Eleinte ezt a könyvet sem akartam félbehagyni, de aztán megkérdeztem magamtól, hogy igazából miért olvasom, ha idegesít az írás kritikán aluli minősége, a szereplők valódiatlansága és szerethetetlensége, a cselekmény idiotizmusa. A molyos értékeléseiben azt írják, hogy az eleje jó, és idővel romlik a minősége, szóval ha szerintem már az eleje is minősíthetetlen, nyilván sok esély nincs a javulásra. I hoped this book would be funny, but sadly, it isn't. A woman called Eva decides, for no good reason that I can see, or any reason at all, to stay in bed for a year. Somewhat improbably, she manages to get several people, including her husband, mother, and mother-in-law, all running around bringing her food and drink. Even more improbaby, a handsome handyman called Alexander takes an inexplicable fancy to her, and starts running aroun waiting on her too. And people start coming to her for advice (why?). Most of the characters in the book, including Eva herself, are very tiresome people. And, though the world keeps intruding, it is from the confines of her bed that Eva at last begins to understand freedom. At least at the end there was hope. Just a little. They were all cruel to each other, until simple kindness stepped in. Was that a moral message? Perhaps. This was ostensibly a comedy novel about a woman whose life was not going the way she wanted it to.

The Secret Diary of Adrian Mole aged 13 ¾ has sold over 20 million copies worldwide and has become a modern classic.None of the characters seemed to talk to each other, instead they parroted 'meaningful' speeches at each other. Sue Townsend is a rare animal. She’s a member of that exclusive band of British writers whose works have been piled high and prominently positioned for so long that we can no longer imagine a bookshop without them. Added to this, her consistent warmth and humour and unmistakable Britishness means that – at some stage on the long road since The Secret Diary of Adrian Mole aged 13 ¾– she’s also been awarded the comfy cardigan and cosy slippers of a national treasure. Many people opening a Sue Townsend novel are likely to do so with the same curious smile that they’d greet the new book of an old personal friend and they’re certain to have a pretty good idea of what they are about to get: a plot centred around a comic failure who struggles to cope with the absurd mundanities of modern life and lives in or close to Leicester. The Woman Who Went To Bed for a Year Her husband Dr Brian Beaver, an astronomer who divides his time between gazing at the expanding universe, an unsatisfying eight-year-old affair with his colleague Titania and mooching in his shed, is not happy. Who will cook dinner? Eva, he complains, is either having a breakdown or taking attention-seeking to new heights. The Woman Who Went to Bed for a Year does not create any confusion. At the start of the novel Leicester housewife, Eva Beaver, stands in her kitchen and evaluates her life now that her teenage twins have spread their wings and flown off for the heady thrills of Leeds University’s Maths Department. And what Eva decides is that her life really doesn’t amount to much. So she does what we all want to do on these depressing occasions. She goes to bed. The only difference, of course, is that she stays there for an entire year. Laugh-out-loud . . . a teeming world of characters whose foibles and misunderstandings provide glorious amusement. Something deeper and darker than comedy' Sunday Times

This book was a little strange and whilst I wanted to like it a lot, mainly on the merit of the author, I’m afraid it was quite tedious to read at times. Sue Townsend tries to be clever with The Woman Who Went To Bed For A Year and is making an obvious effort to straddle comedy, drama, tragedy and social commentary. Unfortunately, the effort is more obvious than the result and the tone is uncomfortable throughout. The idea appealed to me - the thought of opting out of life, just spending time lolling about, having others serve you, letting them know how much work you've put into making the world the way it was for your family. I remember having the same feeling when I left my husband - I'd done so much for him, from renewing his car license to organizing health care, that it wore me out.

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Logo que os 2 filhos gémeos voaram do Ninho para a Universidade, Eva, fatigada duma vida pejada de tarefas e pouco sentido, decidiu parar, enfiando-se um ano na cama 🛌! There were no other interesting , heroic, funny or endearing characters to save the story and certainly no one to identify with.

