Colin Shone, manager of Waterstone's, Oxford is delighted that the book club has been launched.

The self-confessed bookaholic said:"I'm delighted that we're starting The Oxford Mail/Waterstone's Book Club with Getting Rid of Matthew. It's one of those books that can easily be passed over as a bit of a slight novel.

"In this regard it's very like one of the founders of that terrible bookshop and publishing industry term chick-lit', Bridget Jones' Diary.

However, as with Bridget, it's so much better than that. Easy to read doesn't have to mean badly written. As you would expect from the producer of This Life and Teachers, it's funny, fast-paced and of the moment.

"Helen, fast approaching forty, decides the time has come to start again, this time without a married boyfriend. But getting single again may not be as easy as it sounds. Great stuff!"