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Back After The Break
Back After The Break
Aug 26, 2025 5:22 AM

Author:Anita Notaro

Back After The Break

Ever had your heart blown to smithereens?

Ever wondered if happy-ever-after only happens to other people?

Lindsay Davidson is not your usual angst-ridden thirty-something. She's got life sussed. She's just about to marry Paul Hayes - think Johnny Depp meets Colin Firth with a hint of Brad Pitt - when a phone call rips her life apart. Cue bucketloads of tears and self-doubt, until, amazingly, a chink of light in the form of the job of a lifetime.

Working behind the scenes on one of the top-rated TV chat shows opens up a fascinating new world, with as much sex and scandal off-screen! A fairytale weekend with a hot new presenter gives Lindsay reason to hope again, until a misunderstanding means her heart takes another battering. Soon, there's a life-changing decision to be made and meanwhile, Paul wonders if he's made a mistake...

Reviews

Fresh, bubbly and highly entertaining. An unputdownable page-turner

—— PATRICIA SCANLAN, author of Francesca's Party

'Notaro writes with great wit, style, intelligence and insight'

—— Independent on Sunday

A glamorous, pacy book - a real page-turner. Notaro is going to be a name to reckon with.

—— Ireland on Sunday

Anna Quindlen's first novel is about an experience that is the same for everyone and different for us all: the time when we suddenly see our family with an outsider's eye and begin the separation that marks our growing up.

—— Washington Post

Quindlen is at her best writing about the dislocations of growing up, the blows a child does not see coming

—— Time

A charming compassionate little masterpiece - a story so compelling that one wishes at the end that it hadn't stopped.... a brilliant novel, a story that makes one eagerly wait for Anna Quindlen's next novel.

—— The Philadelphia Inquirer

Consciousness and the Novel makes a bright, instructive introduction to David Lodge – as critic and novelist – for anyone who does not know his work

—— San Francisco Chronicle

Most other critics would make heavy weather of such topics, but Lodge always scintillates

—— Boston Globe

[Lodge] gives fresh perspectives of fellow writers and an enthralling way to read much of the twentieth-century novel

—— Bookmunch

The novel’s greatest strength is its vision of the violent fecundity of nature…Groff excels in writing with a kind of fairy-tale lucidity…The book’s structure and imagery are full of delightful intricacies and cruel ironies.

—— Times Literary Supplement

One of our most talented writers, and Arcadia one of the most revelatory, magical and ambitious novels I've read in years.

—— Kate Walbert, author of the New York Times bestselling novel A Short History of Women

Ready Player One expertly mines a copious vein of 1980s pop culture, catapulting the reader on a light-speed adventure in an advanced but backward-looking future. If this book were a living room, it would be wood-paneled. If it were shoes, it would be high-tops. And if it were a song, well, it would have to be Eye of the Tiger. I really, really loved it.

—— Daniel H. Wilson, author of How to Survive a Robot Uprising and Robopocalypse

The pure, unfettered brainscream of a child of the 80s, like a dream my 13-year-old self would have had after bingeing on Pop Rocks and Coke...I couldn't put it down

—— Charles Ardai, Edgar Award-winning author and producer of Haven

Pure geek heaven. Ernest Cline's hero competes in a virtual world with life-and-death stakes -- which is only fitting, because he's fighting to make his dreams into reality. Cline blends a dystopic future with meticulously detailed nostalgia to create a story that will resonate in the heart of every true nerd

—— Chris Farnsworth, author of Blood Oath

I was blown away by this book...Ernie Cline has pulled the raddest of all magic tricks: he's managed to write a novel that's at once serious and playful, that is as fun to read as it is harrowing. A book of ideas, a potboiler, a game-within-a-novel, a serious science-fiction epic, a comic pop culture mash-up-call this novel what you will, but READY PLAYER ONE will defy every label you try to put on it. Here, finally, is this generation's NEUROMANCER

—— Will Lavender, New York Times bestselling author of Obedience

Completely fricking awesome...This book pleased every geeky bone in my geeky body. I felt like it was written just for me

—— Patrick Rothfuss, #1 New York Times Bestselling author of The Wise Man’s Fear

Pleasingly geeky novel ... No wonder there are plans to make into a film

—— Shortlist

Ready Player One is a fantastic adventure set in a futuristic world with a retro heart. Once I started reading, I didn't want to put it down and I couldn't wait to pick it back up

—— S.G. Browne, author of Breathers and Fated

Cline's novel is a nerdcore odyssey; engaging and fun, this Gen-X popcult thrillride drew me in like a Galaxian machine set to free play.