Townsend gets carried away and the plot descends into a sheer farce around midway, with the arrival of TV crews and desperate fans clamouring for a glance of Eva. While the whole novel is far-fetched, this element asks the reader to suspend more disbelief than is reasonable and is just a bit of nonsense too far. Strangely, the phenomenon dissipates and plays no part in the conclusion, which also renders it a pointless tangent that would have been better omitted.Prior to reading this book, my only experiences of Sue Townsend were Adrian Mole, whom at my mother's suggestion I read when I was younger. As remarkable here as in her other writing is Townsend's ability to cloak what is, upon reflection, often quite a set of starkly grim human truths in humour. The book definitely seems like a book of two halves to me. Fortunately the fact that Townsend is a gifted and able satirist saved the first half of the book somewhat and, as an ever-curious reader, I quite enjoyed seeing where it would all pan out around the theme of escape. The second half, however, where Eva Beaver, a ‘beautiful’ (we are told) middle-aged woman has, by now, voluntarily retreated to the confines (and safety?) of her own bedroom for a few too many months, proved a bit too much for me and the dominance of crazy characters (estranged husband and his affair living in the shed, purely strange and devoted to scientific theory twin offspring, etc. etc.) seemed to kill any plotline and enjoyment for me personally. The day her children leave home, Eva climbs into bed and stays there. She's had enough - of her kids' carelessness, her husband's thoughtlessness and of the world's general indifference. Brian can't believe his wife is doing this. Who is going to make dinner? Taking it badly, he rings Eva's mother - but she's busy having her hair done. So he rings his mother - she isn't surprised. Eva, she says, is probably drunk. Let her sleep it off. But Eva won't budge. She makes new friends - Mark the window cleaner and Alexander, a very sexy handyman. She discovers Brian's been having an affair. And Eva realizes to her horror that everyone has been taking her for granted - including herself. Though Eva's refusal to behave like a dutiful wife and mother soon upsets everyone from medical authorities to her neighbours she insists on staying in bed. And from this odd but comforting place she begins to see both the world and herself very, very differently... The issue of Brian’s shed where he went of an evening (before returning for his dinner of course) was where the clandestine meetings with Titania (his lover) happened, and where eventually he resided when Titania whilst Eva remained in the house, in fact remaining in her bed. Conclusion by all that Brian should just remain in his shed. But as with all good books and stories, L wanted to see Brian and Eva reunited. I am not sure it would have worked but that is the beauty of fiction, you can carry on the story ad-infinitum. But why did Eva stay with him was one of the questions put forward. Most thought because of duty and the fear of doing something else and no doubt pressure from outside forces, in the shape of her own mother, Ruby, loved by all of us and mother-in-law, Yvonne who was a particularly nasty piece of work. Eva did everything and the most favourite few passages for all of us were how she recounts Christmas, which was rather apt considering the timing of reading this book. Eva talking to Brian:

Her husband Dr Brian Beaver, an astronomer who divides his time between gazing at the expanding universe, an unsatisfactory eight-year-old affair with his colleague Titania and mooching in his shed, is not happy. Who will cook dinner? Eva, he complains, is either having a breakdown or taking attention-seeking to new heights. The book won a 2012 Bollinger Everyman Wodehouse Prize for comedy. And it was indeed a rip of modern dysfunctional, dismantled families, drowned in -isms and postmodern practices. The woman in the bed inspired different reactions from different readers, like a Rorschach test of reality. It was also a litmus test of ourselves. Where do we stand on it all right this moment in our lives. Do we condemn or condone her behavior? Do we misunderstand all the characters? Have we lost it? None of them were really likable folks. Perhaps the author made fun of all the futile, senseless, empty choices people make and the sadness of lives wasted in vain. I did continue with the read in the hope that that story would finally make some sense, that there would be a point to it all, an aesops fable, but alas no the ending was just that - it ended.I found the book to be very good for the first 1/4 of its length, it was funny, it seemed to be moving towards an interesting conflict, and more funny situations. But it didn't. Born in Leicester in 1946, Sue left school at 15 years of age. She married at 18, and by 23 was a single parent with three children. She worked in a variety of jobs including factory worker, shop assistant, and as a youth worker on adventure playgrounds. She wrote in secret for twenty years, eventually joining a writers' group at the Phoenix Theatre, Leicester in her thirties. A tour de force by a comic genius and if it isn't the best book published this year, I'll eat my bookshelf.' Daily Mirror , Books of the Year Bestselling author Sue Townsend has been Britain's favourite comic writer for over three decades, The Woman Who Went to Bed for a Year is her hilarious new novel.