"'Can't bloody well be bothered unless for something special... or rather someone special.'"
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Bloody Well Bothered by Michael Lindsay-Parkinson Trafford Publishing
book review by Susan Illis
Fearing he might be in the midst of male menopause, fifty-eight-year-old Will Armstrong-Travers, on a whim, stops by the gallery of Candide Brown, who surprises him by announcing she needs a male nude model. Their initial lust segues into a deep and abiding affection, culminating in marriage shortly after that first encounter in her studio.
Will, despite near-constant claims that he cannot be bloody well bothered—by anyone or anything—is remarkably successful and well-liked. As the proprietor of Grilsethwaite, a large estate in England's Lake District, he wields enormous local influence. As executive with a family-owned insurance business, he enjoys incredible wealth.
Ostensibly a novel about poachers in the community, Will and Candide's May-December romance transcends the rather convoluted one concerning poachers. After years of being a widower and single parent, Will is ready to welcome Candide into his life, and fortunately, his fourteen-year-old daughter does not object. Other than the subplot concerning the poachers, this makes for a pleasant, if not completely realistic, read.
With its beautiful setting, very likeable characters, and habits foreign to an American reader (unabashed smoking, for example), Bloody Well Bothered is a fabulous form of escapism. An endless supply of secondary and tertiary characters are difficult to track, but ultimately irrelevant, with Will, Candide, and daughter Judith outshining the rest. Lindsay-Parkinson does not provide full closure, leaving the door open for a sequel to this enjoyable book.