Denby, Joolz

Average customer rating:

Compelling read

Billie Morgan
Joolz Denby
Manufacturer: Serpent's Tail
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 1852428651

Book Description

"Denby is clearly a writer who has the capacity to get under the skin of the world she inhabits and to translate it for her readers."-Val McDermid</p>

Billie is in her forties, running a little jewelry shop in Bradford, trying to live a quiet life, trying to forget the past. Because Billie has a lot of past to forget. She was a biker chick, one of the Devil's Own, the speed- and acid-fueled road demons. Her life was hurtling out of control, and it ended in murder. Now, years later, she has to face the consequences.</p>

Joolz Denby was born in 1955. She married an outlaw biker at 19. She lives in Bradford, Yorkshire.</p>

Customer Reviews:

Compelling read.......2005-12-06

These are my notes for whether or not this would make a decent film adaptation:

When a newspaper story on local missing persons dredges up the name of the horrible Terry Skinner, BILLIE MORGAN has to deal with the burden of knowledge of her part in his murder, while continuing to be the concerned family friend to his widow, JASMINE, and son NATHAN. While Billie fears that her crime will be found out, the consequences of her actions haunt her in an entirely different way, playing out in the wrecked lives of Jasmine and Nathan who she has come to love dearly.

Boiled down to it's bare essentials, "Billie Morgan" is a story about consequences - not the accepted consequences that society tries to impose, like Jail, but the true, human fall-out of our actions. There is never more than a suggestion that Billie might end up in jail for her crime, and while Billie has a certain amount of fear at the chance she will, we see her keep her secret for the welfare of those around her, even those who have rejected her, more than for herself. The real issue is actually hit upon by the scandal seeking newspaper the Clarion, when they write about the `Disappeared' - those who Society, and therefore the authorities, don't care about because they don't fit a certain type - middle class, blonde, white... "Billie Morgan" is about the underclass who operate outside the System, and for whom the justice imposed by the System isn't justice at all.

Billie herself is a great female protagonist - perhaps not the greatest in a long while, as the Kirkus review said, but definitely a compelling and complex heroine. Perhaps her greatest asset is her honesty with herself, thus becoming more human, more relatable, and allowing the reader to admit their own dark secrets to themselves - that maybe, just maybe, they would have done the same thing in Billie's situation and unwittingly murdered a man.

As much as Billie is a character who jumps off the page and brings the story alive, the dialogue is so specific and well written; it does a lot to give flavor and character to the story in its own right. Joolz Denby writes the dialect of the lower-class North-Eastern Brit with ease - and while such efforts - for example the Scottish brogue of Irvine Welsh - can often be confusing to the reader, there didn't seem to be any such complications here. For a movie adaptation, maintaining the dialect would be as essential to the characters and place as a Southern U.S. accent would be to a film set in rural Mississippi.

The film version would probably have to start somewhere about the middle of the book, and work the two time periods together, using the frame of the newspaper's research to bring out the back story.

The film version of this book would have a lot of the important ingredients necessary for a successful film - murder intrigue (although we know who did it, the why and the how of it is withheld until the end), sex, drugs, danger, family skeletons - and social commentary. T Guide Bleu : Corse

Guide Bleu : Corse

Guide Bleu : Corse
Authors: Collectif
Catalog: Book
Media: Broché
Release Date: 05 May, 2004
Publisher: Hachette Tourisme
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Singled Out
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ASIN: 185903697X

Book Description

Charlotte ('Charlie') Rhymer's husband wants a divorce. Charlie isn't sure what she wants, but after the incident with the frying pan, even she has to concede 'irreconcilable' is the operative word. Returning to her family home seemed like a good idea at the time, but Charlie soon finds that the atmosphere there is less than serene-a definite case of jumping from the frying pan into the fire. Then she meets brooding actor Mace North....and from here, the good times roll for female readers everywhere.

Customer Reviews:

Wonderful Fun.......2005-10-12

Ashley uses language beautifully. Her characters are fun and enrich the reader's life just for the brief visit of reading about them. This is very much a win/win book and wonderful fun to read.

