Book Review: "A Surrey State of Affairs" by Ceri Radford

Reviewed by Lee Libro

I chose A Surrey State of Affairs by Ceri Radford (March 2012) from a selection of over fifty other titles to review. With a clever title, a bold cover and promise for some British wit, I was drawn to it immediately.

Usually readers relate to a story through a writers craft with dialogue. Dialogue brings the characters into the here and now, allowing the reader to be a spy on the wall. Getting into the interior life of a character takes a bit of finesse with just the right amount of narrative and dialogue. Imagine a story told mostly in narrative. Sounds static. Not in the case of A Surrey State of Affairs, which is written as a series of blog entries and indeed contains very little dialogue.

A Surrey State of Affairs is Constance Hardings’ diary, so to speak. She’s a fifty-something, church-going, bell-ringing, empty-nester, wife and mother who is naïve and newly initiated into the joys of computer usage. Blogging is a newfound outlet for her and thinking nobody reads it anyway, she posts her daily observations and frustrations as she strives to appease, support and maintain her relationships including that with her beloved parrot. Think Bridget Jones’ Diary all grown up with the quandaries of a mid-life crisis in full havoc mode, delivered with the same humorous and endearing qualities of a Bridget Jones.

We, the reader, are Constance’s invisible friend, privy to her most private thoughts and yet as good friends often do, we see realities long before she discovers them herself. But she’s naïve and we care for her. From her attempts to find a good wife for her son, who is obviously gay, to her inability to understand why she continually finds panties laying around her husband’s office, her naivety might frustrate a lesser friend, but due to Ms. Radford’s exceptional writing, so well formulated with the dry, pithy wit of a Brit, we can only stand by Constance.

We celebrate when Constance finally wakes up and embarks on a completely uncharacteristic set of behaviors. Call it a mid-life crisis, self-discovery, all in all her journey enthralls us, keeps us tethered to her blog. We can’t help but read on because A Surrey State of Affairs is both entertaining and heartwarming. I highly recommend it if you are looking for some light reading or are a fan of Chick-lit or British humor.