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Cuban Heels

Tekijä: Emily Barr

JäseniäKirja-arvostelujaSuosituimmuussijaKeskimääräinen arvioMaininnat
2005134,738 (3.24)1
Maggie moves to Brighton after splitting up with her long-term boyfriend, and, unable to find a job, starts work as a lapdancer. Failing to make any new friends, she writes letters compulsively, and the highlight of her day is the sound of the morning post being delivered. Maggie gradually becomes obsessed with the married couple, Libby and David, living next door. Libby has given up work after having a baby, and is finding life as a full-time mother very difficult. Just as she persuades David that she should return to work, he is asked to take a sabbatical from his management-consultant job. He's always longed to travel, and convinces Libby that they should spend six months in Cuba, learning Spanish. Maggie, deciding she too wants to travel, follows them to Havana, where the horrors of her past - in particular her young sister's violent death - begin to haunt her. And as Maggie starts to break down, she tries to take over Libby's life...… (lisätietoja)
Viimeisimmät tallentajatTifaniChanel, timberlya69, stimgs88, Stimgs, sander1988
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näyttää 5/5
I will be seeking out more by Emily Barr, this is the third of her books and it was fabulous, a real page turner with the mental disintegration of a young woman creeping up on the reader and her actions seeming sane one by one until they all converge into a seat of the pants can't stop conclusion. Great ( )
1 ääni louiseog | May 8, 2011 |
Maggie Wilson moved to Brighton to make a fresh start...but it doesn't seem to be working. She has no friends, no boyfriend, lives in a horrible basement flat, and the well paid job with American Express which she's told her family about doesn't exist. But she can hardly let on that she's working as a stripper in a seedy bar. In short, Maggie is lost and lonely - but one day she accidentally discovers a way of eavesdropping on her neighbours Libby and David. Soon she is absorbed in their lives. Even though they are barely aware of her existence, she knows all about their secrets, their arguments and their plans for the future. When she discovers that they are planning to move to Cuba, Maggie wonders how on earth she will cope with their absence...so to her it seems obvious that the only thing to do is follow them, get to know them, and make them be her friends....

I was totally gripped by this book, and felt drawn into the story from the very first page. The narrative switches between Maggie's point of view, told in the first person; and Libby's point of view, told in the third person. I felt that Maggie was an utterly believeable character, and the blurring of the lines between what was real, and what Maggie saw as real, was portrayed in an all too realistic fashion. Tragic events in her past have led her to the point where she is now unable to form proper relationships with people, and she is about to learn that you can't force people to be the kind of friend you want them to be. While she wasn't an easy character to like, she was certainly an interesting one to read about. However, to say much more about her would be to give away too much of the story.

I felt more ambivalent towards Libby. She seemed to have a decent life, and a nice husband, yet she was never happy. But as the story progressed, she was fleshed out and became a character who I could sympathise with and like. Her husband David was also entirely believeable, as an honest and decent man, but with human flaws.

The story takes place mainly in Havana, Cuba, which I can only assume the author knows well, as she really brought the place to life. The early part of the book was set in Brighton, which was also portrayed well, but the main part of the story does not unfold until the characters reach Cuba. Maggie's backstory unfolded gradually alongside the narrative of events that were happening at the time the story was set, and I felt that that helped the reader understand her actions, even when it was impossible to agree with them. There was a sinister undertone running throughout the story, and I did find that it was one of those books which was hard to put down. The writing flowed beautifully and at no point did I lose interest. I did think that the ending was slightly anti-climactic, but overall this was a gripping story, and I would certainly recommend this author to others.

(A quick note about the cover: I rarely comment on the covers of books, but in this instance I did feel that the cover was not really suggestive of the content. The picture was perhaps suited to something more in the chick-lit genre, which this book most certainly is not!) ( )
2 ääni Ruth72 | Mar 8, 2011 |
Maggie moved to Brighton to get away from Edinburg, where she was dumped by her boyfriend. Maggie's family thinks she is working for American Express but she actually has a job as a stripper. She is lonely and sad, so when she buys a baby monitor for her sister and tries it out, she discovers she can hear her neighbors, David and Libby, through their baby monitor and Maggie can't stop listening.
When she discovers that they are planning to move to Cuba for six months, Maggie follows them there and "runs into" David at a language class and soon she has enmeshed herself into their lives.
But Maggie is just avoiding past demons and it will take an old friend to help her through this obsession with David and Libby, before anyone gets hurt.

my review: This is a fantastic book, one I have read before. I hate that it is billed as chick-lit. It IS NOT! Maggie has some serious issues and is not just a girl looking for love or to get over a bad break-up.

I try to look back on it and to force myself to enjoy, retrospectively, the feeling of being touched and desired. I can't do it. I hated it. I loathed every single moment....I am cheap. I feel exactly like I used to feel at Vixenz. I have once again, exposed by body to a stranger. This time it wasn't even for money. I don't know why I did it.

Maggie's frenemy Yasmin follows her to Cuba after a ten year separation when Yasmin stole Maggie's high school boyfriend. Both are great characters as well as Libby and David and the trails and tribulations of their marriage. The plot is very interesting and takes the reader to unexpected places. The setting in Cuba is wonderful and believable. This is a very well-written book and one I highly recommend!

my rating 4.75/5 ( )
1 ääni bookmagic | Apr 23, 2010 |
The main character was so pathetic and annoying...I could not even finish this book! ( )
  auntangi | Jul 30, 2008 |
I found this quite an unusual book due to the structure of the narrative – it was cleverly done (although at times disorientating) and had the effect of keeping the reader guessing. A writer can chose to let the reader in on the plot giving a them the full picture at times when characters are left in the dark. In Cuban Heels, however, the reader is no more party to the whole truth than the characters and through this technique the reader shares the character’s confusion. The search for the ‘truth’ keeps the reader reading on – it’s un-put-down-able ( )
1 ääni judyb65 | Feb 2, 2007 |
näyttää 5/5
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Englanninkielinen Wikipedia

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Maggie moves to Brighton after splitting up with her long-term boyfriend, and, unable to find a job, starts work as a lapdancer. Failing to make any new friends, she writes letters compulsively, and the highlight of her day is the sound of the morning post being delivered. Maggie gradually becomes obsessed with the married couple, Libby and David, living next door. Libby has given up work after having a baby, and is finding life as a full-time mother very difficult. Just as she persuades David that she should return to work, he is asked to take a sabbatical from his management-consultant job. He's always longed to travel, and convinces Libby that they should spend six months in Cuba, learning Spanish. Maggie, deciding she too wants to travel, follows them to Havana, where the horrors of her past - in particular her young sister's violent death - begin to haunt her. And as Maggie starts to break down, she tries to take over Libby's life...

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