The Spa Decameron cover art

The Spa Decameron

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About this listen

 Ten high achieving ladies are gathered together in the week between Christmas and the New Year, at the expensive Castle Spa, seeking, through Botox, aromatherapy and general all round pampering, a new beginning to their lives.©2007 Fay Weldon (P)2014 Audible, Inc. Fiction Genre Fiction Literary Fiction
All stars
Most relevant
A 21st century Canterbury Tales.
Rather too many characters in the first chapter. If you don't concentrate, you may find yourself thinking who? later on.
Rula Lenska tries hard with the accents but she doesn't do Liverpool. She tries but her Liverpudlian character meanders from Scotland to Ireland via Northumbria-I even spotted Welsh Valleys in there!
Tended to drag somewhat and become rather samey but easy to listen to while gardening (which I hate)

Very Fay Weldon

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Overall I thought the book worth listening to, but didn't think it was Fay Weldon at her best. Her hall-mark divergent mind is on full-throttle: murder, deceit, supernatural happenings, abduction by Arab Sheiks and the bad and selfish behaviour of men, of which there is too much: things have moved on from the early days of the women's movement and it sounds out-dated. The stories are varied, some better than others.

Enjoyable, but flawed

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Although Fay Weldon is not on my list of favourite
authors, the blurb on this book interested me and I
did really enjoy it's escapism. It is more like a
series of short stories with a linked narration.

After you get past the highly unlikely premise of
these women choosing to spend Christmas in a
Scottish spa, it was easy to be drawn into the
women's tales. I almost felt as if I was one of
them, sitting in the Jacuzzi, listening to the weird
wonderful and sometimes macabre stories that unfold.
I have also listened to the abridged version and do
prefer Sian Thomas reading to Rula Lenska who tends
to over emphasise her speech.

great holiday read

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