A Promise Between Friends - The Contract Between Writer And Loyal Reader.

A Promise Between Friends is the title of Carol Rivers' latest East End saga, but it strikes me that a promise between friends also sums up the "contract" between a successful author and her or his loyal readers.

Contract? Well, yes. As a reader, you want your favourite authors to provide you with compelling, worthwhile novels on a regular basis. Maybe "contract" is too strong a word. Maybe "agreement" or "understanding" is more apt. But whichever piece of vocabulary you prefer, the point is the same.

We have all experienced the disappointment of a favourite, trusted author's latest book being not as good as the previous ones. Writing a disappointing book can be a one-off, of course, but in my reading experience, it's more likely to signal the start of a writer's going off the boil.

I'm thinking now of a successful thriller writer whose books I read with enormous pleasure for around a dozen years. Then came the day when, near the beginning, I was able to predict an important event that was going to happen at the end - the first time I had ever done so in one of these books. No matter. I still loved reading it, and also the next one the following year. But when I read the one after that, I found myself skipping bits, something I'd never done before with this author. And for me, that was the beginning of the end. Although I have the first 15 books on my shelf, I don't have the others.

When an author has been a part of your reading life for years, it's an unpleasant and sobering experience recognising that the time has come to part company.

Then there's a prolific author of sagas whose books I have enjoyed since she started writing some 20 years ago. The trouble is, she is now churning them out and the plots are strikingly similar. Yes, I still read them, but they don't absorb me to anything like the same degree as her earlier books. Moreover, now I borrow them from the library and no longer buy my own copies to keep.

So what is it that binds an author and reader together? Well, obviously, it's the quality of the books. That's the author's part of the contract. The author promises to write the best, most captivating novel she or he can.

For me, the first writer to fulfil this promise every time was Enid Blyton...

But what about the reader's side of this promise between friends? This is more difficult to quantify. After all, it's the writer's job is to produce the goods, but the reader isn't under any obligation to enjoy the book. I think the reader's side of the promise lies in a willingness to meet the writer halfway, to enter into the world of the book in a spirit of openness and with the assumption of enjoyment.

And yes, the two sides of the agreement are quite different for reader and writer in terms of effort. The writer does all the work in the hope the reader will love the end result. But readers can redress the balance and contribute to the contract by spreading the word about favourite authors and outstanding books.

So, in the spirit of making the most of my side of the bargain, here is my review of the novel whose title inspired this blog.

A PROMISE BETWEEN FRIENDS

by Carol Rivers

published by Simon & Schuster UK

There are some authors who have a tendency to reproduce the same themes and ideas from one book to another - and then there's Carol Rivers. Every one of her novels is different and distinct in its own right and A Promise Between Friends is no exception.