Ex-Wife (Faber Editions): 'I was floored: truly brilliant.' (Meg Mason, author of Sorrow and Bliss)

This rapidly became my new favourite book. I’m only sad that none of the authors other books appear to be in publication :(.A fantastic take on breaking up and becoming an ex-wife in post prohibition era New York. Beautiful, raw at times and full of glamour and humour.

Written when divorce was unusual and set in New York where it was a best seller when first published. Shows how hard it was to try to be a new woman Slightly dated language but fascinating

Wish I could give a copy to every young woman .

Never heard of the book, never heard of the author, but I'm now a fan. And I also want to see the film based on this. Reading the short biography of Parrott at the start, it felt like I was about to delve inside a life of a hundred years ago and the world of the Flapper.What a reality it was. Two 20-somethings in a marriage where they're struggling to get by, a slip up and confession and it's recriminations, guilt, abuse, separation and love lost... but the following chapters take our now Ex Wife through life in the 1920s, the clothes, the expectations, the society, the drinking, the morals. Wow.While I know this doesn't mirror the author's life, I can only assume she's written herself into some of the characters, their witty bon mots and choices, their evenings of debauchery and fun.Eye-opening and flowed like water (or gin?) through the eyes. Love a period piece and bit of history, this felt like a window to the time and place.With thanks to Netgalley for providing a sample reading copy.

I got recommended this book from a Youtuber I regularly watch, and I do not regret this read in the slightest. The storytelling really immerses you and gives you the feeling that you’re walking the streets of 1920’s New York, and the overall pace and plot of the story are excellent as well. It’s so interesting to draw the parallels and differences between a young divorceé in roaring 20’s New York to the modern day woman.

This book paints a scene, a set of people, and the heart of the protagonist with strokes and swathes of text.

Modern and raw, one of the best books I've read.

After World War I, the pre-war social mores for this novel’s protagonist, Patricia, give way to divorce, speakeasies, getting soused almost every night, promiscuity, and doomed romantic relationships. Ursula Parrott’s handling of that pre-war to post-war transition is as good as Fitzgerald’s or Hemingway’s. Unlike Fitzgerald and Hemingway, Parrott gives us what it was like for a woman.The rat-a-tat-tat dialogue is extremely mannered (far too “crafted”), the book ends too neatly, and the characters, while drunk, couldn’t possibly be as articulate as Parrott makes them, but these flaws are forgivable because most of the characters, like Patricia, are interesting and likable.This is a 4-star novel that earns its 5th star because of how it illuminates how life was for women — not just divorcées — in New York City during the 1920s.

Interesting but at times tiring story about the self-absorbed youth. What makes this book stand out are the tidbits about life in the 20s such as the names of, restaurants and slang, etc., that no longer exist; also, the spelling is English, not American. I wonder what else the proofreader changed.