I really enjoyed Emily Barr's previous best selling novel Backpack. Therefore, I looked forward to reading Baggage. Baggage did start out very promising, but started floundering miserably toward the middle.

The story is about Daisy or Lina (as she is now known) who has been a fugitive for 10 years from England, but now living in Australia with her husband (of three years) and her 10 year old son. Lina is pregnant and living a fairly good life in Ozzyland up until the day she runs into her former best friend Sophie from the UK, who is backpacking through Australia. When her friend recognizes Lina as Daisy, Lina naturally denies being Daisy. But she doesn't fool Sophie who goes back to England to inform her journalist boyfriend, Jerry that she had run into the notorious Daisy on her trip. He of course knows what this story would do for his career

I was thinking of the many possibilities of how this story could have developed. Unfortunately, by the time I got to the middle of the novel I began to wonder whether or not the author had lost all her enthusiasm for writing it. I know I was losing my enthusiasm in reading it. I sensed no direction with a lot of unnecessary false twists and turns, which only annoyed and frustrated me. Furthermore, there could have been more character development. It would have been nice to know a little more about the dynamics of Daisy's family in England and Lina's new family in Australia. I felt nothing for these people and had very little sympathy for Lina/Daisy throughout. For example, I got confusing messages about her love for her husband Tony. I eventually came away with the thought that he was just a safe and convenient cover from her criminal past. In addition, the author never explained why she had such a contentious relationship with her family in England. We never really get to know these people or much about Daisy other than the crime she committed.

The book has two principal narrators which I generally dislike in a novel, especially when one of the main characters are so unlikable as that creepy reporter, Larry. I had no interest in his love or sexual life either. I felt his private life added nothing to the storyline. nevertheless, I carried on hoping perhaps there would be some unexpected developments. But, in my opinion, that never really happens. In fact, when I read the last page I was sure the book gremlins had made off with the last few chapters of my copy. For me, this is a story with no meaningful conclusion.

Moreover, I felt the author didn't really care for the story or the characters in the end and suspected her readers wouldn't either. On the strength of her best selling first novel, she might have signed on with her publisher to pump out X number of new books to fulfill a contract. However, whenever this happens the results are usually disastrous as I felt this story eventually and sadly turned out to be. ( )

This is Emily Barr's second novel and as with her others I was kept guessing until the end. The narrative is split between two characters - one narrated in the first person and one in the third and this gives it a two sided dimension. Baggage has the usual dose of humour and shock value that characterise Emily Barr's novel. A good read. Am however going to endeavour to try some new authors as my book reviews seem to revolve mainly around three or four writers! ( )

Barr does a great job of getting into the psyche of women who run far, far away. ( )