Something Good (Red Dress Ink Novels) [Paperback]

Fiona Gibson (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: April 1, 2008 | Series: Red Dress Ink Novels

Shy and insecure all her life, fifteen-year-old Hannah finally feels as if she belongs. She acts in the theater club production and hangs out with a super-kissable boy, and her new best friend, Zoe, has turned her on to clothes, makeup and nicking lipsticks for fun. It's great. Of course, her unbearable mother, Jane, is unimpressed with all this behavior...especially the night she has to bail Hannah out of serious trouble.

But who's behaving badly? On a trip to a remote Scottish isle the tables are turned when Hannah discovers her mom's hiding a startling secret. With everything up in the air--even the self-proclaimed rebel Zoe is having strange episodes of conscience--something good surely must be lurking in the chaos.

--This text refers to the Kindle Edition edition.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

It's all good in Gibson's luminous portrait of a splintered family that still remains connected in spirit. After Jane Deakin catches husband Max cheating on her, she separates from him and she and daughter Hannah move out. Ten years later, Jane and Max are still not officially divorced, Jane works in childcare while nursing a stained glass sideline, and 15-year-old Hannah is a budding thespian with a crush on Ollie, a fellow workshop actor. As Max begins exclusively dating Veronica, a posh neighbor (with two children near Hannah's age, Zoë and Dylan), Jane decides to attend a stained glass workshop led by an artist she admires in Scotland. Jane takes along Hannah and Zoë (who teaches Hannah the charms of minor teenage rebellion) plus Jane's mum, Nancy, for an unexpectedly transformative experience. Gibson (Lucky Girl) lightly but perceptively handles both adult and adolescent characters, making this a great book for both mothers and teens.
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From Booklist

British author Gibson follows Wonderboy (2005) and Lucky Girl (2006) with a mother-daughter tale. Jane Deakins took five-year-old Hannah when she left her husband, Max, after finding out he cheated on her. Ten years later, Jane and Max have managed to stay friends, but teenage Hannah has discovered her rebellious side. She has met a handsome boy named Ollie and has been sneaking off to see him, but things really come to a head when she becomes friends with Max’s girlfriend’s daughter, Zoe, a girl with a shoplifting habit. Jane is concerned about her daughter and the growing distance between them, and is also surprised to find herself jealous of Max’s new girlfriend, the glamorous Veronica. Deciding she needs something for herself, Jane signs up for a weeklong stained-glass class up in Scotland with a master instructor. Jane finds herself attracted to the instructor’s handsome assistant, but a night of passion with him has unexpected consequences. Gibson’s novel is more unpredictable and realistic than most chick-lit fare. --Kristine Huntley

Product Details

• Paperback: 346 pages
• Publisher: Red Dress Ink (April 1, 2008)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0373895577
• ISBN-13: 978-0373895571
• Product Dimensions: 7.8 x 4.9 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 9.6 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 3.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,056,521 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Zzzzzzzzzzzzzz!, December 29, 2008

By 

J.L. Cocca "Bookworm for Life" (New Jersey) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Something Good (Red Dress Ink Novels) (Paperback)

I really hate to give anything a review as bad as I'm about to give this one. But seriously, If I could give this "no stars" I would do it. The characters are wishy-washy, unsympathetic and boring. And the framing of this novel is so slow that I fell asleep every time I picked it up to try to read it. It's a miracle that I finished at all.

Don't waste your time or money on this book!

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Single mother, teenage daughter and new baby are something good, August 10, 2008

By 

ken liebeskind (new york city) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Something Good (Red Dress Ink Novels) (Paperback)

Something good for Jane Deakin turns out to be a new baby, which is born after a one night fling with a man she met on a Scottish isle, where she went to learn about stain glass design. The new baby disrupts relations with her 15 year old daughter, Hannah, but Han eventually comes round and the novel has a happy ending, with Jane, her four month son, Luke, and Han about to move into a new house. The novel began when Han was 5 and she and Jane moved into another new house, which Jane found when her marriage w/ Max broke up. Max owns a bike shop, which seemed to run a spoke into his marriage w/ Jane. They remain friends after their breakup and don't even get divorced, but they go on to lead their own lives. Max moves into another new house and starts an affair with Veronica, a beautiful neighbor, whose daugher Zoe becomes Han's best friend. Then her son, Dylan, who has artistic talent, does, and Han is even happier. The lives of Jane, Han and to a lesser extent Max, make the novel go. It's very good contemporary fiction, with moterhood and the teenage lifestyle beautifully portrayed in a smoothly flowing story.
I was intrigued by Gibson's Lucky Girl, where the main character is another single woman who teaches flute. Jane Deakin follows in this tradition which has elevated Gibson to one the best contemporary British novelists.

5.0 out of 5 stars well written extended family drama, April 2, 2008

By 

Harriet Klausner - See all my reviews
(#1 Hall OF FAME REVIEWER)    (TOP 1000 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Something Good (Red Dress Ink Novels) (Paperback)

Jane Deakin is stunned when she sees her beloved husband Max cheating. Despondent as she never saw it coming, Jane moves out taking their five years old daughter Hannah with her.

A decade later, Jane and Max remain separated but legally married. She works in a childcare center but hopes to make a living with her stained glass hobby. Hannah wants to be an actress and has a crush on workshop peer Ollie. Max is seeing Veronica, a single mother with two teenage children, Zoe and Dylan. Jane, accompanied by her mom, daughter and Zoe, travels to Scotland to attend a stained glass workshop where Jane finally finds her groove.

The key to this well written extended family drama is the strong cast; everyone that matters seems real especially with how they interrelate with one another. For instance, Jane is a well behaved teen until Zoe mentors her on Minor Mutiny 101 while Zoe and Dylan have sibling rivalries; and Dylan and Jane are attracted to one another. Jane is terrific as the center holding the story line together even as she is falling in love with Conor the Scot, but it is the support characters who make SOMETHING GOOD out of Fiona Gibson's fine contemporary romance.

Harriet Klausner