appConfigEntityId

bodyType

customContents

entityId

entityUuid

isVideo

articlePageQuery

article

articleSchemaContent

content

hooksArticlePageAdvertisementConfigArticle

appConfig

filter

json

liveArticle

James Kidd

 Two By Two
by Nicholas Sparks
Sphere
Mothers posting on the popular website Mumsnet have the habit of referring to loved ones through various abbreviations: DC is “darling child”, DH is “darling husband”. I was reminded of this habit at the start of Two By Two, the latest schlockbuster by Nicholas Sparks. At the start of the book, our narrator, Russell Green, is describing the birth of his daughter: “Months later the big IT happened.” For once “IT” is not sex, but what follows if you are not careful. But why so cagey? “I probably should have written it all down while it was fresh in my mind. A day like the big IT should be remembered in vivid detail.” God help us if the ensuing exhaustive detail is Russell low on memory. Two by Two is either a brave exploration of shifting 21st-century gender roles or retrogressive caveman literature dressed up to look sensitive: man earns money, man resents earn­ing money while woman parents; woman earns money, man resents woman earning money while man parents. Not an IT novel, but not complete and utter s*IT either.


Book review: Nicholas Sparks takes on modern parenting

Sparks is either a fearless analyst of 21st-century gender roles – or maybe just a caveman pretending to be sensitive

Magazines

PostMag

Culture

Books

Sparks is either a fearless analyst of 21st-century gender roles – or maybe just a caveman pretending to be sensitive


An assessment or critique of a service, product or creative endeavour.  Film reviews, restaurant reviews, reviews of art exhibitions. (Eg. Crazy Rich Asians: an important film, yes, but a good one?)


Review

.css-1c6uqr6{color:inherit;font-weight:inherit;font-size:inherit;font-family:inherit;line-height:inherit;overflow-wrap:break-word;}Sparks is either a fearless analyst of 21st-century gender roles – or maybe just a caveman pretending to be sensitive

Sparks is either a fearless analyst of 21st-century gender roles – or maybe just a caveman pretending to be sensitive