particular author. Pity ... because the writing was lovely; it just didn't have anything I could grab hold of.

Yes, that story about the fire in Halifax during the First World War was engrossing. I loved that part of the story. I'd forgotten about it, Chesil ... thanks for reminding me. Made the book worth slogging through. Am now making a mental note to see if I can find books at my library about this fire.

I just checked Jodi Picoult's web site: http://www.jodipicoult.com/ Her UK events are filling fast, so if you want to see her, best to sign up fast. I'll be over in early June ... wish she was still in the UK then, but her book tour ends on May 8th.

Oh, a definite must. She appeared in my area (I'm in Connecticut; she lives about 150 miles north of me in New Hampshire) but her event was sold out by the time I tried to sign up. I was seriously disappointed because I love her books ... except for this current one. It's just not sitting right with me, but I will finish it because I admire her tremendously and don't want to judge this book without having read all of it. Have you visited her web site? In the photos, she looks very natural and approachable, and surrounded by kids and animals. She and my daughter graduated a year apart from Harvard's MEd (Masters in Education) program in the late 1980s. My daughter taught high school for 12 years, but I don't know if Jodi did any teaching. I thought, for sure, she was a lawyer when I first started reading her books. Her grasp of the law, the courtroom, and police procedure is amazing; turns out she's just an amazing researcher! I'm always impressed with the level of research she has to do for her books. She doesn't flinch from tackling tough subjects.

I just started Picoult's latest, HANDLE WITH CARE, and even though I'm only 50 pages in, I know it's going to be a slog, which is disappointing, given how much I admire this author's work. The situations are similar to those in MY SISTER'S KEEPER, and there are multiple voices telling the story, except they're telling it to Willow, the central character (who doesn't have a voice), and I find it's tripping me up. The POVs are first person, but frequently the narrator(s) will say something like, "And then I looked at you sitting on the couch next to your sister and ..." and it interrupts the flow.

For me, reading Anita Shreve has been an up-and-down experience. I began with THE PILOT'S WIFE that I really enjoyed, possibly because I was once married to an airline pilot and could identify with the main character, and definitely because I became engrossed in the story and the writing. Then I tried FORTUNE'S ROCKS and, despite all the glowing reviews this one got, found I could not get into it. I tried, and failed, three times to finish it. Then I had a go at THE WEDDING and managed to finish it, but was sorely disappointed. I didn't care enough about the characters and the writing itself, I thought, was a little sloppy.

Leah, if you're interested in the Amish, you might like Jodi Picoult's Plain Truth. It's about an Amish community and an attorney from the 'outside' who defends a young Amish woman accused of killing her newborn child.

Hello, Anubhuti Big welcome to this forum from another new member. I joined a week ago and have already made new friends.

Thanks, everyone, for chiming in here. My book wishlist is growing by leaps and bounds. Some of these I can get from Amazon in the US; others I'll pick up when over in England this June. If any of you enjoy romantic comedy, especially with more mature (aka older) protagonists, you might like JULIE AND ROMEO by Jeanne Ray. It came out about 7 years ago and was also published in the U.K.

Perfectly and succinctly put.

Sheesh, I'd have been glad to have skipped that prologue given the spider. I'm beyond phobic about them. Can't even look at pictures of them, and I had to call in a neighbor last year to rescue me from a wolf spider trapped in my sink. The wretched thing was big enough to rattle spoons.

A couple of days ago I started a thread called 'Do you read prologues?' that sparked a lively discussion. I just logged onto a blog I read now and then and found a link to this one: http://nathanbransford.blogspot.com/2009/03/prologues.html If anyone's interested in a literary agent's opinion on prologues, here it is. This agent, based in California, works for Curtis Brown, one of the biggies.

I thought for sure her books would find a home over here (the U.S.) after the popularity of the HP books, but sadly, no. My daughter, and now her children, adore them and I can't wait for my granddaughter to be old enough for Mallory Towers. Another couple of years, and she'll be there. When it comes to her kids' reading material, my daughter favours the oldies; Enid Blyton, when she can get her hands on them, along with Hardy Boys and Nancy Drew, Tin-Tin, and others from the 40s and 50s. I don't remember Nancy Drew when growing up in England, but have to assume those books got published there after I left. I tried reading a couple, but didn't find them nearly as engaging as EB.

Yes ... that's pretty much it. If the prologue can be renamed as chapter 1, that's what they often prefer. However, this doesn't always work. In Carrie Kabak's Cover the Butter, the story opens in the present (as a prologue) then jumps back 30 years to when the character is a teen. The story moves forward with her until it meets the scene that was the prologue, then it fleshes out that scene and continues the story for another year or two. And it works, beautifully. If the editor had insisted on the prologue being renamed chapter 1, it would've looked awkward and possibly caused confusion, even though the dates/years are plainly stated at the start of each chapter. As for epilogues, sometimes they're a bit of overkill, as if the author's telling us stuff that he/she was worried we couldn't have figured out on our own; on the other hand, sometimes we need just a bit more information and an epilogue, which takes more of a 'tell' rather than a 'show' stance, is the way to handle it. I have no idea if agents/editors are biased against epilogues.

You don't find many Agas (if any) in the U.S., so nobody but a Brit would understand the term. I only heard it a few years back from an English friend who was visiting over here. Very apt, I thought. Sit by a warm stove, feet on the hearth, enjoying a good read about the trials and tribulations of family life. My daughter, who also reads Joanna Trollope, likes the way she throws a bunch of people together with a variety of problems, and rather than solving all of them, she moves the people a bit further along on their journey so even though things aren't necessarily all tied up neatly, you still feel satisfied with the ending. I'm not expressing this nearly as succinctly and clearly as my daughter did, and if she wasn't on holiday in the Caribbean (lucky sod) I'd phone and ask her to repeat it.