2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
Too many subplots..., June 13, 2009
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I found this story to be an interesting read once I got over the way in which the author seemed to be bouncing around in the past and present. However, this is really a good example of women's fiction in that the plot centered around a group of related women's whose lives were at the crossroads and their reaction to the health of the matriarch of the group was reflected in their actions and their reactions to each other's story. The sense of mystery of each's secrets was well played and if you can get through the choppy way inwhich the story unfolds it is well worth the journey
I can't say that I could identified with Izzy but her aunt's story was heartbreaking and one I could indentify with. Because the story was generational there is stor line for every reader. Though the author lives in Ireland and the story takes place if Ireland as its anchor for me it didn't read at all like any of the characters were really Irish, which was a disappointment for me.
This book won't appeal to everyone but if you like long drawn out stories which are interwoven through the lives of women then you might enjoy this book. For me if fell far short of my expectations.
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1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
1.0 out of 5 stars
Skip this Chick lit, August 3, 2009
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This book is so trite it's ridiculous. I have a hard time getting into a book that claims size 10 is plus sized, and that the sized 10 woman is carefree about her eating habits. Yeah, right. I doubt I will finish this book as it's a colossal waste of my time. Do not bother with this book, read Jane Green or Jennifer Weiner instead for much better chick lit.
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1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
Very uneven chick lit family saga, May 7, 2009
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This novel starts out as pure chick-lit, with the obsession over the male love interest, but she is so shallow and Joe is so clearly a deceiving liar we don't like either of the characters.
Jodi the outsider Australian who has moved into the quaint little village of Tamarin (which kept reminding me of a monkey) was more interesting to me than the main character Izzie. Her life is not perfect, but she gets on with it without bitterness or angst.
Annaliese and her husband splitting was totally dull, with the only spark of interest in that story line her life literally being saved by Mac. But the men in this book are all like cardboard, flat and lifeless. If Joe has any real feelings for her in the book, he sure never convinces us.
The only high point of the book is the Lily thread, and her relationship with Jamie, also a married man, like Joe. They tell the same lies to get their women into bed, only Jamie dies, and she meets her husband Robby and presumably learns not only to love, but allow herself to be loved in return.
Joe is just an awful character, and the whole 40 and pining for a child issue has been done better elsewhere. As for a book of Irish interest, nothing, totally flat. They mention Waterford a few times and the town reminds me of Dungarvan, not far from the great big house Lismore Castle, but there is hardly any visual description of the country at all.
So for the Lily story, 3 stars, the rest was neither romance, nor literary fiction. The whole marketing of this story as an Irish girl's tale was also completely misleading. For those looking for real modern romance set in Ireland, try Sorcha MacMurrough or Evelyn Trimborn, for historical romance, Shannon Farrell.
Otherwise, anyone looking for happiness or love in this novel is going to be heart-broken. This was a depressing book in the end, defying or rather jumping genres and not ever getting it quite right.
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