This was a swift and easy read, touching on themes of social media, societal expectations and ultimately loneliness. When a stalker emerges, this focuses on the dangers of living out loud and online and in a new place. Wasn't a fan of the ending, however this didn't detract from the enjoyment of the book overall,

Unfortunately, I have not been able to read and review this book.

After losing and replacing my broken Kindle and getting a new phone I was unable to download the title again for review as it was no longer available on Netgalley.

I’m really sorry about this and hope that it won’t affect you allowing me to read and review your titles in the future.

Thank you so much for giving me this opportunity.
Natalie.

I was really looking forward to finally reading this as I am a great fan of Paula Byrne and her non-fiction work. However, I have to say I was disappointed. It was ok but just not my thing.

It took me a while to get into this book, as I found the tone a bit off-putting. However I'm glad I persevered - while I didn't completely warm to the main characters, I did find their story interesting, and as I got into the book I enjoyed the humour. The setting, in two different schools, was also interesting, though it sometimes seemed like the writer was ticking every box in a stereotypical depiction of schools.

There are lots of literary references, which I enjoyed, but also found a little distracting occasionally, possibly because I'd previously read some of Byrne's academic writing. I did find myself getting sucked into the 'mystery' around Lisa's stalker, however while the ending made sense and was satisfying it also felt a bit rushed.

Firstly i commend any author who manages to complete a work and i must say this book isn't a disaster. Its just not really that great, Its main problem tbh is that doesn't make up its mind what it wants to be- Chick lit or suspense thriller, it achieves neither as a result sadly. As this story has a very important message in that, if we' as a society are not careful; social media will become more of a problem and vehicle for menace rather than good.

A story about a couple who relocate for work from town to country, an obsession with twitter and a stalker. Stalking is appalling in any circumstances but this seemed slightly far fetched. An obsession with Twitter??? Ok i get that SM can be addictive but its like the woman- Lisa- has been transplanted out of the 1950s, for all she knows about SM.

This book just didn't sit right with me, but no doubt its speaking a truth to societies move towards this evermore public life.

Look to Your Life is a very clever and disturbing look at the pitfalls of social media. I sympathised with Lisa even though she brings a lot of what happens on herself by her constant posting. What did she expect would happen when she makes every little detail about her private life public knowledge? I really felt for her husband Edward, put into a difficult position by Lisa Twitter obsession. I liked the way the novel is structured with chapters intercut with Tweets and messages. Look to Your Wife has some comic moments but gradually gets darker and darker as Lisa has to cope with a cyber-stalker and consequences of infidelity.

This version of ‘Othello’ is relevant, amusing and intriguing and, unlike the original, keeps us waiting throughout the novel before revealing the Machiavellian engineer of the main character’s ordeal. There are several literary nods to the original drama, not least the handkerchief, the feelings of discombobulation, the close community, the culture clash and the cleverly used quotations.
This novel arose from a situation in which the author found herself. The recipient of some nasty, albeit witty, poison pen letters over many months, Paula Byrne decided to turn the experience of being harassed into her first novel. Rather than copying the tragedy of the original, this novel is more of a social comedy, a genre about which she is so knowledgeable, Jane Austen being one of her subjects. (Byrne is a very well-respected literary biographer.)
‘Look to Your Wife’ captures some of the more unfortunate elements of the current zeitgeist. We are reminded of the dangers of social media and the importance of taking time to meet and speak with real people about both everyday and important issues. However, Bryne also conjures the timeless qualities of human behaviour, both good and bad: witty, snobbish, brave, judgemental, wise and selfish deeds play out as the plot thickens and the suspects multiply. It’s a brave move to make her ‘heroine’, Lisa, culpable for some of the viciousness that comes her way. Indeed, there are times when the reader feels like sending her an expletive ridden PM tweet as her priest friend is wont to do, so poor are some of her decisions.
Paula Byrne’s foray into fiction is a brave attempt to confront the particular nasty experience she has gone through, but it’s more than that. This thriller is well worth reading on a number of levels and I am very much looking forward to her next novel.
My thanks to NetGalley and William Collins for a copy of this book in exchange for a fair review.

