Book Review: The Confusion Of Karen Carpenter - Jonathan Harvey

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"Hello. There are two things you should know about me: 1) My name is Karen Carpenter. 2) Just before Christmas my boyfriend left me. I’m not THE Karen Carpenter. I just have the most embarrassing name in Christendom. Particularly as I'm no skinny minny and don’t play the drums. I can’t even sing. I'm tone deaf. I work in a school in the East End. (Where I came third in a ‘Teacher we’d most like to sleep with’ competition amongst the Year 11 boys) My Mum’s driving me mad. She’s come to stay and is obsessed with Scandi crime shows and Zumba. Oh yeah. The boyfriend. After eleven ‘happy’ years he left me. No explanation just a post it on the kettle when I got in from work. I think I'm handling it really well. I don't think I’m confused at all. What was my name again?"

This is the second novel from award winning playwright Jonathan Harvey probably best known for writing the TV show Gimme! Gimme! Gimme! We start the book just as Karen , a school teacher in her 30s, has been dumped by her boyfriend for no apparent reason. As she tries to come to terms with his sudden disappearance, she has to cope with her mother deciding to move in, finding out her boss is a lesbian who seems to be coming on to her and finding out her colleague Mungo and his wife Fionnula have made some interesting life choices that they'd quite like her to be part of.  As your reading its seems her confusion lays with as to why her boyfriend decided to leave her, but as you get further through the book not all is at it seems. 

I found this book brilliant, well written a nice blend of humour, and a bit of drama well worth a read!

Let me know if you have read this book and what you thought of it, also let me know of any other books you would recommend.

Thanks For Reading,

Sam x




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