What She Wants - Softcover

Kelly, Cathy

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0006514774 ISBN 13: 9780006514770

Publisher: HarperCollins, 2004

Synopsis

The author of the bestselling Just Between Us introduces us to four new special women in a warm and funny novel about facing change in our lives

Do you know what you'll be doing next year?

Nicole, Virginia, Hope and Sam all think they do.

Hope will still be slogging it out as a working mum, snatching quality time with her children, and trying not to burn her husband, Matt's, dinner.

Her sister, Sam, is going to be climbing to the very top as boss of a record label, turning heads and having her photo emblazoned on the business pages as the toughest, most brilliant music mogul around.

Wild child Nicole reckons she'll still be partying with the girls, possibly snogging a guy here or there, and trying not to get fired for using the office phone to organize her social life.

And grandmother Virginia will be affectionately teasing her beloved husband, Bill, for spending too much time on the golf course and not enough walking the dog or cutting the grass.

But what if fate has other plans for them?

Suddenly life threatens to change beyond recognition for the four women, and they each have to look deep inside themselves to find out what they really want if they are to survive the turmoil ahead. And they will discover that a sense of belonging, a loving family and good friends make all the difference.

About this title

Review:

When Matt decides to uproot his family and move to Ireland in Cathy Kelly's novel, What She Wants, his wife Hope has no choice but to go with him. "Needy and pathetically hungry for love", Hope has such a horror of being abandoned that she'll do anything to keep him by her side. But their move to the rural village of Redlion is a far cry from the rustic romantic life that he promised--with Matt spending every day at the local arts centre, Hope has to look after the children on her own for hours on end in their small run-down cottage, miles away from any friends or family. It's not long before she's desperately lonely, their marriage is on the rocks and she's got nowhere to turn.

Back in London, her sister Sam is completely different. Brittle and sharp, she's a mover and a shaker, with a fantastic job as the managing director of a major record label. Having decided she's never going to be anybody's accessory, she oozes a well-practiced unapproachable air. But just as Hope is having to reassess her life and learn to be stronger and more independent, so Sam is forced to reshuffle the pieces of her world, to stop pushing people away and allow herself to be vulnerable.

If you're strong enough to cart this giant of a book about, What She Wants is a great read. Despite the slightly heavy-handed, laboured style, it's a classic page-turner that focuses on real women facing life-changing challenges. What She Wants is the fifth novel by the bestselling Irish author Cathy Kelly, who won the Parker Romantic Novel of the Year Award for her fourth novel Someone Like You. Kelly, a columnist for the Irish Sunday World, openly admits she writes books that she would want to read herself--a winning formula judging by her sales record. --Jane Honey

Review:

'Kelly dramatises her story with plenty of sparky humour' The Times

'Down-to-earth and insightful, her novels are as compelling as Big Brother' Andrea Henry, The Mirror

About this edition

• Publisher: HarperCollins
• Publication date: 2004
• ISBN 10: 0006514774
• ISBN 13: 9780006514770
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 736