Face Value

Bought this book to take on a relaxing holiday on a boat. So glad I did. Just loved it - seriously couldn't put it down till I'd finished much to the upset of my fellow travellers!! Humourous, insightful and wonderfully real, rounded characters. I totally identified with Kate as she embarked on her journey into the scary world of high glamour and all that comes with it. What the 'Devil wears Prada' is to fashion - 'Face Value' is to beauty & glamour. Whatever your views or values - BUY IT -this book with its details and references really takes you behind the scenes for a peek into a world that let's face it we all have a slight fascination for.

Picked this up in New York JFK last week for a more light hearted read as was tiring of my Mussolini biography and couldn't bear to finish my "Bastard on the Couch" manual which has now clocked more airmiles than a UN envoy since it never leaves my cabin holdall. Well I reluctantly have to use that well coined phrase "I could hardly put it down.." (except for cocktail & meal breaks and occasional hops to the lavatory). Face Value has a cracking plot set in unlikey places such as Maidstone, Kent, via NYC and LA-CA where the action unfolds. Kate Miller, the principal hapless character attracts a mix of amused sympathy early on and one really begins to empathise with her plight and admire her determination and gusto. This book fizzes with humour and quirky details that definitely set it aside from your average chick-lit opus. More interestingly Face Value contains little raunchiness but instead well crafted characters. In parts a subtle uderlying sense of menace makes Kate's meanderings in the world of glamour plastic surgery even more rivetting. Definitely worth attention.