Not Quite Nice

Product Information

This debut from national treasure actress Celia perfectly captures the colour of ex-pat life and the glitz and glamour of the South of France. A shaft of early summer sunshine, a funny, spirited read However, as Theresa begins to acclimatise to her new, independent life she soon discovers that you should be very careful what you wish for. Things may look greener on the other side of the Channel, but Nice and its inhabitants are not quite as nice as she first thought. After visiting Nice on a couple of occasions this book did make me want to revisit. The blue of the ocean, the pavement Cafe's and the French love of live, what more could you wish for on a January day. Celia Imrie’s light and amusing style subsequently transports the reader to the glorious setting of the French Mediterranean Coast where Theresa relocates. The town of Bellevue-Sur-Mer seems to offer no end of culinary delights and new found friendships, all centred on a very eccentric and somewhat insular set of expats.

Nice Series by Celia Imrie - Goodreads Nice Series by Celia Imrie - Goodreads

Our members at Throston Reading Group, Hartlepool libraries, found this book enjoyable, some of the typical comments from our readers were: Not Quite Nice is British actress Celia Imrie`s debut book. I read a lot of thrillers so Not Quite Nice made a fun, light hearted change. the virtues of retiring abroad . . . All in all, Imrie's funny, over-the-top romp reads like a screenplay. And who knows, maybe that's just where it's headed?Having discussed the characters, we can see why Theresa wanted a change, given her unlikeable daughter and grandchildren, to whom she should have stood up to. The most eccentric character is Zoe, but Sally was the favourite to some of our readers. The main focus of the story is the characters, loveable eccentrics who you feel you’d love to meet and chat to. The plot is straight forward, with no great surprises, but enough to make an amusing and readable tale.

Not Quite Nice: : Celia Imrie: Bloomsbury USA Not Quite Nice: : Celia Imrie: Bloomsbury USA

This was a nice light read, describing the move to a little village just outside Nice on the French Riviera of a woman retrenched, badly treated by her daughter and grandchildren and looking for a new life in her retirement. I read this as an e-book, but I think it would be perfect as an audiobook, because I could just hear Celia Imrie narrating it. We feel that Celia may have ‘borrowed’ the beginning of the book from ‘The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel’ as her character in that goes to India to escape her demanding and ungrateful family.And there is Brian, who is there when Theresa is mugged on one of her first days in France, and helps her out and becomes her lodger. Brain also helps out, when Theresa starts running cooking classes for the ex-pats to gain an income. In her debut novel, Imrie has given us a sort of “coming of old age” story. I loved Theresa, though I wanted to shake her a few times when she put up with bad treatment by her ungrateful, selfish daughter and her bratty grandchildren. Still, this is a woman who has always done her best and who is slowly but surely realizing that she deserves some pleasure in life. The cast of supporting characters was marvelous as well: the smooth and attentive Brian; Sally a former British TV star; Americans Carol and David; “dragon lady” Sian and her philandering Aussie husband Ted; the witty, seemingly never aging octogenarian Zoe; compliant Faith and her pushy son Alfie who insists she needs a mansion rather than the small flat she’d prefer; and gay couple Benjamin and William. Theresa is desperate for a change. Forced into early retirement, fed up with babysitting her bossy daughter's obnoxious children, she sells her Highgate house and moves to the picture-perfect town of Bellevue-sur-Mer, just outside Nice.