Best of Friends [Paperback]

Cathy Kelly (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: February 1, 2005

You can have it all!

Abby Barton's TV career is taking off and now she and her husband can have the life they've always dreamed of in a lovely Irish town -- at least, in theory! But when your husband takes you for granted and your teenage daughter hates you, an adoring old flame can spell danger to your seemingly perfect life. Fortunately, Abby has her friends to keep her sane. For starters, her best friend, Sally, owns a beauty salon, and Sally and her husband throw fantastic parties, where there are still more friends to be made.

Just be sure to share.

Sally's friend Lizzie makes time for everybody: her gal pals, her grown children, even her ex-husband. But when her ex finds someone new, Lizzie can't help but wonder if she'll ever love again. The women are all thrilled to meet Erin, who has moved home to Ireland from Chicago for her husband's new job. But is she cut out for small-town life, and what of the family she left behind years ago? Together and on their own, these four women are about to face highs and lows they never anticipated. Only from each other can they learn that life is for the living and that they need to grab it with both hands....

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

New love, old love, tragedy and skydiving hijinks abound in this ensemble paean to female friendship, a U.K. bestseller from veteran Irish author Kelly (Someone Like You). In lovely Dunmore, Ireland, Abby Barton, the middle-aged star of the surprise hit TV show Declutter, aims to make a better life for her husband, Tom, and shy teenage daughter, Jess, but when an old love resurfaces, she risks throwing it all away. Salon owner Sally Richardson has a wonderful husband and wonderful sons—and then she learns she's got breast cancer. Blissfully married and newly pregnant, Erin Kennedy moves back to Ireland from Chicago; she hasn't been there since she discovered that her mother was actually her grandmother. And Lizzie Shanahan, divorced mother of two, is nearly bankrupting herself by planning the wedding of a lifetime for her self-involved, manipulative daughter, Debra. Kelly should have confined herself to Abby's and Erin's stories: the glimpse of a family struggling in infidelity's wake is heartfelt and moving, and Erin's fear of facing her abandoned family is beautifully drawn. But additional, unnecessary plot lines stuff an overlong book, and paper-thin, unbelievable secondary characters slow the pace (learning of Sally's death, Debra panics that now her mother's nails won't look as nice as her future mother-in-law's). But fans of Marian Keyes will savor this satisfying testament to the power of friendship and romance to soften life's blows and bolster its joys.
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Review

"A compulsive read."

-- Woman's Weekly

"Warm and delightful."

-- New Woman

"Compassionate and compelling."

-- Irish Independent

"A warm and cozy comfort read with a timely message gently delivered: Never take happiness for granted. Cathy Kelly has a very tender heart."

-- New York Times bestselling author Pat Gaffney

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 528 pages
• Publisher: Downtown Press; Original edition (February 1, 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0743490258
• ISBN-13: 978-0743490252
• Product Dimensions: 8.1 x 5.4 x 1.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 15.2 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (9 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #615,998 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Discover books, learn about writers, read author blogs, and more.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

9 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars An enjoyable and easy read, November 3, 2005

By 

Gigi Fufu "gigi fufu" (Michigan) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Best of Friends (Paperback)

Cathy Kelly is known for writing about engaging women characters and following them through the various trials of their lives. She does it again with this book. Her style and choice of topics reminds me very much of the bestselling Irish author Maeve Binchy.

Best of Friends follows four women of different ages as they struggle with families, careers, infidelities, and even death in their small town in Ireland. Cathy Kelly's descriptive storyteling makes you feel that you know each of these women personally. I was attracted to some characters more than others but by the end of the book I cared about them all. She is especially adept at moving from one character to another without ever creating confusion or disjointedness.

If you want a nice leisurely read with a satisying ending then this book is for you.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Comfortable, February 5, 2007

By 

Happeeface "Happee" (Maryland) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Best of Friends (Paperback)

Not a "page turner", but the kind of book you want to read when you burrow into your cabbage-rose upholstered armchair that has the lace doiles on the arms and at the back. I'm a sucker for Irish friendship books which is what this one is. Yes, a bit like Maeve Binchy or maybe like Isabelle Wolff or Marian Keyes after their main characters have grown-up.

You have sweet, naive Lizzie who is stunned when her husband leaves her. Her spoiled rotten daughter demands an expensive wedding that Lizzie can't afford. There's Abby who sort of accidentally fell into hosting a hit TV show, but gets a new boss who decides young stars are better. Abby's 15 year old daughter and her husband aren't as happy with her success and high income as she is. Then, there's Erin who ran away from Ireland when she was 18 because she discovered that her parents who raised her were her grandparents. And then, there's wonderful and wise Sally who owns a beauty salon, has outstanding parties and discovers she has advanced breast cancer.

You get more than your money's worth with this delightful long book. (With this book long is good!)

3 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Refreshing Book, December 26, 2006

By 

E Anderson (Pennsylvania) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Best of Friends (Paperback)

This book goes from happy to sad and back again, it's a little bit emotionally draining. It begins through the eyes of four very different women. Abby, a national TV celebrity; Erin, a young married woman with a troubled past just moving back to Ireland; Lizzie, a divorcé trying to help pay for her daughter's elaborate wedding; and the woman who brought them all together, Sally, a happily married mother of two young boys who recently found out she has a very developed form of breast cancer.

After Sally's death, the three other women attempt to see the positive in their own lives and bond together to pay tribute to their friend.