Picking Up the Pieces [Mass Market Paperback]

Mary Sheepshanks (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: October 15, 1999

Kate is in her fifties, recently widowed, and coping with the difficulties--and occasional pleasures--of flying solo. But when her daughter Joanna's husband walks out, and Joanna instantly assumes that Kate will step into the supporting Granny role while she goes career and man-hunting, Kate realizes it is time to step outside her family's preconceived expectations--with devastating results. What follows is a delightful story of the relationships and unspoken power struggles between four generations of women.

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

Fiftysomething Kate Rendlesham has spent the majority of her life keeping up appearances for the sake of her family and her powerful, if philandering, husband. After his death, however, she feels herself stretching toward a new identity that has nothing to do with being the wife of the late Oliver Rendlesham. Armed with her embroidery skills and some newfound courage, Kate embarks on a new life.

Though convincing herself of her abilities is her first trial, nothing is as difficult as overcoming the skepticism of her peers and the misplaced resentment of her daughter, Joanna, and her granddaughter, Harriet. Having relied on Kate as an ever-available babysitter, Joanna sees her mother's actions as an ill-fated and selfish mid-life crisis. And while Harriet understands Kate's motivations, she aches for a nurturing intimacy that the stiff Joanna cannot provide. Struggling to defend her new independence, Kate finds inspiration in an enchanted observatory and its handsome owner, Jack Morley.

Posing as the groundskeeper, Jack invites Kate to live in the observatory in exchange for her managing its renovation. Kate discovers in Jack someone "with whom it was so easy to communicate that she felt as if they shared their thoughts before they had even put them into words." But the intensity of their feelings makes her discovery of Jack's secret past deeply painful. Grappling with her mixed emotions, Kate offers little support to Joanna as her fragile marriage Crumbles and to Harriet before she drifts into angry estrangement. As Kate, Joanna, and Harriet each face broken relationships, they must learn to pick up the pieces and create a new future.

From the navel-piercing teenager to the exotic grande dame, Mary Sheepshanks shows a keen eye for human behavior in Picking Up the Pieces. Rich description and dialogue make the rural English setting feel familiar, even for those of us who don't own cottage farms or drink afternoon tea. Readers of all ages will be able to empathize with these three women as we follow them through life transformations, and the wit and humanity of this multi-generational story will endure through multiple readings. --Nancy R.E. O'Brien --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Publishers Weekly

A recent widow's attempts to embark on a self-sufficient life give rise to a host of amusing and unexpected turns in English author Sheepshanks's assured, well-crafted third novel (after A Price for Everything). Fifty-ish Kate Rendlesham, widow of the brilliant, overwhelming Oliver, encounters resistance from her headstrong daughter Joanna and needy granddaughter Harriet when she finds the perfect, magic little house that starts her off "without Oliver's dynamic presence to fill her life." Support for her plans begins to surface: friends who've been asking her to launch her own line of needlework designs get her thinking, while the intriguing caretaker of the house arouses her interest. The owner of the house turns out to be "Just Jack," a fabulously rich and wonderful man with whom she falls deeply in love while trying to keep her daughter's marriage afloat, her granddaughter from killing her daughter and the members of her social circle from seeing how much her much-admired husband was unlike the person they thought they knew. For it seems Oliver had an awful secret; unfortunately, Jack may have his own secret, equally as bad. Has Kate gone from the frying pan into the fire? Sheepshanks draws well-shaded characters and exhibits a firm grasp of family dynamics while managing to keep the novel's romance element grounded and real.
Copyright 1998 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Mass Market Paperback: 336 pages
• Publisher: St. Martin's Paperbacks; 1st edition (October 15, 1999)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0312970374
• ISBN-13: 978-0312970376
• Product Dimensions: 6.7 x 4.2 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 7 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (11 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,466,446 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

20 of 22 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A Delightful Piece of Fluff, January 12, 2000

By 

Elaine Golin (Brooklyn, NY USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Picking Up the Pieces (Hardcover)

This is a one of those truly enjoyable light novels -- especially for those who love stories about English "society" -- with lots of distinctive characters, juicy plot lines, and happy endings all around. While the genre is somewhat like that of Rosamunde Pilcher or Maeve Binchy, overall I'd say Sheepshanks' writing is livelier and fresher than some of her cohort. I definitely recommend this book for a fun, upbeat read.

12 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Sheepshanks at Her Best, January 29, 2001

By 

Wendy Kaplan (Houston) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Picking Up the Pieces (Mass Market Paperback)

What is it about Mary Sheepshanks that makes it impossible to put her books down? It must be the enchanting blend of reality and humor that gets me every time. Like her other heroines, Sheepshanks' Kate is a no-nonsense, "let's get on with it and cope with life" typical British character. But beneath that strength lies a vulnerability that grabs the reader's heart.

Kate's reactions to her lovely son and daughter-in-law, her strong-minded, bird-watching mother-in-law, her difficult and sometimes nasty daughter Joanna, and her enchanting granddaughter Harriet, all reveal different sides of her complicated personality.

Just when we think she's a typical dull countrywoman, Kate reveals her penchant for design, and a strong artistic talent that makes her needlework highly prized. Just when we think she's something of a prude, whose sexual feelings died with her philandering husband, she becomes strongly attacted to Jack, a newcomer with his own secrets.

The mixture of pathos, romance, good old British common sense, and sometimes uproarious humor (I found myself laughing aloud on the commuter train home one night) make this a good, comforting, and delightful read, especially if one is feeling too beleagured to tackle something heavier.

15 of 17 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A Nice, Easy Read, June 9, 2001

By 

Tracey A. Nettell (Houston, Texas, USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Picking Up the Pieces (Mass Market Paperback)

"Picking Up the Pieces" is an unashamedly romantic novel set in modern-day England. There are a good variety of characters who all have their hidden secrets which the author uses to keep the reader turning the pages. I particularly enjoyed the main theme of the novel - that being that too many families assume that once a women is widowed, her life is basically over. Kate's family have a hard time dealing with the fact that a year after the death of her husband (who we learn has been far from the ideal spouse) she is out and about socially, has discovered a talent which she can translate into a profitable business, decides to move house and meets and falls in love with a wonderful man who can fill all the emptiness that is inside her. Kate really comes into her own at a time when others believe she should be sitting by the fireside with her knitting. This was a light read but a very, very enjoyable one.