View source for Made in Heaven by Adele Geras

{{infobox1
|title=Made in Heaven
|author=Adele Geras
|reviewer=Sue Magee
|genre=Women's Fiction
|summary=Zannah wants to have the wedding of her dreams, but how will it all work out when her mother seems to be strangely involved with the groom's step-father? You'll probably guess what's going to happen straight away, but it's a story well-told and covering some interesting issues. Recommended as a holiday read.
|rating=3.5
|buy=Maybe
|borrow=Yes
|pages=448
|publisher=Orion
|date=May 2007
|isbn=978-0752881270
|cover=0752881272
|aznuk=0752881272
|aznus=075287246X
}}
Zannah (that's short for Suzannah, by the way) and Adrian are getting married in a year's time and she's determined that it's going to be the wedding of her dreams. She has been married before, to Cal and he's the father of her daughter Isis. Their wedding was an altogether tamer affair, but the marriage ended in divorce after Cal had a one-night stand. Zannah is determined that it will all be very different this time. Isis is longing to be a bridesmaid and even Adrian's control-freak mother can't ruin things altogether. Then it's time for the families to meet.

It should have gone so well: a lovely setting, good food and good will on all sides. Adrian's step father is a little late in arriving and when he does Zannah's mother is shocked to the core and dashes out. How could Joss Gratrix, poet and librarian, know Gray Ashton, consultant anaesthetist? Why did their meeting have such an effect on her?

I enjoyed this book. That might not sound earth-shattering, but there are a couple of things I'd better explain. I'm no great fan of chick-lit. It usually annoys me. I'm not big on weddings either. I'm the mother who suggested to her daughter that she should spend the money on something more important and who shopped for her own outfit for the big day in slightly under half an hour. So - when I say that I enjoyed the book, it's quite a complement.

Yes, there is an awful lot about wedding preparations and all the minutiae of such events, but it's told in an interesting and amusing way that's so true to life. I'm afraid that I was laughing sometimes when perhaps I shouldn't have been. It's a good story too. I did wonder how Joss and Gray could have met up without knowing in advance that the other would have been at the lunch party but there was a convincing reason.

This isn't one of those stories where you wonder how it's all going to work out because you've probably got a pretty good idea of what's going to happen by the end of the first chapter. This is one of those books where the telling of the story is the most important part. There are some interesting issues addressed too, such as the problems encountered when step-parents and children have to establish a relationship and the difficulties of overcoming transgressions within a marriage. Even marriages that have stood the test of time have to cope somehow when interests drift apart. Like an onion this story has more layers than you suspect when you pick it up.

I warmed to the characters too. Zannah isn't the airhead that I expected and even Adrian's appalling mother, Maureen, has her softer side. No one is either all good or all bad and the characters are surprisingly well-developed for a book of this type. There are one or two stereotypes but broadly speaking they're all people who stay in the mind.

I've only a minor criticism of the book and that's that it was a little too detailed in parts and I found myself skimming, but as a holiday read it could be just what you want to laze over. If you'd like something else to pack in the bag you might like to try [[Honor and Evie]] by Susannah Bates.

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