Man and Wife - Softcover

Man and Wife, the sequel to Tony Parsons's bestselling debut Man and Boy, follows the marital and parental misadventures of Harry Silver, a mawkish North London television producer. Harry has remarried. Second wife Cyd and her feisty daughter, Peggy, provide him and his Phantom Menace-obsessed son, Pat, with a family. Harry's luck couldn't be better. His television show, Fish on Friday, is a hit and Cyd's posh catering company, Food Glorious Food, is thriving. However, Harry is not the only one starting again. His ex-wife Gina has also remarried. Her partner Richard (who must be the only thirtysomething male on the planet who hates Star Wars) is Pat's "new father." When the couple announce they are moving to America--taking Pat with them--Harry reacts, in time-honored fashion, by attacking Richard. Separated from his son by the Atlantic and struggling as Peggy's stepfather, Harry begins to yearn for a good, old-fashioned "normal, family life"--the kind his lovely old mum and dear departed dad enjoyed. Rather surprisingly, he decides that Kazumi, an attractive Japanese photographer friend of Gina's, could be the answer to his prayers.

Male frailty and the perils of modern parenting are Parsons's forte, but Man and Wife, although occasionally touching, is overburdened by plot twists, unlikely conceits, and whiffs of reactionary sentimentality. Parsons's fans are unlikely to be disappointed but, to indulge in a vaguely pertinent comparison, this follow-up is definitely more Attack of the Clones than The Empire Strikes Back. --Travis Elborough, Amazon.co.uk

Tony Parsons is one of the most well-known writers in England. In the 1970s, Parsons was a music journalist for NME, the British equivalent of Rolling Stone, interviewing some of the biggest bands in punk music. In the eighties he won awards for his work as a roving reporter with magazines like GQ and Elle. In the nineties he became one of the most familiar faces on British television, spending six years as a regular guest on BBC's Late Review. He has also written for The Mirror, The Guardian, The Spectator, and The Sunday Times. Tony is the author of two international bestsellers, Man and Boy and One for My Baby (due out from Atria Books in 2004), and lives in England with his wife and their daughter. He also has a son from a previous marriage.