I enjoyed this story very much. It shows the perils of social networking, where people you don't know can stalk and troll you, and make your life miserable. Edward Chamberlain has led a charmed life, a scholarship to a really good school, then on to Oxford University. He had intended to become an academic, but didn't want to end up in some remote university, He felt he was one of the movers and shakers of this world. He became a teacher, then housemaster in a good public school. Then he decided that he could do more good in the public sector, and applied for the position of head teacher at St. Joseph's Academy, in Liverpool, a failing school. He was offered the job, and immediately set about making changes, some small and some quite large changes. When the students came back to school they could see the improvements. He laid down a lot of new rules, and made many changes. He insisted on a strict dress code, and a house system. It fast became a school of excellence as the students knuckled down to work hard, and achieve something.

Edward was married to Moira, who absolutely refused to live in Liverpool, Edward was expected home in Guildford every other weekend. Moira did visit a few times, but was unimpressed. Lisa taught Textiles at the Academy. She was twenty three, and had wanted a career teaching the history of fashion, but there were no opportunities on the horizon, so she had returned home to Liverpool. She had turned her PhD thesis into a book, which had minor success. She soon caught the eye of Edward, and they were soon together, having divorced their previous partners.

Eventually Edward felt that he had done all he could at the Academy, and found a new Headship in a minor public school. He and Lisa were expecting a child, and their daughter was born prematurely, with a lot of health problems. She no longer needed to work, but was bored with little to do. This book is really about the problems that can occur when you have too much time on your hands. Lisa experiences many horrors, it shows how social networking and seemingly innocent meetings can cause a great deal of misery. Edward is stalwart in support of Lisa, she is the love of his life. Lisa also realises she has a lot of friends who support her.

And at the end, when all the problems appear to have been resolved we see how easy it is for the spiral of misery to continue. Very much food for thought! Worth reading.

I really didn't enjoy this book, which read like a collection of fashion articles or blog entries on social media that someone was told would make a novel if sewn together as a continuous narrative. I found it particulary annoying when tweets or emails were printed with all the extraneous data like dates and symbols and subject headers and even spam bot 'comments' among normal Twitter or blog comments - for authenticity I presume but it just looked badly-edited.
I persisted to the end, because I have felt guilty when I can't complete a book I received free for an honest review, and I feel bad when I can't provide a review that will be of any use to anyone. I guess there is a twist of sorts at the end which was surprising and thought-provoking regarding a race issue, but mainly I felt such antipathy towards the narrator that I think I was just reading out of spite, to see her hopefully get her come-uppance!

I really liked the description of this book. I feel though that it did not live up to its promises. It was too chick lit for me. DNF

Not a success for me as it seemed just to lack substance. Nothing I could get engrossed in at all and the tweets were horrible. Perhaps too much chick lit which I really was t expecting from the author who I have read quite a bit about.

I had mixed feelings about this book. Most of it was very well observed, and grabbed my attention. But occasionally the story would veer off into (for me) excessive romantic tweeting of literature. I have never read any Laurie Lee, and this book has put me off ever doing so. That aside, the characters in the book were well developed, and believable, as was the story line.
I have always been wary of social media, especially Twitter, and this book played right up to my prejudices. I did not particularly like the heroine, Lisa, but in no way felt that she deserved the nasty letters and tweets that she received. At first it seemed to be a snobbish, misogynist attack on Lisa – which as an aside affected her husband’s reputation – but then it morphed into something much more repellent and sinister. I, like Edward and her friends , Bee and John Misty, could not understand Lisa’s addiction to Twitter: “It’s not real, Lisa. It’s a substitute world for real friendships, real people, real communities. Twitter’s just as full of fake friends as it is of fake news.” Whether or not, Lisa coming off Twitter altogether would have stopped all the trolling is a moot point. But, eventually, Lisa does realise that it has gotten in the way of healthy relationships – “The thing is, Misty, I was too busy for real friends, using Twitter as a substitute for the real thing. I was lonely. But I was too stubborn to make new friends in Blagsford, tarring everyone with the same brush” – leading her to suspect one person after another of the malicious correspondence.
The story becomes increasingly a thriller, as Lisa’s paranoia mounts, with more and more inexplicable (and very worrying) events taking place. You read faster and faster to get to the final reveal. The tension escalates up to an anti-climax: “‘Edward, it’s the banality of it all. That’s what’s so depressing.’ ‘What do you mean?’ ‘*** had no reason to do it.’”
I liked the ending, and would recommend it. For me, I would have preferred that Lisa’s love life were not mentioned, but that may be a positive for other readers.

