Two Women

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Martina Cole

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Pages: 544 (Hardcover)

ISBN: 074721834X

Pub: Headline Book Publishing

Pub date: 1999-10-07

Amazon.co.uk Sales Rank: 137262

Editorial Review:

Neither the elegant middle-class Matilda nor the downtrodden Susan are precisely what they appear to be: when they meet in a prison cell, both are notorious husband killers. Matilda's appeal is imminent. She claims severe provocation in the shape of endless beatings from the husband she stabbed while Susan hardly bothered to defend herself in court. Most of Two Women is a flashback--a powerful venue for portraying domestic violence and criminal manners. Susan's murder of Barry resulted from years of brutality and sexual abuse by him and his partner in low-level gangland violence, her father Joey. "Joey would set people up and Barry execute the acts of violence and robbery, leaving Joe with the wedge and the kudos of being number one bailiff to the criminal community, while at the same time earning off the people stupid enough not to have him as their protection".

Martina Cole is darkly funny about Christmasses and weddings ruined by alcoholic mayhem; she is also good on the ways in which women support each other and let each other down--Susan gets little help from her mother or her grandmother and yet finds a best friend in the most unlikely of places. Martina Cole brings to her novels all the emotional force of her best television scripts. This is a vivid picture of the working-class criminal world in which everyone is supposed to live by a code and where that code is broken by any person violent enough to get away with it. --Roz Kaveney

Reader Reviews:

Powerful novel -clutches at your heart strings like no other (4/4 people found this helpful)

This was the first Martine Cole book I've read and it certainly won't be the last. This book not only gives you a clear image of what life must have been like in London's eastend, it also immerses you in the heartache of each character so that you can almost feel their pain. It's sometimes difficult to remember that you are reading fiction, the characters become so real. By the time I had read about the first ten pages, I was completely gripped and could not put the book down. I don't know why I had never heard of Martina Cole before and look forward to reading the rest of her novels. Let's hope she keeps it up!

An average read (0/3 people found this helpful)

I can't understand how other people here are raving about this book. I am reading it now and I find the dialogue irritating rather than realistic (especially when it's wrong like "causing hag" instead of ag - as in aggravation - or "sobs" instead of sovs - as in sovereigns - I thought Martina was an Essex girl! )Some of the scenes are very funny, others would have been touching if the characters had been more likeable. I find the characters inconsistent and confusing, and more like cartoons than real people. If the book didn't waffle on so much I would have enjoyed it more - half the length would probably have been about right...

A grim but gripping tale of victory over hardship (0/0 people found this helpful)

Martina Cole has long been one of my favourite authors and I have read every one of her books. I think her success lies in the fact that she writes about what she knows, i.e. the East End of London/Essex environment, and does so extremely well. "Two Women" is no exception, with its brilliantly graphic descriptions of the hardships faced by East End folk in the 60's, with battered wives and men forced into a life of petty crime. The heroine of this novel, Sue Dalston, is a warm, earthy,courageous and utterly believable character who will break your heart. I am not at all squeamish, but the vividly grim descriptions of domestic violence (even worse than in Stephen King's "Rose Madder") made me almost put the book down for a breath of air on several occasions - I could almost feel the blows myself!...

Lived up to all expectations (0/0 people found this helpful)

I had waited with bated breath for the new Martina Cole book, having read all her other titles. This one was everything I hoped and had me both laughing and crying along with the characters. In short excellent and I can't wait for the next one. Avril

Couldn't put the book down! (0/0 people found this helpful)

All of Martina Cole's books keep me completely gripped. Thoroughly enjoyed this one from cover to cover. Quite graphic in places but very well written. Loved the humour brought into it at special occassions. Really good folow through of all characters. Excellant book - whens the next one coming out??

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