Author - Sophie King
Publisher - Corazon Books
Pages - 460
Buy Link - Amazon UK // Amazon
SYNOPSIS
Your Place or Mine? From the bestselling author of The School Run, Your Place or Mine? (previously The Supper Club) introduces us to a cast of characters experiencing the ups and downs of families, friendship and love. A group of friends and family meet at each other's houses every month to catch up over supper.
There will be tears, laughter and more than a few surprises along the way. Lucy is making a life for herself with Mike, after the death of her husband. But she's hiding the truth behind Luke's death. And is Mike being completely honest with her about himself? Lucy's sister Jenny is a single career woman juggling disasters in both her work and love life. What will it take to stop her going from one mishap to another? Chrissie and Martin have discovered that a new baby can put a strain on your marriage. But that's not all that risks pushing them further apart. Maggie's husband Antony has left her for a former fashion model, Patsy. But Patsy's life isn't as glamorous as it appears. The secrets from her past are threatening to catch up with her. Your Place or Mine? When family and friends dine together, secrets and lies are on the menu.
SOPHIE KING YOUR PLACE OR MINE? GUEST POST
DINNER PARTIES GONE WRONG... Am I the only one who loves the idea of having a dinner party but then begins to panic as the date approaches? Suddenly the excitement of having people round to chat, evaporates in the panic of cleaning the house and racing against work deadlines in order to free up an evening. Then there’s the thorny problem of what to make. You are probably a much better cook than I am. Even though I don’t know you, I’m pretty certain of that. You see, I have only six dishes to my name and one of those is take away pizza. Last pancake day, my youngest son looked at the miserable offering I’d just tossed in a saucepan and said: ’Mum, I love you dearly. Buy why does your food always look ill?’ You get the point. Sometimes I’ll make a big mistake and decided to cook something ‘different’. This generally involves several hours of pouring over a cookery book; a great deal of expense in sourcing ingredients which I’d never heard of (nor indeed has my local supermarket) and then serving up a dish which is totally inedible. Mind you, according to dinner party law, the guests have to try and eat it. That’s another thing.
As a non-meat eater, I’m used to catering for people with my kind of taste. But I do wish that guests would warn you in advance about their own particularly culinary tastes. Of course, sometimes they don’t do, because they’re embarrassed.
When I took my then newish husband to visit an uncle, I didn't tell her that my man was allergic to anchovies. In fact, that’s because I didn't know. (When you get re-married in later life, you find there are quite a lot of things you don’t know about your other half). What had my dear uncle made? Anchovy risotto. My new husband, bless him, manfully fought his way through (even accepting a second helping so as not to offend) and then promptly swelled up like a guinea pig on the drive home. We had to stop at an emergency chemist for some Piriton. Mind you, my own hostess record is not without its blemishes. Every Christmas we have a huge drinks party. I invite everyone I know and forget to keep note of the numbers.
Last year, we had rather too many people. Someone fainted – although I think it’s because she kept her coat on for various reasons – and the ambulance had to be called. Luckily she was all right. ‘Right,’ declared my husband after that. No more drinks parties. I’m hoping he’ll change his mind because to my mind, a big drinks party is much better than an ‘intimate’ affair where six people sit round the table, struggling for conversation because they don’t know each other – and when they do, discover they have nothing in common.
Of course, it’s not like that in my new Sophie King book, YOUR PLACE OR MINE? My couples have so much to say and do that they begin to wish they’d never picked up those knives and forks in the first place. Meanwhile – don’t tell my husband – I’ve just invited six newish friends to dinner. One is a clairvoyant and the other is a die-hard sceptic. I don’t think the evening is going to be dull...
ABOUT THE AUTHOR (From her website)
I am the author of the Tales from the Heart, The School Run, Falling in Love Again (Divorce for Beginners), Love is a Secret (Mums@Home), Second Time Lucky, The Supper Club and The Wedding Party.
My books are aimed at teenagers, mums and grans, or anyone else who can identify with a chaotic family life. I have three children, a dog, a cat and a sleepy terrapin – all of whom make me laugh or cry, depending on how I feel.
In between novels, I write short stories and have had hundreds published in magazines such as Woman’s Weeklyand My Weekly. I also gives regular talks/workshops at bookshops and literary festivals including Winchester and Guildford. Until my recent move to Devon, I tutored at Oxford University and West Herts College. For three years, I was writer in residence at HMP Grendon, a high-security male prison. I have also appeared several times on breakfast television and Woman’s Hour, including a Christmas programme on rivalry in the kitchen!
I have a pen name to distinguish my novels from my journalism. As Jane Bidder, I have written for The Times,The Daily Telegraph, The Daily Express, The Daily Mail, Woman, Woman’s Weekly, My Weekly, Good Housekeeping and many other national publications.
I have interviewed several big celebrities including my childhood hero David Essex, Michael Palin, Penny Vincenzi, Deborah Moggach, Julie Walters, Nigel Havers, Carolyn Quentin, Lord Lichfield, Martina Cole, Linda Robson, Lesley Joseph, Barbara Taylor Bradford and countless others.
In 2005, I won the Elizabeth Goudge Short Story Trophy and was a runner up in the Harry Bowling Prize. I’m a member of the Romantic Novelists Association; Women in Journalism; the Society of Women Writers and Journalists and the National Union of Journalists.
Connect with Sophie on her website - Click here and learn all about her other books, most of which I've read and can thoroughly recommend.
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