Roommates Wanted

by Lisa Jewell

Book Overview

1990. Please write and tell me why you should live here.

Toby Dobbs received a big Victorian house with too many bedrooms to count as a wedding present from his father, but his marriage is over within a month. Very alone, and very lonely, Toby posts an advertisement seeking the "Unexpectedly Alone" to become his roommates. Fifteen years later the wayward souls he takes in are still living with him, with no intention of leaving.

2004...

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0061137472
• ISBN13: 9780061137471
• Release Date: March 2008
• Publisher: William Morrow & Company
• Length: 480 Pages
• Weight: 0.87 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.2" x 5.4" x 8.0"

Customer Reviews

Beware!

Same Exact Book As Roommates Wanted! Was Ripped Off! What A Ploy!

Not your typical Brit chick lit!

I thoroughly enjoyed this book. I wasn't sure what to make of it at first, and decided to read this strictly based on the author's past novels. But once I got into the story, I couldn't put it down. The characters in this book are so REAL, so down-to-earth and relatable. The main character, Toby, undergoes a slow transformation throughout the novel on his journey to start living, a transformation that is at times a bit sad -- I felt like I wanted to give him a big hug! :) The other characters in this book, Toby's lodgers, are well-written too - I found myself caring about all of them, and even got a bit misty-eyed when Joanne's backstory was finally revealed. This is not your standard Brit chick-lit novel. It is so much more! With a satisfying, but not tidy, ending. I highly recommend this book!

Sweet & Funny...

I loved this book. It was like a good mirror on my past life - Each Character in this book! I found myself reading this book with an English Accent! It describes the habits of human beings when we get comfortable with "Medocracy". It was a real eye-opener on my own life & a real page turner.

amusing yet deeply touching contemporary tale

In London, thirty-five year old shop girl Leah has lived across the street from Toby for years; although she has seen him about the neighborhood they have never met. Her long time boyfriend abandons her when she mentions marriage. Toby inherited his dilapidated Victorian mansion from his dad fifteen years ago; he rents rooms to loners although he finds them a pain in the butt. Leah is walking outside when she finds long time Toby tenant Gus lying dead outside the mansion. Gus' corpse serves as a matchmaker of sorts as Toby and Leah finally meet. Gus bequests to Toby his ailing cat and a lot of money with the pleading message to clean up his life and make something of him self instead of drifting through life. Toby decides to renovate the Victorian and kick out his assortment of tenants though he does not ask them directly to leave; he turns to Leah to assist him helping these sad losers renovate their lives. This is an amusing yet deeply touching contemporary tale as Toby who gave up on life years ago as being too hard but now suddenly has a second chance. However to succeed he must rid himself of the fully developed eccentric renters. Although he rationalizes his caring nobility as selflessness, encouraged by lonely Leah, he tries to help the others get a life first; in his efforts he gets a life. ROOMMATES WANTED is a terrific character study of dissolution becoming idealism by feeling good about helping others enables the lead protagonist to "start living" again. Harriet Klausner

She does it again!

To sum up in one word what I thought of Roommates Wanted, by Lisa Jewell- WOW! Lisa Jewell is the author of six novels, five of them bestsellers, and grew up in north London, where she still resides with her husband and two daughters. Toby Dobbs, after receiving an old Victorian from his father, and being left by his wife three weeks later, decides to place an ad for roommates. Fifteen years later, although never alone, he finds himself with a full house and still lonely. After a chance meeting with the woman across the street, Leah Pilgrim, Toby finds himself wanting to be more than a brooding poet; he wants to live. Together, they work on fixing the misfit slackers problems and aid them in growing up, so he, too, can do the same. However, this daunting task proves to be no easy feat. Con, still just a boy himself, finds he is falling in love with a co-worker who is vastly ill, and making it difficult to fulfill his plans to save enough money for pilot school. Melinda, Con's mother, is bound and determined to remain with her son at all costs, in an attempt to make up for deserting him as a child. Ruby, who was never forced in to the workforce, continues to live off of her many men while dreaming of becoming a singer/songwriter. And Joanne, who changes in to a different person everyday, is as secretive as she is elusive. Roommates Wanted is a true icon in this genre! It stands apart from everything else. It will take you on a ride filled with love, grief, and humor like nothing you've read. Lisa Jewell's clever and witty dialog will, at times, literally, having you laughing out loud. Don't read this in a library. The characters are charming and believable, even when you want to slap them senseless. You almost forget they're not real. The plot flowed exceedingly well and, even with all the characters, it was not hard to follow in any form. The back stories, plot, characters, dialog; it all wraps itself together in a package you won't soon forget. And, in a way, makes a very sound argument between the fantasy of youth, and the practicality of adulthood. It is a book mixed with real life and dreams that mix so smoothly together you can't put it down. This should, most definitely, be made into a movie. Right on, Lisa Jewell! Or, rather, write on! Kelly Moran, Author and Reviewer

Brilliant

I loved this book, I read it until stupid o'clock every night until I finished it.