Novel set in London and around the world – Mile High encounters

22nd March 2018

The Perfect Girlfriend by Karen Hamilton, novel set in London and around the world.

Juliette, formerly known as Elisabeth/Lily, has experienced a great deal of loss, rejection and abandonment in her life. Her mother had moods and Elisabeth, as she was then, had to look after her little brother William, who at some point clearly had a bad accident in her care, just compounding her own fragile mental health. At school she was bullied and oftentimes shunned by the powerful Bella and her clique…

And now, her life experience to date is about to find expression as “love”….

She was together with her boyfriend Nate for a while, but he ended it all by citing that he needed “space”. Several months down the line she has done his bidding and respected his wish, whilst plotting ways to bring him back into a relationship with her.

Nate is an airline pilot and so she chooses to apply and then train as a cabin attendant with the same airline. Inevitably, whether engineered or not, their paths will cross at some point and she just knows that he will choose to reignite their relationship and come back into line, with a little help and manipulation from her if necessary, of course!

Her plan of action is meticulously constructed and we, the readers, are privy to her planning and thought processes. Now, this is where the storyline is clever but perhaps flawed. We know and can see from the outset that Juliette has a psychopathic personality and it is very brave of the author to create someone who is so objectionable. There is nothing to like, no weakness, no flaws, no gentleness that might pull the reader in and perhaps allow the reader (just occasionally) to root for her. She is simply nasty, scheming and really quite malevolent as we follow in her footsteps of planning and execution. The other characters naturally are slow on the uptake, as she rolls out her dedicated schemes to entice hapless Nate back into the fold.

Having said that, I found the storyline actually quite riveting. It is well written. I think the lure for me was to be able to marvel (is that the right word?) at the next dastardly ploy Juliette was going to dream up.  I was mind boggled at her ruthless determination and her focus to manipulate and destroy. Juliette is an exemplary portrayal of a person with sociopathic traits. The trouble is, I just didn’t want to spend a lot of time in her poisonous company, although, obviously I did. I survived…

The author has herself worked in aircraft cabins and the reader gleans some wonderful (if at times alarming) insights into life in the air and the effect that “Eau de Boeing” can have on passengers and staff alike.

Tina for the TripFiction Team

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