Bastards Leave Suckers Who Love Too Much

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Category:	Fiction
Author:	Nikki Van Bergen
Publisher:	Pen Press Ltd
Price:	£7.99
ISBN:	1-905621-09-4
Pages:	376
Reviewed in issue:	2

In any conflict between a man and a woman, this reviewer always tries to take the woman’s side unless there are overwhelming reasons not to. In this case there are: Zoe, the heroine/narrator of the clunkily-titled Bastards Leave Women Who Love Too Much is unfaithful to her husband with her boyfriend and vice versa, but when they start being unfaithful to her she cries foul. She’s tough enough to use kidnapping and physical violence to wreak her revenge, but not to get herself registered as joint owner of the house she shares – and pays for – with her husband. Without this device, much of the story would fall apart, but that is no excuse.

With such an annoying central character, it's surprising to find that the book is a page-turner, but it is. I was enthralled by a scene set in the sort of restaurant where they “charge a week's salary for supper” and sit you on chairs which “usually have ropes across the seats in stately homes”. By contrast, Zoe's description of a (richly deserved) spell in prison has a low-key yet haunting quality.

The book's bright pink jacket is eye-catching, the price is what you would expect. The back-flap blurb is off-putting, reducing everyone in the story to a stereotype. But don't let that put you off: if you like your heroines passive-aggressive, this one is for you.

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