Clean Start
A Novel of Paris in the 1960s
Patricia Margaret Page

Academy Chicago Pub
April 2002
Hardcover/322 pages
ISBN: 0897335066
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". . . captivating character-driven story with an unusual plot and twist."

". . . stay in this warm, inviting Bohemian atmosphere . . ."

". . . outstanding debut novel."

Patricia Margaret Page’s first novel, Clean Start, is a captivating character-driven story with an unusual plot and twist. When Tom, a womanizing husband, and his irresolute wife, Jane, take in a stranger, Sally, whose only credential is that she has the most stunning legs that Tom has ever seen, their seemingly perfect marriage and lifestyle is suddenly jeopardized. Sally, who at first glance is a sophisticated beauty, is not who she appears to be. Instead she is a fraud and con artist who manages to take over Jane and Tom’s lives and money. When the plot becomes questionable at times, the reader chooses to swallow the tall tales just as Jane does with Sally so that we can stay in this warm, inviting Bohemian atmosphere that takes place in the 60’s and Paris.

 

 

 

What makes this book so titillating and hard to put down are the characters. Flawed as they are, they manage to lure the readers into their tangled net and we find ourselves struggling with them to escape their past and start over with a clean slate. While the ending is disappointing because we want more from these characters than they can give, this outstanding debut novel is not.

Reviewer: E. M. Kurecka