—— James Swallow

Cline [crafts] a fresh and imaginative world from our old toy box ... Cline strikes the nerves of nerd culture as expertly as Andy played that skeleton organ in The Goonies

—— Entertainment Weekly

Totally awesome!

—— Edinburgh Evening News

I would recommend this book in a heartbeat...young or old - it's just brilliant!

—— Books4Teens.co.uk

In the safe hands of none other than Mr. Steven Spielberg, this is your last chance to read the book before the movie hype drowns out the written word. A mixed up dystopian fantasy adventure novel with more nods to 80’s pop culture than even the biggest John Hughes fan will be able to handle, it’s just a whole lot of fun to read

—— 'Best books of 2015’, All in London

This is one you need to read before EVERYONE knows about it!

—— So Feminine

Ultimately entertaining, enthusiastic and enjoyable. A real must-have for any collection…a beautifully constructed piece of escapism which will pull you in with such vigour that you miss your train stop.

—— Live Magazines

Powerful and very timely message

—— Guardian

Fascinating and imaginative...It's non-stop action when gamers must navigate clever puzzles and outwit determined enemies in a virtual world in order to save a real one. Readers are in for a wild ride.

—— Terry Brooks, #1 New York Times bestselling author

This non-gamer loved every page of Ready Player One.

—— Charlaine Harris, #1 New York Times bestselling author

Ready Player One expertly mines a copious vein of 1980s pop culture, catapulting the reader on a light-speed adventure in an advanced but backward-looking future. If this book were a living room, it would be wood-paneled. If it were shoes, it would be high-tops. And if it were a song, well, it would have to be Eye of the Tiger. I really, really loved it.

—— Daniel H. Wilson, author of How to Survive a Robot Uprising and Robopocalypse

The pure, unfettered brainscream of a child of the 80s, like a dream my 13-year-old self would have had after bingeing on Pop Rocks and Coke...I couldn't put it down.

—— Charles Ardai, Edgar Award-winning author and producer of Haven

Pure geek heaven. Ernest Cline's hero competes in a virtual world with life-and-death stakes -- which is only fitting, because he's fighting to make his dreams into reality. Cline blends a dystopic future with meticulously detailed nostalgia to create a story that will resonate in the heart of every true nerd.

—— Chris Farnsworth, author of Blood Oath

I was blown away by this book...Ernie Cline has pulled the raddest of all magic tricks: he's managed to write a novel that's at once serious and playful, that is as fun to read as it is harrowing. A book of ideas, a potboiler, a game-within-a-novel, a serious science-fiction epic, a comic pop culture mash-up-call this novel what you will, but READY PLAYER ONE will defy every label you try to put on it. Here, finally, is this generation's NEUROMANCER.

—— Will Lavender, New York Times bestselling author of Obedience

Completely fricking awesome...This book pleased every geeky bone in my geeky body. I felt like it was written just for me.

—— Patrick Rothfuss, #1 New York Times Bestselling author of The Wise Man’s Fear

Ready Player One is a fantastic adventure set in a futuristic world with a retro heart. Once I started reading, I didn't want to put it down and I couldn't wait to pick it back up.

—— S.G. Browne, author of Breathers and Fated

Cline's novel is a nerdcore odyssey; engaging and fun, this Gen-X popcult thrillride drew me in like a Galaxian machine set to free play.

—— James Swallow

The first thing I thought when I finished Ernest Cline's Ready Player One was, "My God, it's the grown-up's Harry Potter." Now this is from a mega "HP" fan, so I mean business, here. The mystery and fantasy in this novel weaves itself in the most delightful way, and the details that make up Mr. Cline's world are simply astounding. Ready Player One has it all

—— Huffington Post

Pleasingly geeky novel ... No wonder there are plans to make into a film.

—— Shortlist

The strength of Cline's first novel, other than its geeky referencing of 1980s pop culture, is the characterisation of the Candide-like Wade and his redemptive quest in both VR and the real world.

—— Guardian

If you grew up with an Atari or maybe had a Commodore 64 back in the day, you are going to really enjoy this one. Cline really captures the feeling of those good old days in Ready Player One.

—— WIRED.COM

Cline [crafts] a fresh and imaginative world from our old toy box ... Cline strikes the nerves of nerd culture as expertly as Andy played that skeleton organ in The Goonies.

—— Entertainment Weekly
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