Dunne, Apr 2003, 24.95, 384 pp.
ISBN: 0312303483
In Sydney, Australia, Ally Tasker is not excited being an art teacher, but likes the steady income her job provides. The same can be said about her dependable but significant other, dull as most of her students boyfriend, yet likes the idea of steady dating him. When her grandfather dies, Ally goes to the Highlands to settle the estate. There she meets Matt and his teenage daughter. She likes both, but at thirty-five is not sure she wants a man helping her.
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Ally's best friend since they met attending art school together, ad exec Meg Lynch seems to have it all (at least to Ally) with a solid marriage, a strong career and a precocious child. However, Meg envies Ally's lack of ties that enable her to leave town without a looking back even if it is to only attend a funeral. Meg begins an affair that requires lies and alibis until her husband leaves her. Two hours apart, Ally and Meg use CALL WAITING to help one another work through their personal landmines in a quest to obtain nirvana.
Though the story line follows the typical path of chic lit, CALL WAITING is a delightful tale due to the charming but confused lead characters enhanced by a wonderful look at Sydney and the rugged Australian Highlands. The antics and angst of Ally and Meg are amusing though somewhat overkilled, as they seem to land in one problem after another in their quest for happiness. Dianne Blacklock provides an entertaining Aussie chick lit tale.
Harriet Klausner
The review of this Book prepared by Harriet Klausner
