Bouquet of Barbed Wire

"Bouquet of Barbed Wire" is a novel by Andrea Newman first published in 1969. The novel was later adapted as a British television series made by LWT for ITV in 1976.

The story follows the middle-class Manson family over one hot summer as it is torn apart by the manipulative daughter, Prue (Susan Penhaligon), who, having just begun University, has fallen pregnant and married an American, Gavin Sorensen (James Aubrey). Prue's father, Peter (Frank Finlay), cannot contain his jealousy and obsessive love for his daughter which may or may not be more than just parental. For his part, Gavin is focussed on seducing Prue's mother Cassie (Sheila Allen), who is more than happy to find a distraction from Peter.

The series was considered highly risque for the time, but was a considerable success. The critic Clive James wrote "by the end, everybody had been to bed with everybody else except the baby."

A sequel, Another Bouquet, was made in 1977 and was actually written for television before being novelised. Both "Bouquet of Barbed Wire" and "Another Bouquet" are available on DVD.

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*imdb title|id=73967|title=A Bouquet of Barbed Wire