Behaving Badly

  • ISBN: 9780007118625
  • Author: Isabel Wolff
  • Description:
    The fifth novel from the hugely entertaining writer of RESUING ROSE. Stylishly written, sophisticated but warmhearted and accessible, this is Isabel Wolff at her inimitable best. All men are beasts...or so Miranda Sweet believes. As an animal behaviourist, she's good at understanding aggressive Airedales and irritated iguanas, but she can't understand why the men in her life have always behaved so badly. Especially Alex, her ex-fiance and the biggest let-down of her romantic career. In Miranda's opinion, animals are braver, kinder and a lot more reliable. So she's given up on love to open her own clinic and work her magic on neurotic pets and their anxious owners. Can Miranda keep the whole male species at bay for ever? Her best friend, Daisy, an incurably romantic wedding-planner, doesn't think so, and when a delicious photographer comes into her life, even Miranda starts to wonder if she's been a bit hasty. But, just when she's letting her guard down, her past starts to catch up with her and she has to turn her expert eye on her own behaviour, which hasn't always been as sweet as she'd like to pretend... From the Author To my great relief, 'Rescuing Rose' was a huge success in 2002. One of the things readers said was that they'd enjoyed the fact that Rose was an agony aunt, desperately trying (and often failing) to solve other peoples' problems - yet with an enormous problem of her own. So when I started planning book five, I decided that the heroine would be another agony aunt - but of a different kind - an agony aunt for animals and pets. So I made Miranda Sweet an animal behaviourist, but one whose own past behaviour leads much to be desired. Behaviour is therefore one of the main themes of the book. The others are courage - different kinds of it - and also redemption and forgiveness as well. For Miranda has done something terrible years before for which she will seek atonement during the course of the book. This, crucially, is where the many references to Shakespeare's 'The Tempest' come in. And this is why I named my heroine 'Miranda' (a name Shakespeare invented specifically for 'The Tempest') because it means 'deserving of admiration' - but in many ways Miranda has not been admirable at all. During the course of the novel she must try and find the courage to do the honourable, admirable thing. For Miranda faces a very difficult - I hope gripping - moral dilemma. She has hurt someone in her past - a young man called David. Now, sixteen years on, she decides to look for him and seek his forgiveness. But, to her dismay, she finds she's falling in love. How can she tell him the truth about herself - and who she really is - now? Against this I've counterpointed Miranda's best friend Daisy's huge physical courage. Daisy happily parachute-jumps and hang-glides and abseils, yet lacks the courage to confront her long-term boyfriend, Nigel, about his continuing failure to commit. I loved writing the animal scenes - the pet problems and animal 'agony' letters - the puppy parties and the dog show too. Nearly all my novels feature animals because they are such a touchstone for human feeling, and the way we treat them and interact with them says so much about who we are. But the critical thing about being an animal behaviourist is that you have to understand the human behaviour before you can begin to sort out the pet. My novels involve a search for redemption - for the second chance that so often eludes us in 'real' life. I try to make them ultimately uplifting and hopeful. And I hope you'll feel that the journey to Miranda's redemption - despite her difficult moral and emotional struggle - was well worth your time. Finally, if you'd like to know more about my books, or would like advice on how to get published yourselves, then you might like to visit my website - IsabelWolff.com. About the Author Isabel Wolff was born in Warwickshire and read English at Cambridge. Her first novel, the 'The Trials of Tiffany Trott', was an international bestseller. This was followed by three further bestsellers - 'The Making of Minty Malone', 'Out of the Blue' and 'Rescuing Rose' all of which have been published worldwide. Isabel's freelance articles have appeared in many national newspapers and magazines and she reviews the papers for Breakfast News on BBC1. She lives in London. For further information visit her website - IsabelWolff.com.
  • Pages: 368
  • Format: Paperback
  • Genre: Romance
  • Rating: Not yet rated

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