Crossed Wires - Rosy Thornton

Resident guest blogger Julia is back with her review of Rosy Thornton's Crossed Wires!

"Crossed Wires is a sweet little book, a story about two single parents raising their daughters and living their altogether “normal” lives. I love reading books set in England, and Rosy Thornton does a good job setting the stage: everything from a sister who is “squatting” in a run-down house, to the incessant cups of tea, “pudding” for tea, and trips on the motorway.

Essentially the story is about Mina and Peter who strike up a telephone friendship and look forward to their weekly telephone calls. When Mina’s daughter goes missing, Peter comes to help but brings his research assistant in the car with him. Hence the “crossed wires”, when Mina gets the “wrong end of the stick” and thinks Peter is already involved with someone.

The book is filled with the every day trials and tribulations of parenthood, and in particular, single parenthood. It is about the things that bring people together, the different ways of being “family”, and about basically good people trying to do the right thing.

If I have one criticism of the book, it is that it takes too long to develop the story of Mina and Peter. You know it is going to happen early in the book, but it takes a good half of the book for anything significant to happen. Or maybe this is how real life is? Crossed Wires is one of those “nice” books that I like to read from time to time. No major trauma, no nail biting cliff-hangers, just real people dealing with real life joys and sorrows. A good book to curl up with on a Sunday afternoon, with a cup of tea and the cat on your lap."

Thanks Julia!