The Little Lady Agency - Hester Browne

...amazon.co.uk. I was swayed by the title of this particular novel, because of the price, and the quirky looking cover.

The book is called the Little Lady Agency and is by an author called Hester Browne- who I get the feeling from reading the book, that she's a bit of a posh bird- that is, if the cook is at all autobiographical. She is a writer and journalist from lives in London and Herefordshire (much like the main character) and ...
...first novel.

The cover of the book is black- with the title of the book printed at the top in girly swirly lettering along with the author's name in a clearer bolder print. The cover then features a picture of a very Marilyn-esque woman in a read dress answering the phone, on a furry rug, looking rather vampy and feisty.

***The Plot***
Melissa is a shy, homely sort of gel whose main function in life is to be ... more

I recently treated myself to a few new novels from amazon.co.uk. I was swayed by the title of this particular novel, because of the price, and the quirky looking cover.

The book is called the Little Lady Agency and is by an author called Hester Browne- who I get the feeling from reading the book, that she's a bit of a posh bird- that is, if the cook is at all autobiographical. She is a writer and journalist from lives in London and Herefordshire (much like the main character) and is a keen amateur baker who collects shortbread moulds, etiquette books, and red lipsticks. This is her first novel.

The cover of the book is black- with the title of the book printed at the top in girly swirly lettering along with the author's name in a clearer bolder print. The cover then features a picture of a very Marilyn-esque woman in a read dress answering the phone, on a furry rug, looking rather vampy and feisty.

***The Plot***
Melissa is a shy, homely sort of gel whose main function in life is to be hired, re organise office environments and then promptly get fired. This time, while working in admin for an estate agent, she is told that she is being made redundant due to a merger with an American agent.

She goes back to her perfect flatmate, posh Nelson, and gets depressed, before eventually deciding to do something about it. She gets the idea when working as an escort for her old Home Economics teacher- who taught her everything there is to know about being a lady, organising yourself, and those around you. And she did a pretty good job.

Melissa then decides to open The Little Lady Agency, after her mission for her teacher leaves her mistaken for an all together different kind of escort. She reinvents herself as Honey, a sexy, sassy lady in a blonde wig with fantastic organisational skills, there to sort out the lives of the men around her- taking them shopping, posing as a girlfriend at those horrible social functions and generally being a bit fabulous, and business almost immediately booms.

Meanwhile, the real Melissa had problems. She has no lovelife to speak of, and her family, especially her disgraced MP father, who is utterly horrible, and expecting her to arrange her vague sister's wedding for nothing, seeing as she already owes him ten grand.

To top this, her gold-digging best friend Gabi is having problems with her own love life and is trying to move in on Nelson, much to Melissa's disgust. And the new American boss of her old employer is her newest, sexiest client. So, who will she end up with? Nelson, or Jonathan? And will she ever defeat her father and manage to organise her life, her friend's lives, and those of her clients? More importantly, are the boundaries between herself and her altar ego Honey, becoming dangerously blurred? And will she ditch the wig and give us brunettes a bit og a big-up!?

***My Opinion***
This was a brilliant book, although posh and ladylike, I found myself relating to certain aspects of Melissa's personality (not that I am not a LAYYYYDEEE), and the leading men were equally realistic and charismatic. The book took a few chapters to get into, but by the time the Little Lady Agency was set up, I was hooked in.

The way in which Melissa's family treat her, and the way in which she lets them, is heart-breaking and I couldn't stop reading, just to see their next awful antics, and the way in which she deals with them. It is refreshing to read a novel where the only focus is not on the heroine's lovelife, but also on other aspects of a young woman's life.

Though this is chick lit, yet again, I still recommend this book to all young women, and in fact old, I can see my mother really enjoying it too, and any young fella who wants a more sensitive read. If you liek more meat, you won't get it here, the characters are decidedly posh and somewhat sheltered.

***Details***
This book cost me £3.99, but the price has been raised to £4.79 on amazon.co.uk since then. 60 marketplace copies are currently available from 20p- an absolute bargain.

The book has 352 pages, and is published by Hodder and Stoughton Paperbacks. ISBN 0340838671. This book was published on June 2005, and by its amazon sales rank, is seriously underrated. So, go, buy. And enjoy.
 

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