The Satsuma Complex

This novel by comedian Bob Mortimer is about an average, slightly down-on-himself lawyer who becomes caught up in a web of deceit and conspiracy when all he really wants to do is ask out a girl he met in a bar.

The book elicited a wide variety of opinions from 'enjoyed it' to 'really disliked it' and 'hugely disappointing'.  Most thought that it couldn't be classed as great literature and wondered if it gained the best-seller list because of the author rather than the book.  It will be interesting to see if the sequel proves just as popular.

Some thought the book was perhaps written with a younger audience in mind.  Apart from Grace, an older woman, the group didn't really empathise with the other characters.

The book was easy to read, though many of the group thought that there was far too much gratuitous bad language.

While the book was amusing in parts, it wasn't 'laugh out loud' funny.   Some found the conversations Gary had with the squirrel annoying, but others thought that they emphasised his solitary character.

The book's happy ending, though nice, was rather simplistic.  The majority will not be buying the sequel, nor recommending the book to others.

Review by Dorothy Ivatt