Behind Her Back

After a slightly slow start, this gradually drew me in and became so gripping that I read the last half in one-sitting! The story is episodic rather than having an over-arching narrative arc and reminded me of a soap-opera with lots of mini story-lines interweaved together: the return of a TV host after having a baby, the awful new employee, Liz's return to dating. Less enticing is the ongoing dispute Liz has with a dodgy builder and I started skipping those scenes.

Lythell makes full use of her technical knowledge so that often this feels like a fly-on-the-wall documentary of behind-the-scenes life at a morning TV show.

What I liked most, though, is that this gives us a main female character who is a rounded adult: she is neither infanticised as women can be in fiction nor imbued with super-human detective skills or similar: Liz is incredibly normal - she is very good at her job without being obsessed, she has friends, she goes out, she looks after her work team, she's a decent mother who's not above take-outs, and it's so refreshing to meet a competent woman who juggles and gets on with life.

Less successful are some of the other characterisations, especially that of the love-to-hate Lori who is so monstrous that she becomes almost cartoonish and it's impossible to believe that anyone quite so obnoxious, aggressive, downright stupid at times, with no self-awareness and few people skills could ever get to be a sales & marketing director and hold down a job anywhere!

The writing is unobtrusive and frequently feels more like diary entries than a connected narrative as Liz doesn't seem to know what happens next so that while it's not written in the present tense, there is a sense of contemporaneity about it all.

I didn't realise that this is the second book in a set but there's no problem reading this as a standalone and the back histories of characters are intimated without clunkiness. Overall, this is a bit like intelligent chick-lit: it has all the lightness and pleasure while losing the silliness.

behind the scenes on a morning tv talk show... whats not to like! the lies, betrayal, friendships and rivals... this book has it all. thanks to netgalley and Head of Zeus for a copy of this book to read and review

Actually 4.5 stars.
This is book two of a series so, as always, it is best to read book one first. Even though the main threads contained herein are, mostly, complete, as it is very character driven, some of whom have complex histories, to get the very best from it I would really recommend that you do read Woman of the Hour first.
We pick up where we left off, with Liz still the Head of Features for StoryWorld, a daytime magazine type show. She is also still trying to juggle this with all the rest of the things going on in her personal life, most notably her daughter, her ex-husband, and new to the equation, a bit of a rogue builder who has failed to fix her patio doors. If that isn't enough to contend with, there's a new face at work, Lori, employed directly by the station owner she swiftly inveigles herself into all aspects of the show, most of which being well beyond her job description (sales and marketing) and, well, basically makes the rest of their lives pretty much a living hell as sides are taken, lines are drawn and telling tales becomes a fine art as Lori aims to undermine Liz at every turn. But, as we know and remember from book one, Liz is not a woman to mess with. Expert at people managing, ego massaging, and not above a bit of duplicitous behaviour herself, she really goes all in here to restore calm. Well, as calm as life at StoryWorld ever gets!
The gang all returns here, their characters (both good, bad and somewhere inbetween) already established from book one, all continue to mature and develop along the way in this sequel.
One of the things I really love about this author's work is her characterisation. She gets right down to the nitty gritty straight away in this book with the clashes that flow throughout. Most noticeably between the two main presenters, aided and abetted by their agents. Talk about egos! As mentioned in my review for book one, with as many larger than life characters in the book, there is always a danger of them becoming caricatures but, like the series opener, the author just manages to stay mostly on the right side of things here too, at times though I have to say that Lori does skirt that line a tad at times.
Again, like the opener, there is also a lot going on in this book. There are many smaller stories that go hand in hand with the main one which makes the book a bit episodic in nature. This could have got a bit disjointed but the author manages to weave them all together in a way that the whole book just flows nicely along. Some of which are quite topical and current to what is going on in the real world. Most notably what is going on with Flo (Liz's teenage daughter) as she grows up and starts to worry about what her peers think of her, one of her colleagues endeavours to find somewhere to live, and more obviously, the attitudes around a single mother returning to work after having her child and the media's interest in "who's the daddy?"
Liz takes all this in her stride and manages to hang on to all that is going on in and around her as she also embarks on a new relationship herself. Talk about a fully loaded plate! But she manages this in a very real, down to earth way, using the skills she already has to pour oil on the troubled water around her in very credible ways. She most definitely comes across as a very real character; warts and all.
Fast paced and with a good injection of emotional content, at times also rather funny, occasionally akin to a car crash - you don't want to watch but you can't look away - this book kept my attention firmly throughout as I got a wee bit over involved at times; shouting at the characters and wanting to bang several heads together. I raced through it start to finish in only a couple of sittings.
All in all, a cracking follow up, making this a series that is now firmly planted on my watch list. I can't wait to see what shenanigans the author comes up with for book three.

My thanks go to the Publisher and Netgalley for the chance to read this book.

I loved this so much. I didn't realise it was a follow on to Woman of the Hour but it read fine as a standalone. I did however, immediately go and buy the first book as I enjoyed this so much. Fantastic characters both likeable and dislikable. I loved the main narrater Liz. She is a wonderful character - a normal woman with a great but demanding job, a single mother to a teenager and a shoulder for many of her colleagues. I would go for wine with this lady! This is not a drama with a 'twist' but a really entertaining, cleverly written almost diary of a woman in a tough working world with office politics, rivalry and humour. I would love a Book 3 and 4....... A lovely read.

I have really enjoyed all of this author's books. I think she has a brilliant writing style where there isn't an over reliance on speech, nor of descriptions, it is the perfect balance. Her stories are written so well you feel like a fly on the wall. With this, it felt a memoir rather than a novel it was so good. It had me turning page after page long into the night. It felt as if the ending was a bit abrupt. I hope that's because there's (a lot) more to come.
I hope to never work in such a toxic environment- but I loved the ways of coping with it - baking and walking and the garden.
Simply excellent.