Welcome to the Real World - Carol Matthews

We have just had a few days away so I wanted to take with me a book that was light, easy to read and not too taxing on the brain! Of course it needed to be very entertaining and a thoroughly good read as well. I had read other books by Carole Matthews in the past so I suspected that her latest offering - 'Welcome to the Real World' - would tick all my holiday reading boxes and I was not disappointed!

'Welcome to the Real World' tells ...
...with a very complicated family to boot. At the start of the book, she is serving drinks and singing in the same pub whilst trying to support her brother Joe look after his asthmatic son. At the same time her mum throws her dad out after one dalliance too many so she ends up with him sleeping on her settee! In order to make ends meet she then takes on a day job as personal assistant to Evan David - a world renowned opera singer - even though she knows ... more

We have just had a few days away so I wanted to take with me a book that was light, easy to read and not too taxing on the brain! Of course it needed to be very entertaining and a thoroughly good read as well. I had read other books by Carole Matthews in the past so I suspected that her latest offering - 'Welcome to the Real World' - would tick all my holiday reading boxes and I was not disappointed!

'Welcome to the Real World' tells the story of frustrated wanabee Fern Kendal, a pub singer with a very complicated family to boot. At the start of the book, she is serving drinks and singing in the same pub whilst trying to support her brother Joe look after his asthmatic son. At the same time her mum throws her dad out after one dalliance too many so she ends up with him sleeping on her settee! In order to make ends meet she then takes on a day job as personal assistant to Evan David - a world renowned opera singer - even though she knows nothing about being a personal assistant. While all this is going on her singing partner Carl (and adoring friend who has to settle for a platonic relationship) urges her to join him in a 'Fame Game' audition! (Fame game is Carole Matthews version of the X Factor!)

So as you can see, Fern does lead a rather complicated life. She proves to be quite a useless PA as she is always having to dash off to sort out one family crisis or another! To further complicate matters, she and Evan find they have a growing attraction towards each other but this seems apparently doomed as it is fuelled by one misunderstanding after another!

What does emerge through all of this is that Fern does have a wonderful singing voice! Everyone recognises this but Fern herself who cannot see herself as anything more than a common or garden pub singer! The problem is that every time she looks like getting her big break, something gets in her way! As you read the book you wonder whether things will ever turn out all right for her in the end - both personally and professionally? (And of course I'm not going to tell you - you'll have to read the book!)

I really did enjoy reading this book for my light summer read. It is a well paced interesting story that really does keep you guessing about what might happen. It's also interesting that towards the end of the book Carole Matthews introduces a final and potentially disastrous complication - but she writes it in such a clever way that you are never quite sure whether to take things at face value or not!

The other thing I really liked about this book was the characters who were all immensely likeable!

First there is Fern, just an ordinary girl who just wants to do right by everyone. Her life does seem to be incredibly complicated trying to sort out everyone elses and you can't help hoping that everything everything turns out for her!

Evan David is also another very likeable character. He is the big opera star but feels that there is something missing in his life. He has everything money can buy but sometimes it's the things that money can't buy which are the hardest to come by! He also has a tragic past which he is trying to overcome. There is one part in the book, where his past is described which is really quite emotional - I suddenly found myself close to tears which was a big surprise as this is essentially a light hearted humourous book.

Carl, Fern's singing partner, was another character I warmed too greatly. He has been in love with Fern since they were kids and is always there for her, but it seems that that is as good as it's going to get for him! It's quite sad seeing him settle for this platonic friendship when he really wants so much more!

There are also some lighter lesser characters like Fern's parents, Ken the landlord and Lana, Evan's international co-performer. All of these tend to contribute to the lighter funny moments in the book.

So overall, 'Welcome to the Real World' is a thoroughly entertaining and enjoyable read - just right for a relaxing summer read! It has the right mix of humour and pathos with a good underlying story line! It's definitely a book to take on holiday for a light read.

It is published by Hodder Headline and my 440 page paperback edition has an RRP of £6.99 although I did buy it in Tesco for considerably less 

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