An Old-Fashioned Arrangement

Henri smiled mischievously. 'Of course one admires a serious woman, but so much good responsible behaviour must be rather depressing.'
Set in Geneva, a rich and gripping story of love and relationships, nicely seasoned with a touch of suspense.
Kim is suddenly adrift in an expensive foreign city with a child to support. She's been trailing dutifully around the world with her unreliable husband Richard, ex army officer turned international businessman, but early one morning he is reported killed in a plane crash in the Indonesian jungle. His shady employers insist she must leave the company-rented house within a month and, with no home in England, she finds herself destitute.
Then wicked old Henri makes a practical proposition. What would you do if you were Kim? How would you cope with the extraordinary dilemmas she faces?

Read the first chapter here


REVIEWS
Katie Fforde. 'An intriguing story of how circumstances can cause the most respectable women to go against type.'

Bella magazine. 'We were hooked by this intriguing suspense novel.'

Derbyshire Libraries 'This book has it all: Good writing and characters, suspense, romance and humour; all combined to ensure it is difficult to put down.'

Post Gazette The novel follows the heroine through her unique trials and tribulations……You are quickly and smoothly swept along with her story. She may have started off gullible, but she soon prove she’s made of stern stuff after all.... Susie Vereker writes easily and simply and her books are difficult to put down. There is no violence, no steamy sex scenes, well, almost none (and sex does play a large part in this 'old-fashioned arrangement') But her characters are real. Here you have a heroine who could live next door….penniless in a foreign country, what are her options?

Courier magazine
A great page-turning read, full of character, romance, culture shock and humour that will appeal of all of us.

An Oxford reader (see Amazon)
This has all the elements a good book needs. Kim, the strong and likeable main character, has to cope .... But this is only the first of the problems she faces, and bravely finds ways of dealing with. The plot is full of surprising developments, making the book very hard to put down. Not only is it exciting, but also very funny. Susie Vereker has a real talent for characterisation.... had me laughing out loud on the bus. The relationships portrayed in the book, both romantic and otherwise, are those of mature adults, with realistic issues. It's a satisfactory novel in every way, and I highly recommend it as a Good Read.

Elaine of Random Jottings wrote a long post ending 'How the tangle is resolved and brought to a conclusion makes for an interesting and thoughtful read. Susie Vereker's style is elegant and flows along nicely, but I feel that the fact that there is a real moral dilemma here could be overlooked, precisely because it is such an interesting story.'

New Books magazine
'As a reading-group read, Kim's moral dilemmas would provide an interesting discussion point. The main characters are both entirely believable and wholly likeable, making this an enjoyable novel which is, despite the serious nature of some of its themes, very entertaining.'

Liz Fenwick put An Old-Fashioned Arrangement among her top five books in 2006. Her eclectic list reads 1. The Thirteenth Tale by Diane Setterfield 2. Life Skills by Katie Fforde 3. An Old Fashioned Arrangement by Susie Vereker 4. The Kite Runner by Kalid Hosseini 5. Any Human Heart by William Boyd.

Here is her review: 'Yesterday I finished An Old-Fashioned Arrangement. I enjoyed the book start to finish. It appealed to me as at its heart is the vulnerable existence of the ex-pat spouse. Having led a global organization of expat spouses this book hit home. Despite many people's preconceptions its not all gin swilling and shopping. Quite the opposite in most cases. The heroine, Kim, is so very much like many of us who have trailed. It highlighted the problems that can arise if you have don't have a plan for the future, left your career behind, or have a spouse who leaves a lot to be desired... I loved the humour in the book. It wasn't in your face but underlined the whole work. The pace of the story never let me down and I was kept glued until the satisfying last page. Even if you haven't lived an expat life I think its an interesting question posed in the book about how far from your "normal" will you push yourself to survive.'

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Bluestalking Reader in the USA writes: 'Once upstairs I saw Susie Vereker's book sitting on my beside table, looking all lavender and inviting, so I grabbed it up and began reading. Surfacing an hour or so later, when the clarion call of dinner rudely pulled me out of my reverie, I knew I'd have to make sure to get back to this book later that evening or I'd simply burst.It took getting through dinner and subsequent clean up, doing one load of laundry and plodding through a workout at the health club before I was again able to take up this book, but, dear reader, pick it up I did! And with relish.'

photos by Nick & restaurant La Perle du Lac (where Kim and Mark have lunch)