A Crowded Marriage (Catherine Alliott)****

A Crowded Marriage is about another stupid girl. The only thing Imogen does well is getting herself into ridiculous situations, and then ensuring half the neighbourhood gets to hear about it. Anyone can accidentally end up in a bedroom with the guy you thought had only platonic feelings towards you. Probably a lot of people have got into a bit of a panic when apparently faced with the imminent death of someone else’s animal which you were supposed to be looking after.

But have you ever removed your knickers in the middle of a posh party? Okay, maybe some of you have, but I don’t mean for that reason. I mean for a totally innocent reason that makes perfect sense at the time, but looks extremely dodgy when the cute guy you’re not married to shows up.

In some ways, A Crowded Marriage is very similar to Lucy in the Sky and Holly’s Inbox. One difference is that the wanker is called Alex instead of James - which probably explains why I spent the entire book thinking Alex was not the right name for him. The other main difference is that it's a much better book.

Imogen’s fears about Alex’s infidelity probably aren’t as insane as they seem. After all, he has just moved them into a cottage on his beautiful ex-girlfriend’s property. And, not only is she a beautiful ex-girlfriend, she was the reason Alex’s first marriage broke up. But Imogen is so insane and obsessed and neurotic, you can’t help feeling she’s probably not the best judge of, well, anything.

But, to some extent, I didn’t care whether Alex was sleeping with the disgustingly perfect and irritatingly nice Eleanor or not. Alex is a total wanker who is very nasty to Imogen and very impatient with her stupidity, which he surely must have noticed before they got married considering she used to be his secretary. I really wanted her to ditch Alex and find someone better. And there do seem to be cute men all over the place in this novel.

Like Lucy in the Sky, there is the slight problem in that Imogen hasn’t been totally faithful herself. While she does claim to love Alex, there’s no denying that the local vet and her son’s headmaster make her very flustered. There’s nothing wrong with fancying other men when you’re married, but Imogen’s methods of showing friendliness are worryingly easy to misinterpret. I spent a lot of the book cringing for Imogen, and wanting to drag her away before she makes it worse. And I’m usually the person who’s being dragged away.

So why does A Crowded Marriage have four stars? Because it’s funny. You never know what mess Imogen is going to get herself into next, and even when you can see a twist coming a mile of, Catherine Alliott ensures it’s still great fun to read about, and usually throws something extra into the story to surprise you.

Imogen can be a shock till you’ve got used to her, but she’s a lovely and well-intentioned girl whose only fault is that she’s on the dim side even for a chick lit heroine. Give it 3-4 chapters, and she’ll start being adorable. You’ll even forgive her for being a beautiful snob – she’s so delightfully incompetent about it. She makes me feel rational and capable and socially competent. I love her.