Alys, Always by Harriet Lane

What a bizarre novel.  A weird hybrid between chick lit and a proper book, this novel could have been very powerful indeed but lost its confidence and ended too conventionally.

The plot follows Frances, an early 30s aspiring journalist who witnesses a tragic accident and uses that incident to hatch an elaborate plan to ensnare a husband. I am not really sure what point the author is trying to make, other than that women are highly untrustworthy and romance is dead. Both good points, of course, but not especially novel-worthy. If this book had had a different ending, it would have been refreshingly different. As it is, it is darkly realistic novel written in an incongruously romantic style which is likely to disappoint.