Thoroughly enjoyed this book, a brilliant story with great characters, very easy to read, a lovely one to take on holiday. Loved it as much as his last book.

I loved it and found it laugh-out-loud funny. I was intrigued by the description of this book when I requested it, but I wasn't sure what to expect. The plot is pretty familiar - person loses spouse, person figures out how to start life over on their own. The twist to this one, however, is that Tony is convinced that he never really loved his wife to begin with. So now what? I found this book to be laugh-out-loud funny in many places, particularly the series of dates he goes on with women he has met on the internet that are just outrageously crazy and hilarious. This is one of those books that would make a great romantic comedy film, the kind that would appeal to both men and women if done right - sort of like Crazy Stupid Love but with death instead of divorce. The characters surprise you over and over throughout the book. It is really not predictable as stories go, and toward the end I started feeling anxiety thinking that the book wouldn't end the way I wanted it to. I thought the ending was excellent, and I thoroughly enjoyed how the author kept me guessing throughout. I recommend this book to anyone who wants a funny book that has real substance, readers who are bored with Nicholas Sparks and are looking for less hearts and flowers, people coming out of a bad or boring relationship, or if you just like good books that keep you guessing until the end. For women, if Sex and the City was exactly your cup of tea, you will probably enjoy this book as it gives the male perspective of that same crazy dating world presented on the show.

'Settling' is a new novel, published by Matador, by local author and 'Brain of Britain' David Stedman. His first novel 'That Terrible Shadowing' was a study of the Italian artist and serial offender Caravaggio. His new novel could hardly be more different, being set in modern day London and being a study of a bored late middle aged character named Tony Ballard who suddenly gets the chance to change everything about his stultified life thanks to the death of his wife. A dark and unpromising premise but Stedman had me hooked almost from the start. He draws you into Ballard's world and his relationships with his family, friends and colleagues with writing that is refined, almost sparse, in its clarity. Stedman cleverly maintains a 'hook', a mystery about his wife's last words, throughout the narrative and weaves the story around that but not at the expense of Ballard's intriguing personal life. The story is intercut by Ballard's encounters from an internet dating agency. Although some of them have the ring of truth I found these parts the least satisfactory element and they tend to seem too contrived and jar with the tone of the rest of the story. Throughout the story I wanted to know what happened next and whether Ballard would find the happiness he craved. I was sorry when I had come to the last page and had to leave Ballard's company. In this new age of 'chick lit' and 'gran lit' and 'mummy porn'. Stedman's novel is a more mature and realistic view of love and relationships. Although the story is told from a male point of view and is about love in the twilight of life, 'Settling' should appeal to any age and sex and any person wondering about this mysterious condition called love.

A brilliant story with great characters, very easy to read, a lovely one to take on holiday. Loved it as much as his last book.

Tony is a fairly likable character. His lack of self-awareness in the beginning grated on me, but as the novel progressed he did begin to develop in character and lose much of his self-absorbed twitty behavior. There were some conflicts in Tony's personality I had a hard time reconciling, such as his beginning to date within mere weeks of his wife's death which was at odds with his obviously straight-laced ways. Perhaps that is what the author was striving for, but I found it a little unbelievable. My biggest issue with the novel was that at times the dialog was incredibly stilted. Keeping in mind this is a British novel, there are certain things that are British idioms and recognizable as such, however, some dialog was plain, downright annoying (such as the elder daughter's penchant to say "both feet forward"... repeatedly - seriously, who talks like that?). Also, much of the background information on the various characters was given through dialog which at times simply felt oddly placed and clearly info dumps. The highlights were the funny internet dating stories interspersed throughout and Tony's internal monologues regarding the date.