10 of 11 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Escape to the World of Happy Endings, July 26, 2003
Cathy Kelly is a most enjoyable author to read. Her contemporary stories feature likeable women facing problems we can easily relate to, and the characters grow with a lot of self-motivation and help from dear friends. WHAT SHE WANTS follows this pattern beautifully as readers meet Hope, Sam, Virginia, and Nicole and are intimately drawn into their lives.
Hope is a young mother with two small children and a handsome husband she never feels worthy of. Hope lacks the courage of her convictions and meekly adjusts her life to whatever Matt decides, even when it comes to uprooting her family, quitting her job, and moving to a strange town where she knows no one so that Matt can "find himself" and become the author he has always dreamed of being.
Her single sister Sam is a career-driven executive at a major record company in London. She has an impressive resume, money in the bank, a designer wardrobe, but lots of fears as her fortieth birthday arrives.
Virginia is a widow with three grown sons. The unexpected death of her husband Bill leaves her alone and depressed. She struggles with finding the strength to face each day and becomes a virtual recluse until a chance meeting sets a new life in motion for her.
Nicole is young, beautiful, and talented. When a colleague of Sam's discovers Nicole at a karaoke bar, the possibilities of fame and fortune open up for her. But does she have the ability to leave her mother, grandmother, and little sister behind?
You will enjoy spending time with these four plucky women and the friends and lovers who enter their lives. Follow them as they each confront a personal crisis and find fulfillment in unexpected ways.
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7 of 8 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
A Great Feel-Good Book, July 18, 2003
Open Cathy Kelly's newest novel and you enter a world full of characters you would like living in your neighborhood. They instantly warm the atmosphere around you with fresh cooking aromas, English gardens and pets so adorable you'll ache to cuddle them. Curling up with WHAT SHE WANTS is an ideal way to pass the lazy days of summer. It's a great feel-good book.
Hope Parker has a gorgeous husband, Matt, and two children whom she yearns to spend more time with. But when Matt unilaterally makes the decision to uproot his family and transplant them to Redlion in County Kerry, Hope balks at the idea. He argues that he needs the freedom and atmosphere to write the great novel that is bottled up inside him. Always compliant, Hope bites her lip, smiles and agrees. Writer's block isn't the only problem that faces the couple in Ireland.
Hope's sister Sam lives the life of the high-powered businesswoman in London, pushing herself through a daily grind that constantly assaults her physical and mental well-being. It takes a medical scare and a trip to Redlion to make her step back and see herself as those around her do. A surprising change comes into her attitude and, ultimately, her life. What had at first seemed a pesky new neighbor blossoms into an enchanting new male friend. Their verbal sparring lessens, but there are still rocky roads to travel.
Meanwhile, Nicole --- young, beautiful and talented --- has hopes of becoming the newest pop star. Darius, Sam's business colleague, discovers Nicole at a karaoke bar one night and falls hopelessly in love with her and her husky voice. Nicole, feeling her usual responsibility for her mum and little sis, wrestles with her conscience over her newfound love and freedom. She wants to share any success with all of them.
Widow Virginia Connell, a year out from losing her beloved husband Bill, picks up stakes and moves to Redlion, her goals manifold. She wants to cherish his memory, but without painful everyday reminders. And her three grown children and their families worry about her too much. Being a greater distance away, she hopes, will give her the breathing --- and grieving --- room she longs for. Then along comes Kevin, a Redlion widower, and he and Virginia strike up a friendship. The awkwardness of seeing a member of the opposite sex is quickly apparent to both of them after lengthy, happy marriages. Settling into a rhythm with each other proves challenging.
Mary Kate, founder of the Redlion Macramé Club --- a euphemistically named group organized as an excuse for the ladies to get together and indulge in cocktails and frank talk --- is the voice of reason, dishing out sage advice along with her wild martinis. She is the glue when their lives fall apart.
Cathy Kelly has a Maeve Binchy style about her. There is something so wholesome about WHAT SHE WANTS, yet primly erotic, that it's seductive. Don't try to put it down. Hope, Sam, Virginia, Nicole and the Redlion community will beckon from the pages, drawing you deep into their lives, their problems and their joys.
--- Reviewed by Kate Ayers
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1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Comfy Pleasure, October 23, 2007
You know her books are going to have happy endings which is the kind of book I want sometimes. This book, which I think is the best Cathy Kelly book I've read, is full of interesting people who are all connected or become connected in some way. It made me want to move to the town of Redlion in Ireland which is where much of the action takes place.
Cathy Kellys' books aren't literary triumphs--they're sort of middled-aged chick-lit. However, they are entetainment triumphs. I don't think many writers can keep readers interested for over 700 pages like Ms. Kelly can.
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