Oh Dear Silvia: The gloriously heartwarming novel from the No. 1 bestselling author of Because of You

Product Information

I've tried for weeks to get into this book, but the going from character to character, never sticking to one train of thought, just made my head hurt. It's a story about loss and saying goodbye, but it's also a story about finding the truth and finding love.

Every other verb is underlined, in an effort to make me appreciate that I could be listening to it, as spoken by the vicar of dibley. Hai così disperatamente bisogno di vedere un po' di bellezza per mitigare tutto lo schifo che hai attorno, che gli alberi finiscono per essere più verdi, il sole più caldo e il pane più buono di quanto non lo fosse quando pensavi di essere felice, e per niente solo. Although her character initially provides a balance against the others who actually know Silvia by the end her role is crucial, not just for Silvia but for many of her visitors too. for me, a very mixed bag and whilst there are a fair few characters, each chapter is titled with their name so it is very easy to follow.

I had high expectations of this as the Sunday Times reviewer said (towards the end of 2012) that it was the best book she had read all year. These characters range from Silvia's family members, her friend, her cleaner to her nurse, Winnie, who really felt like the lynch-pin for the whole story. Each character talks to Silvia in her coma, their stories all seen from her hospital bed (including occasional clunky exposition but that can e forgiven). All in all, a very disappointing effort from a wonderfully talented woman and a publishing house that should have produced a better book. She is best-known for starring in and writing her comedy sketch show, French and Saunders, alongside her comedy partner Jennifer Saunders, and for playing the lead role of Geraldine Granger in the sitcom The Vicar of Dibley.

There is a vast amount of characters buzzing around the coma patient Silvia, and they all contribute, slowly, to build a picture of her; a picture that gets more and more complicated the further into the novel you come.Silvia, who seemingly without reason has rejected her whole family, is not a very likeable person, as it appears. I was also impressed with the depth of each character - the character building through the chats to Silvia in the suite was very well done.