I realize Sue Townsend is very ill, and very brave to try to carry on. But the magic is gone. I couldn't follow it, nor did I find any of the characters appealing or 3 dimensional. Sad. ( )

This book tells about Edward Clare and Jack Sprat, beginning with their childhood days. Edward’s mother dies when he’s only a boy. Jack Sprat comes from an extremely poor and disreputable family.

Edward becomes Prime Minister while Jack Sprat becomes a constable who works at 10. Downing Street, guarding him.

Edward’s wife, Adele, is highly intelligent and easily recognizable by her extraordinarily large nose. Edward is captivated by Adele’s “magnificent” nose. Unfortunately, she hears voices, on which psychotropic drugs have no effect.

Jack’s father and step-father were criminal and his brother Stuart had died of drugs.

Edward, as P.M., lives an upper-class life, while Jack’s Mum lives in a mess and neglects the poor budgie, Pete. Jack engages a young man, James, to take care of his mother and clean the house.

Edward decides he needs a break and he and Jack go off together to “see Britain in a week”, travelling by public transport. Jack acts as Edward’s escort. Since Edward’s face is so recognizable, he dresses as a woman, borrowing his wife Adele’s clothes and her wig; he is now Edwina. Edward applies “Pan stik”, whatever that is, lipstick and eye make-up to his face, so even Adele would not have recognized him.

We shift between following Edward and Jack on their tour of Britain, and Jack’s Mum, Norma, and her home help, James. Norma and James are now smoking marijuana, and James is flipping out.

Jack was so bright and precocious that when he was a child Norma couldn’t understand a word of the conversation between him and his brainy friends. She sometimes wondered if Jack was “quite right in the head”.

The PM buys a Marilyn Monroe wig and becomes a dishy blonde, though his disguise is not as convincing when the bristles on his face begin to appear.

Meanwhile, at home Adele stops taking her medicine. A man called Barry’s leg is being amputated and she is preoccupied with seeing to it that it gets an appropriate funeral. She also believes that warts are “holy” and should be accorded the same respect.

On his trip the PM gets to talk with the common people and sees the deplorable state the nation is in. At one point Edward has cause to be admitted to the casualty department of a hospital suspected of having a heart attack (with alarming symptoms he often has). There he gets the chance to see how ordinary Brits having acute health crises are treated. They need a trolley for Edward but none of the staff can find one, but Jack dons a white coat and soon finds two.

During the trip Edward visits Edinburgh, where he lived as a child, visits his sister and makes new discoveries about himself and who his real father is. Things are happening at Ten Downing Street too.

At one point Edward and Jack visit Jack’s Mum, Norma, and James.

“James said, ‘Where were you educated?’

‘At Cambridge,’ said the Prime Minister, lowering his eyes modestly.

‘Well, it ain’t done you much good, has it?’ said James. ‘Look at the state you’re in. You ain’t a man, you ain’t a woman, you ain’t no class, what are you?

The Prime Minister adjusted his wig and ran a hand over his bristly chin.’”

Like Sue Townsend’s other works, this is a hilarious book, critically appraising the British and their country. I didn’t quite understand the point of the ending – perhaps it meant that freedom is dangerous. ( )

This is a totally different original book.
Edward Clare the new Labour Prime minister of the UK is down in the polls he has lost touch with the common man he is meant to represent.
So with the assistance of a Police man called Jack he goes on a secret whirlwind tour of the country, so no one recognises him he dresses as a woman.
This way he gets to see exactly what the normal people think of him and his policies. ( )

A quirky and unusual novel about an unloved British Prime Minister who decides to dress in drag and tour the country to get an idea of the realities the common man faces.

It's a weird storyline full of weird characters, odd situations and strange sub plots but somehow it all works and is quite an interesting book (maybe because it is so weird), unfortunately the overall enjoyment is somewhat tarnished by the rather abrupt ending. ( )

Amusing read, but I guess it's much more fun when you're actually British. :-) ( )