India Knight

In her debut novel, My Life on a Plate, author India Knight uses sharp humor and wry observations to tell the story of Clara Hutt, who at 33 appears to have her life in order. Married to a successful man with whom she shares two children, Clara’s biggest concerns seems to be that she is slightly overweight and rather inefficient at running a smooth household. Calling herself Jabba the Hutt on bad days, she finds herself constantly questioning if “this is all there is”. She expected her husband to be more attentive and for she herself to be less bored and happier.

Overall this book was a miss with me. Clara seemed to be whining a lot and lacked self-confidence, her husband was distant and cold. He was a totally absent father, leaving all child rearing and home-making decisions to Clara. Then when he whisked her off on a romantic weekend to Paris, I thought all issues were going to be discussed, resolved and that a happy ending was in sight. Instead her husband finally reveals what he wants from life leaving Clara to pick up the pieces as best she can. From here we quickly reach an unrealistic conclusion that made me want to throw the book across the room.

My Life on a Plate seemed to be about self-centred people dealing with their mid-life crises and I really felt no connection to these trite, smug people.… (altro)