What She Wants - Hardcover

Kelly, Cathy

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 000226174X ISBN 13: 9780002261746

Publisher: HarperCollins, 2001

Synopsis

The author of the bestselling Someone Like You 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 thought they did.

Hope Parker imagined that she’d be slogging it out as a working mum, trying to fit it in quality time with her young children, and doing her best not to burn her husband, Matt’s dinner.

Her sister, Sam Jones, thought she’d be turning heads in her new job as a managing director of a record label, climbing to very top of the career ladder and having her photo emblazoned on the business pages as the toughest, most brilliant company boss around.

Wild child Nicole Turner reckoned that she’d still be going for wild party nights with the girls, maybe singing a bit of karaoke, possibly snogging a guy here or there, and trying not to get fired for using the office phone to make personal phone calls.

And grandmother Virginia Connell thought she’d still be happily married to her beloved Bill, teasing him for spending too much time on the golf course and not enough time walking the dog or cutting the grass.

But they were all wrong. When life changes suddenly for each of these four women, thay have to look deep inside themselves to discover what they really want in order to survive the turmoil. And they discover that a sense of belonging, a loving family and good friends can 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:

From the reviews of previous novels:

‘A compulsive read’
Woman’s Weekly

‘All the ingredients of the blockbuster are here... a page turner’
Sunday Independent

‘Not only one but two likeable heroines... 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: 2001
• ISBN 10: 000226174X
• ISBN 13: 9780002261746
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 672