Perfect on Paper by Gillian Harvey is a funny, heartening and totally relatable tale which had me hooked. This is the story of Claire Bailey, a woman who despite being a talented over-achieving solicitor with a husband who’s a rising TV star, two children and a nice house feels as though she has become invisible to her bosses, her family and the outside world. She decides to do something for herself. That ‘something’ had me riveted and desperate to find out what happens next. This is a fun, light-hearted read with a smattering of social commentary and some laugh out loud moments. I think many of us feel that at a certain stage in our lives we become invisible to those around us: talked over, looked over and, in my case, walked into. We blend into the landscape as the generation behind us take centre stage. This book is also something of a tutorial on the power of re-invention and reminding ourselves that we still matter.
It’s not often that I think a book should be made into a film but I think this book’s colourful cast of characters, uplifting narrative and relatability to women of a certain age are the perfect ingredients for a feel good film.