Having read and admired much of Paula Byrne's non-fiction writing and reviews, I was desperate to love this debut novel. However for me it seemed to be trying too hard to engage too many target audiences, from chick-lit and romantic fiction to whodunnit and more literary fiction. It stepped uncomfortably from the contemporary social media arena to awkward, almost apologetic literary references in various voices, which did not quite ring true. I found it an excellent idea for a novel, and it had an obvious autobiographical resonance, but it needed more rigorous editing to eliminate elements of 'womansplaining', especially about literature or social media, that I found rather irritating. The problem seemed to lie in the idea that her central character was less obviously academic or well connected than her husband and the author (and the protagonist) was keen to contradict or compensate for that. This was a promising first novel with many positives, especially the unusual subject, and I look forward to seeing future novels by this author..

knew when starting the book that it was about social media, but I still expected more of a storyline instead of the boring and incessant tweets throughout the book.

Lisa and Edwards story is: Lisa is a teacher in Liverpool, Edward is employed as the new Head teacher to help bring the school up to a better standards, both are married but when meeting there is an attraction there.

Lisa and Edward marry and Edward wants to move to another school than needs attention, Lisa doesn't really want to move she loves Liverpool and has her family close by.

When moving it is suggested to Lisa she might be interested in joining twitter which then seems to become an obsession to her, which starts the break up in her marriage. Very drawn out story not a very good storyline and very disappointed with the ending.

I have read and enjoyed some of Paula Byrne's biographies so I looked forward to reading her first foray into fiction, but I have mixed feelings about this book,mainly because I found it hard to like or feel any empathy with the protagonist,Lisa.She was so superficial and self centred that by the end I was just very irritated by her!
The book deals largely with the way social media, and in particular Twitter ,can become an obsession and can cause harm when it's misused,and also the way women are trolled . I thought the ending came too fast -everything suddenly wrapped up- and there was a strange part at the very end that seemed to come from a different genre altogether.
So maybe fine for a holiday read ,but I think Paula Byrne is a better biographer than a novelist.

An exceptional fictional debut with innovative narrative:
A fast-paced debut thriller which explores the obsessional nature of social media, in particular twitter, and how the virtual world in which such media operate can impact on reality.
Ambitious Head-Teacher Edward Chamberlain meets and marries Lisa, an Arts and Design teacher and small-time author, whilst turning around a struggling Liverpool School. Edward is of a Public School background, Lisa believes in speaking her mind and is unpredictable. It is her very unpredictability that Edward falls for. He returns to the Public School sector as Head master of a Boys-Only Public School, Blagsford. Lisa struggles to fit in and, despite adoring her ever so cool-headed husband and two young children, takes to social media, twitter in particular, where she has a virtual affair with a surgeon. Much of Lisa's twitter comments are visible to all and trigger a series of anonymous critical letters. Initially both Edward and Lisa don't take the letters too seriously but as the novel progresses they do come to suspect that someone has it in for them. Who is the mysterious stalker and will he or she be caught before they cause real harm to the Chamberlain family?
This is an ambitious book which covers ground not to my knowledge tried elsewhere: a lot of the dialogue is in tweets. And Lisa is a fanatic. She becomes a compulsive tweeter. The pace of the narrative is so very fast, achieved in the main through tweet delivery. And very intelligent ones too. Ms Byrne shows commendable talent with her poetic tweets. An original and highly readable debut with a message for social media addicts. I really enjoyed this novel and am sure readers looking for a novel which is just that little bit different will too.

