Just Between Us [Paperback]

Cathy Kelly (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: January 3, 2006

From international bestselling author Cathy Kelly, a heartwarming story of three sisters who are about to discover that -- even within a close-knit Irish family -- looks can be deceiving.

Look at them go!

In the Irish Country town of Kinvarra, the Miller girls are generally perceived to have it all. Single mother and brilliant attorney Stella looks like a Renaissance Madonna and is about to get a second chance at love. TV soap opera writer Tara has just married the love of her life -- the charming Finn -- after a whirlwind six-month romance. And shy, beautiful Holly is living an enviable bohemian life, with artistic friends and a beautiful apartment where her creative talents find an outlet. Have there ever lived three more fabulous sisters?

Now look more closely.

The Miller girls' mother, Rose -- calm, elegant, and unchanging -- is about to celebrate her fortieth wedding anniversary. But as plans for the party of the decade take shape, it's revealed that nothing in the lives of Rose and her daughters is as it seems. And as the secret heartaches the four women have kept hidden from each other begin to emerge, they're set to discover whether they're strong enough to handle the truth -- and whether greater happiness awaits them still.

Editorial Reviews

From Booklist

The Miller sisters are close despite their differences. Stella, the oldest, is a single mother discovering love again with a divorced client. Tara is a successful scriptwriter adapting to life as a newlywed. Holly, the youngest, struggles to overcome her shyness at work and around men. Their whole familial framework is shaken when their devoted mother, Rose, reveals on her fortieth anniversary that she's fed up with her husband's philandering and is leaving him. Kelly interleaves the heartbreaks and triumphs of the four Miller women, effortlessly capturing the challenges women face at different stages of life. Readers will find it easy to relate to the engaging, realistic characters. Though the novel treads on some heavy territory--including divorce, adultery, depression, and alcoholism--it never becomes overwrought, and the happy endings don't seem tacked on. Kelly offers a refreshing, honest approach to romance that readers will appreciate. Aleksandra Kostovski
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

Review

"It's easy to see why Kelly is such a success.... She has a gift for revealing the humor in life's most challenging moments."

-- Kirkus Reviews

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 544 pages
• Publisher: Downtown Press (January 3, 2006)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0743490266
• ISBN-13: 978-0743490269
• Product Dimensions: 8.3 x 5.2 x 1.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 15.2 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (18 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,020,632 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

11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars ENJOYABLE READ - add this one to your bag of "summer reads", March 3, 2005

By 

Donna J. Alspach (Anchorage, AK USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Just Between Us (Paperback)

If you enjoy reading Rosamund Pilcher and Maeve Binchy, you will enjoy this book. Unlike Pilcher and Binchy's books, this story is set in present day Ireland. In the Irish country town of Kinvarra, Rose and Hugh are preparing to celebrate their 40th wedding anniversary. We meet their children, Stella, single mother, Tara, newly married and Holly, youngest of the three daughters. We also meet a number of other people, both "straight laced" and very modern. Characters in this book are enjoyable and most important believable. The plot flows smoothly. I am looking forward to reading more books by Cathy Kelly.

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars GREAT!, March 16, 2007

By 

E Anderson (Pennsylvania) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Just Between Us (Paperback)

I love this book! All of Cathy Kelly's books give the point of view of a few different people and it keeps you so interested. The main characters this time were that of a well known family in a small town. Rose, the matriarch is just approaching her 40th wedding anniversary and has kept the fact that her husband unfaithful to herself for almost all of the 40 years. Her oldest daughter, Stella, is raising her young daughter on her own and is just falling in love for the first time since the birth of her daughter. Rose's middle daughter, Tara, is blissfully newly married, or so she thought. Tara is struggling through her whirlwind marriage and learning her husband has a few secrets of his own. And Rose's poor youngest daughter, Holly, has a lack of self confidence all stemming from Rose's own problems when Holly was a baby.

It's such a good book that takes you into the minds of each of the woman and they gain control of their lives.

9 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Lovely Irish Family Tale, November 4, 2006

By 

Wendy Kaplan (Houston) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Just Between Us (Paperback)

Cathy Kelly is someone I had never read before, and I'm anxious to see what else she has written. She started with a funny and self-deprecating dedication to all the people who kept her going and helped her to keep on track in finishing the book, and you would never know it, because it held my complete interest for well over 400 pages.

The story of a modern Irish family of three grown women and their parents, Just Between Us is as contemporary as it is heartwarming. Rose and Hugh Miller are about to celebrate their 40th anniversary. Rose is still lovely and a pillar of her circle: charity work, gracious parties, committee attendance, and all the rest. Affable Hugh, well-off and from an old monied family, is equally charming. But is something wrong beneath the surface?

Daughter Stella is divorced with one winsome daughter, Amelia. A successful attorney, Stella shuns all men, preferring to give her daughter a stable life instead. But Stella is young and beautiful--can this last? Middle daughter Tara is a writer on one of Ireland's most successful soap operas. She is madly in love with her husband Finn, whom she married after only 6 months of courtship. Now, she is learning things about Finn that could tear them apart. Youngest daughter Holly sees herself as fat and unattractive, not realizing her beauty and appeal. A sweet, funny and smart woman, she lives in a flat with two fun friends (funky designer and gay fashionista) right across the hall. They cook, hang out, and confide. Until a handsome male stranger moves into the flat one floor above...

Told with compassion, humor and a bit of sass, Just Between Us is a great book to read on a weekend day when it's too cold outside to rake the leaves. Yes, it has a happy ending, and no, I won't apologize for loving the heck out of it.

Highly recommended!