Looking for La La-Ellie Campbell

Looking for La La is the third book by Ellie Campbell, a duo of sisters working collaboratively to create entertaining fiction.   I must admit that I really didn't know what to expect when this arrived for me to review, but was intrigued to find out !  The cover image of a madcap lady with manic eyes peeping over a fence reminded me of myself on a particularly stressful bad hair day...maybe this could be a book I could relate to?

 

 

Looking for La La is the story of Cathy.  A wife and mother struggling to retain her own identity in the hectic world of school runs, housework and other necessities of life, Cathy feels tired and unfulfilled. When flirtatious postcards addressed to her husband start arriving, Cathy feels even more threatened-could he be having an affair?  Is someone trying to ruin their marriage? Or is it a joke that has got out of hand?  Before long, Cathy is suspicious of everyone around her.  Is there anyone she can really trust?

 

I must admit that it took me a while to get into this book, although I wonder if that is partly due to reading Mad About You by Sinead Moriarty just before- there are some similarities in the plots.  However, once I obtained a big bar of Dairy Milk and wriggled myself into the corner of the settee I was all set to go and Looking for La La entertained me for the next four hours.  Yes, it is embellished and far fetched in places, but mothers in particular will be able to identify with Cathy's loss of identity-that feeling of being someone's wife, someone's mum and yet feeling detached from yourself as you seek to please everyone else.

 

I was getting very frustrated as the story progressed as I was desperate to know who La La was.  I thought I had it worked out and then something would make me doubt myself.  This definitely made me want to keep turning the pages as I'm not good at putting down an unsolved mystery!   Part mystery, part chicklit, part women's fiction; Looking for La La touches on a variety of genres which is both a strength and a weakness.  Whilst it has the potential to appeal to a variety of readers, I feel it is not a neat enough fit into any of these genres to really recommend to one specific target audience. 

 

Looking for La La is out now.

 

6.5/10

 

With thanks to Ellie Campbell for providing me with a review copy of Looking For La La in return for an honest review.