This is a really enjoyable read. Both witty and humorous, it looks candidly at Twitter and Facebook, which are fervently used by sections of our population and totally ignored by others. The comparisons between pubic and state schools together with the attitudes of both parents and teachers at these schools was accurate.
I enjoyed the different characters introduced by Paula, their quirky ways and their antics. The bookshop, with its cafe and old china was a delight.
OK there was an element of whodunit, but it more important were the conversations and interactions between characters. I loved the frequent references to fashion idols and their clothes.
Well done Paula. What's next?

A story for the modern age and the obsessions with how many people follow your online presence, whether it is Facebook, Instagram or Twitter.
So just what happens when post your life online? Well, for some people you obtain followers that are nasty - ones that ‘troll’. In some ways this is not a new concept - we had other books that tell us how bad our lives can get when get ‘trolled’, but tis book has some nice elements and tells the story well.
Our ‘heroine’ is a fashionista. She researches and tweets about what’s new and hot in the fashion world wearing the top ‘brands’ herself and often posting pictures of herself - of course she has a great figure and is rather lovely - in them, including bikini shots.
And she discovers private messaging on Twitter which serves her well for when she doesn’t want her conversations to be known.
But her twitter feeds get her into trouble with a troll and yet she is so addicted that she cannot stop posting. And this is of course where the moral of the story comes in. Addiction to telling the internet world about every little thing that is happening to you - what your coffee cup has as its foam design, what you ate for breakfast, what you are wearing and of course which brands etc etc. And how difficult it is to wean yourself of the ‘adulation’ from your followers as you post up those photos.
I thought it a good readable style and found the characters believable.

Paula Byrne’s debut novel Look to Your Wife should be read by all Twitter virgins (here I mean anyone who hasn’t yet dabbled in this form of social media). Lisa Blaize the second wife of Edward (a high flying Headmaster) finds her new life at a lesser public school to be in need of social intercourse. She signs up for a Twitter account and it isn’t long before an altogether different form of intercourse is proposed. Her best friends try to dissuade her and it isn’t until her husband finds out that she reconsiders. On Twitter she suffers from Trolls and an anonymous snail mail hate campaign, even a bogus website purported to be written by her, where her shallow life is exposed. Lisa isn’t shallow though, she’s witty, knowledgeable and fun to be around. However, she needs to get to the bottom of who is behind the hate campaign and there are quite a few possible contenders. Personally, I found her friend and fellow book lover Bee to give the most accurate assessment of Twitter life, “It’s a substitute world for real friendships, real people, real communities. Twitter’s just as full of fake friends as it is of fake news.”

Lisa Blaize seems to have it all. She is beautiful, she was a teacher, published a book on fashion, married with a daughter, Emma. She is married to Edward, a high-flyer who goes from strength to strength in his career – teaching. Until he reaches the dizzy heights of headmaster in a public school; and then he is knighted and Lisa becomes, Lady C. There was one blip when Emma was seriously ill as a baby and they feared for her life but fear not, because the handsome and gifted surgeon, Sean, saves the day, and Emma.

Set against this background we witness Lisa firstly based in Liverpool who is finally supplanted to a country town where the public school is based and where she is subject to the rigours of her status as headmaster’s wife which she feels crushes her spirit. That is until she discovers Twitter. It is through this medium that she conducts an affair; where she abandons all caution; where she is uninhibited and where she ignores the advice of her lifelong friend, the priest. Lisa is caught in an addiction.

I can see where Lisa is coming from, I really can. She clearly loves her husband, but boy is he busy. And he is so nice. What a gent! I could have shaken Lisa. Despite all the advice, she just steamed on. ‘No harm in this – I will show them’ was her attitude. But, boy could I see the harm, it came with flashing lights and cymbals. Lisa, Lisa, Lisa! So, don’t ask me if I like her, because I really do not know. There is something endearing about her, but really!

I enjoyed the book, especially the tweets (even if I don’t really get Twitter, and I don’t always understand the acronyms). An enjoyable, easy read; quite amusing. I am sure there will be many who will love it. I liked it, just didn’t love it.

Thank you to the publishers and NetGalley for providing an ARC via my Kindle in return for an honest review.