Is The Master Bedroom a bit chicklitty?

I think if you're writing in that genre you are completley handcuffed to the likeable heroine and the cardboard cutout male who is 'the one'.

I've only read a very few chicklit stories so I'm no expert but they are very formulaic and unfortunetely have a huge readership. I think this genre should be re-classified as women's light comedy fiction. Because those books are really farce/comedy and consequently we bring a different set of expectations to them.

And I do remember the misery memoir which to me is very much wallowing in other people's misfortune.

Is The Master Bedroom a bit chicklitty?

No, I'd say not, despite the title. At least it's not a sex'n'shopping; the main chaacter is 43 and there's a lot about her elderly 80+ mother.

and

depends on whether there are any other reviews which cite that as a reason for enjoying the book.

yes there are those who appreciated the flawedness of Kate, so I think my case (such as it was) is disintegrated.

I would say that sounds pretty much like what used to be called just 'Women's Fiction'.

It all comes back to what we mean by 'unlikeable', doesn't it? Are there expectations for female characters that their character flaws need to be contained within certain parameters, in a way that males don't?

As was pointed out in the interview, Weldon's own main character in Lives & Loves wasn't exactly likeable. She does spout some tosh at times.

Are there expectations for female characters that their character flaws need to be contained within certain parameters, in a way that males don't?

That's probably true. I've observed that, in real life, women are often judged more harshly than men. I can offer two examples which between them prompted me to come to this conclusion: Myra Hindley and Maxine Carr. The former was jointly guilty with Ian Brady of murdering children, but was always treated much more harshly by the press. The latter only made the (serious) mistake of providing a false alibi to a man who turned out to be the Soham murderer, but was treated by many people, press and public alike, as if she was the actual murderer.

So yes, women's flaws are definitely constrained within much tighter parameters than men's.