Entertaining little Piece.......2005-03-17

I didn't like this book when I first picked it up. I found that the writing style seemed forced somehow. It's as if the author was trying -too- hard to make us laugh. I should have put it down. It would have been just like me to put it down--but I didn't. I can't explain why, exactly, but something hooked me and reeled me in. I think, in part, it has to do with the fact that these characters are just very amusing. For what the story lacks in parts, these people make up for it in full. I particularly like Charlie's sisters Em and Anne. They're a couple of rowdy no nonsense types. THey are (like nearly everyone in that family with Charlie being the notable exception) big and imposing, but just as gentle and fiercely loyal. Jessica, the dreadful new mistress, was actually another of my favorite characters. For all of her flamboyance and saucy airs, she really was a good sport in enduring everyone's constant harrassment...especially Em's. Oddly, I did not care as much for Charlie and _especially_ not Mace. I felt annoyed with the two of them and I couldn't quite understand where their romance came from but that may have more to do with my personal taste than any problem in the writing. I simply didn't care for Mace an felt annoyed that Charlie would fall for him--smoldering good looks or not. The fact that he was dishy did not, in my opinion, make up for his behaving like a spoiled child much of the time. That and his overconfidence irritated me. On the other hand, he inspired SOMETHING in me so obviously he's not completely forgettable. That is why I say it is probably more of a question of taste than anything having to do with the actual composition of the novel. I _do_ think the book is very good. There is plenty there that will hold a reader's interest. The quirky characters and pacing really help to keep the reader's interest for just one more page....and another and another. Even if I didn't really WANT to know as much about Charlie an Mace...I did. I recommend this book.

absolutely wonderful.......2004-11-09

This is the kind of book that makes you want to faithfully read everything else an author will ever write. While the ending was perhaps a bit pat and cheerful compared to the rest of the book, Ashley is worth the read just for the colorful characters and the articles the women create. Just beautiful.

Entertaining, enjoyable.......2003-06-30

Charlie Rhymer is the atypical hero of this fun and compact novel. Childless, divorced, and in poor financial condition, Charlie is forced to move back to her childhood home. Returning home is all, and more, than Charlie expected. Her father's latest mistress is sleeping in Charlie's old room. Charlie's sister Em is considering focusing on her black magic talents, and losing her virginity to help her do so. Charlie's other sister, Anne, is living at home while recovering from breast cancer treatment, and her brother Bran has been sent home from his university position to finish his book.

Shortly before Charlie moves home, she accidentally kills her ex-husband's best friend Greg with a heavy frying pan. Greg's widow, Angie, livid at the accidental death verdict, decides to stalk Charlie and try to ruin Charlie's reputation, following Charlie to the family home in Upvale. Add into this mix the two daughters of the father's mistress, a handsome famous actor and his daughter, a parson infatuated with Em, and some witchcraft and you end up with a delightful story.

"Every Woman for Herself" is warm and entertaining. Charlie is a delightful character, and her budding romance with the famous actor is both funny and touching. Although some of the situations are a far-fetched, they fit so well with the overall madcap storyline the reader will not mind a bit. Definitely recommended for anyone that enjoys a romantic story or is looking to read something cheering!

Pray for Us Sinners
Average customer rating:
Pray for Us Sinners
Joolz Denby
Manufacturer: Comma Poetry
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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British & Irish | Single Authors | Poetry | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | Books
ASIN: 0954828062

Stone Baby (SIGNED)
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Stone Baby (SIGNED)
Joolz Denby
Manufacturer: Harpercollins
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000GTRPAS

Average customer rating:
Stone Baby
Joolz Denby
Manufacturer: Harpercollins
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000GTSQ4C

Average customer rating:
Stone Baby
Joolz Denby
Manufacturer: Harper, Collins
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

Contemporary | General | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | Books
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ASIN: 0002261030

Pray for Us Sinners
Average customer rating:
Pray for Us Sinners
Joolz Denby
Manufacturer: CENTRAL BOOKS
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000K3DAAO

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