Neurotica: Best-Selling Chicklit Fiction

by Sue Margolis

Overview

Anna Shapiro - a 37-year-old mother of two - is about to spend the next few weeks committing adultery for the pure joy of it - and with hilarious results. But there's a catch. Anna still loves her husband. Fast, funny, shocking and unputdownable, Neurotica is a novel for every woman who has ever wondered how high you can fly with an airline captain.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781908556325
Publisher:	Apostrophe Books Ltd
Publication date:	06/28/2012
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	336
Sales rank:	797,139
File size:	738 KB

About the Author

Sue Margolis was a radio reporter for fifteen years, mostly for BBC Radio 4’s Woman’s Hour. She studied politics at Nottingham University, where she met and married Jonathan Margolis, also a journalist and author. Sue is the author of ten romantic comedy novels. Her first, Neurotica, came out in 1998 and was a bestseller in the UK, the US and Germany. Her third novel, Apocalipstick, was bought by NBC television in the US in 2011 as a potential TV series. Sue’s audiobooks are consistently in the fiction top 20 on iTunes. Sue lives with Jonathan and their family in London. For more information, see www.suemargolis.com and www.facebook.com/suemargolis.books.

Read an Excerpt

Excerpt: “Dan Bloomfield stood in front of the full-length bathroom mirror, dropped his boxers to his ankles, moved his penis to one side to get a better look and stared hard at the sagging, wrinkled flesh which housed his testicles. Whenever Dan examined his testicles - and as a hypochondriac he did this several times a week - he thought of two things: the likelihood of his imminent demise; and the cupboard under the stairs in his mother’s house in Finchley.”

Latest reviews:

“A tremendously funny, colourful and gripping read.” – The Mail on Sunday

“A kind of Bridget Jones’s Diary for the matrimonial set.” – People

“Taking up where Bridget Joness Diary took off, this saucy, sexy British adventure redefines the lusty woman’s search for erotic satisfaction (…) Anna’s story is not simply a portrait of a marriage or fluffy erotic high jinks, but rather a taut and rambunctious tale exploring the perils and raptures of the pursuit of passion.” - Publishers Weekly

Editorial Reviews

Neuroticranks as the perfect novel to take on holiday when your IQ has chosen to go on vacation.

Deirdre Donahue

Taking up where Bridget Joness Diary took off, this saucy, sexy British adventure redefines the lusty womans search for erotic satisfaction. At 37, tabloid journalist Anna Shapiro proves to be a real do-it-yourself expert. While researching an article on adultery, she embarks on three spine-tingling extramarital trysts. Annas husband, Dan, is a compulsive hypochondriac, spending his time agonizing over a plethora of self-diagnosed diseases, planning his funeral and dodging his dead mothers nagging, reproachful voice. All this, and the demands of their two young children, has drastically reduced the Shapiros sex life; Anna remembers the last time she and her husband had anything resembling mind-blowingly filthy sex was three years ago. While Anna is shaggin to her hearts content, she is unaware that her husband, still faithfully in love with her, is seeking to cure himself of his neuroses, secretly, through therapy and a wacky New Age psychic. And she is surprised when her most recent fun-loving Romeo snags her heart, forcing her to face the possible disintegration of her family. In the midst of humorous high drama, Anna maintains her mission to publicly reveal a shocking secret of one of Americas most hypocritical and arrogant feminist figures. This subplot blooms alongside racy sex scenes, near-death catastrophes, a Jewish funeral, and the cost of male strippers, shallow editors and loyal friends. Anna emerges with a new understanding of herself, her family and her happiness. Margoliss prose is witty and sure. Annas story is not simply a portrait of a marriage or fluffy erotic high jinks, but rather a taut and rambunctious tale exploring the perils and raptures of the pursuit of passion. (June)

Publishers Weekly - Publisher's Weekly

Saucy Brit Nina Shapiro is sex starved. If only her husband, Dan, weren't completely engrossed with his current hypochondriacal obsession-of-the-week, he could pay her some attention. But Dan's too busy lugging around his portable fire extinguisher, just in case he spontaneously bursts into flames. So when Nina is assigned to write a freelance article about a recently published book entitled The Clitoris-Centered Woman, she decides to sleep with three men and tell her own story. We follow Nina through her sexual travail and watch Dan attempt to battle his fears and reclaim his life. In the tradition of British television's Absolutely Fabulous, this very British romp is R-rated fun: clever and amusing but also a bit trashy. The catchy title and a lot of recent media attention will have patrons asking for it. [Previewed in Prepub Alert, LJ 4/1/99.]--Beth Gibbs, P.L. of Charlotte & Mecklenburg Cty., Charlotte, NC Copyright 1999 Cahners Business Information.

Library Journal

The misadventures of an English tabloid reporter who decides to research an article on adultery by having a few flings of her own. Were she a housewife rather than a journalist, Anna Shapiro would probably have seduced several milkmen by the time the story begins. Her husband Dan, also a journalist, is a world-class hypochondriac convinced that he•s in the early stages of testicular cancer. Although he•s been told by his doctor that there•s absolutely nothing wrong with his bollocks, Dan persists in his delusions and refuses to have sex with Anna. Now, after several years of enforced celibacy, Anna is about ready to explode, though she suffers her frustration in silence and throws herself deeper into her work. When she•s assigned an article on adultery, however, the air gets a bit thick. Apparently the hip American feminist Rachel Stern, famous for her attacks on the fitness and cosmetic-surgery industries, has just published a new book (The Clitoris-Centered Woman) praising adultery as a path of sexual liberation for women. Anna is to write a piece on Stern•s thesis, basing it on the experiences of at least three adulterous wives. Soon Anna has a flash of insight: Instead of interviewing three women, why not just commit adultery three times herself? So she•s off: first, with an Irish airline pilot, then a plastic surgeon, then another journalist. Dan, meantime, has begun seeing a therapist on the sly to work out the roots of his hypochondria and patch things up with his wife. But Anna soon learns that there•s no such thing as sex free of emotion•or adultery free of guilt•and she begins to wonder if she can ever close the can of worms she•s opened up. She always knew thatmarriage was about more than sex. Now she sees that love is, too. Somewhat simplistic and a bit too dependant on cheap laughs, but Margolis•s debut is brightly written and good-natured enough to win over most skeptics.

Kirkus Reviews