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The Understudy
On sale
28th March 2005
Price: £9.99
Selected:
ebook / ISBN-13: 9781848944008
***Pre-order David Nicholls’ new novel YOU ARE HERE now – Coming April 2024***
A COMIC MASTERPIECE BY BELOVED BESTSELLER DAVID NICHOLLS
A scintillating comedy of ambition, celebrity, jealousy and love
‘Irresistible’
DAILY MAIL
‘Wonderfully chaotic’
THE TIMES
‘Delightful’
OBSERVER
‘Brilliant’
GOOD HOUSEKEEPING
‘Funniest book of the year’
MARIE CLAIRE
For Josh Harper, being in show-business means everything he ever wanted: money, fame, a beautiful wife and a lead role on the London stage.
For Stephen C. McQueen, it means being stuck with an unfortunate name, a hopeless agent and a job as understudy to Josh Harper, the 12th Sexiest Man in the World.
When Stephen falls in love with Josh’s clever, funny wife, Nora, things get even more difficult. But might there yet be a way for Stephen to get his big break?
ONE OF BRITAIN’S MOST ACCLAIMED WRITERS
‘One of the most astute chroniclers of England as it is now’
FINANCIAL TIMES
‘An uncanny ability to make us laugh out loud, but also care passionately about his characters’
DAILY TELEGRAPH
‘Nicholls writes with such tender precision about love’
THE TIMES
‘No one else writes novels that are both relatable and revelatory in the way he does’
EVENING STANDARD
‘Genuinely brilliant’
NEW STATESMAN
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Reviews
Bitterly funny
A comic genius
Darkly funny and oddly romantic.
An unusual mix of cynicism and romance - no slush, just lots of laughs!
A brilliantly funny book.
Hugely entertaining with a high ratio of chuckles and snorts per chapter.
I adored THE UNDERSTUDY. It's a fantastic comedy ... delightfully written.
A funky, less-fluffy-than-funny rom com.
Deeply funny, with brilliant dialogue.
Sweet and funny.
Book of the Month
Highly enjoyable ... both knowing and charming.
Both hilarious and heartbreaking.
I laughed a lot
Moving, wickedly observed, warm, uplifting and above all blindingly funny, STARTER FOR TEN hits the spot time after time. Read this book
Brilliant... we would recommend it to anyone
Funniest book of the year
'Romantic comedy with a charming British accent....plenty of material for screwball hilarity... His prose is laugh-out-loud funny... This jaunty, big-hearted novel is chick lit with a Y-chromosome.'
Brilliantly written and very funny
The set pieces of social embarrassment are neatly threaded together, and there are some well-crafted tender moments too... It could hold its own against a Richard Curtis script
The humour is authentic and perfectly pitched.
I adored The Understudy. It's a fantastic comedy . . . delightfully written
A zippy comedy with laugh-out-loud lines, grounded on a solid plot and first-rate dialogue . . . irresistible
Sharply funny . . . wonderfully chaotic
An entertaining follow-up to Nicholls' brilliant debut
This bitterly funny book is a delightful reminder of how much acting we all do in the name of love
Darkly funny and oddly romantic
An unusual mix of cynicism and romance - no slush, just lots of laughs!
Hugely entertaining with a high ratio of chuckles and snorts per chapter
A funky, less-fluffy-than-funny rom com
Deeply funny, with brilliant dialogue
Sweet and funny
Highly enjoyable . . . both knowing and charming
Funniest book of the year
Jaunty, big-hearted . . . Romantic comedy with a charming British accent
Brilliantly written and very funny
The set pieces of social embarrassment are neatly threaded together, and there are some well-crafted tender moments too . . . It could hold its own against a Richard Curtis script
The humour is authentic and perfectly pitched