Changing Places

Christopher Marlowe's youthful dreams of fame and success haven't quite worked out - unlike those of his notorious, albeit short-lived, namesake. He's a good journalist and had created a niche for himself in Eastern Europe - but the Iron Curtain's been torn apart and his partner, the beautiful and brilliant academic Dr Annabel Grey, is forging ahead with her own more prestigious career, while her maverick right-wing views have made her beloved of the media.
Marlowe was wildly in love with Bel once, but the passion between them died before their first child, Luke, was six months old. He's now a teenager - but habit has somehow kept his parents together and the result is a second child, Caro, that Bel never wanted. A fortnight after giving birth, Bel is back at her desk. Soon after that, Marlowe seems to be slipping from dual-career prosperity to a life on Family Credit with alarming ease...

"Rosamund Ridley portrays the agonisingly unpredictable impediments, and equally unforeseen joys, of life with children with nicely precise observation... This is an interesting and important novel because it draws attention so effectively to the problems that arise when family life is piggy in the middle of two demanding careers" ~ Christina Hardyment, Country Living

Moving, compassionate and hard-hitting, Changing Places is an unusual story of role reversal and contemporary values.