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What She Wants
by
Cathy Kelly
Hope Parker is married to gorgeous Matt, has two enchanting toddlers (even if little Millie wants to run the family), and a successful job. But childhood insecurities keep Hope worrying that she's not good enough. When Matt suddenly decides to take a sabbatical from his high-paying ad agency and move the family to a tiny cottage in County Kerry, she agrees despite cru...more
Paperback, 752 pages
Published
July 7th 2009
by Downtown Press
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This is a wonderful read! I was pleasantly surprised at how real-life the characters were and what happens to them is believable like the story of many lives yet it wasn't boring at all, infact it was relaxing and encouraging.
Sometimes I don't pick up the 'thicker' novels because they tend to ramble on and on but this one was the perfect length. I thoroughly enjoyed the story and was happy that there was more to tell. Many characters to relate to and beautiful prose to carry you o...more
Sometimes I don't pick up the 'thicker' novels because they tend to ramble on and on but this one was the perfect length. I thoroughly enjoyed the story and was happy that there was more to tell. Many characters to relate to and beautiful prose to carry you o...more
Good book - a little long and some characters were not nearly as engaging/endearing as others. For example I really enjoyed reading about Hope and her issues in Redlion but when it switched to Sam, her workaholic sister...hmm, not so much - a little too predictable. Overall a good read and because I was cheering for Hope I was able to finish in two days - if she would not have been such a realistic, likeable character I'd probably still be struggling to get through it.
My issue is w...more
My issue is w...more
The whole I was reading this book, I was disturbed by this niggling thought that I had read about these characters and storylines before. Either I had read this book before and forgotten all of it or Cathy Kelly tends to recycle protagonists and story arcs. I think it's highly unlikely that I'd forget a 600-page novel, so I'm guessing it's the second option.
This book is completely harmless. It's a good way to occupy a few hours with becoming overly engaged with the characters or, r...more
This book is completely harmless. It's a good way to occupy a few hours with becoming overly engaged with the characters or, r...more
This was the second Cathy Kelly book I read, and I am not sure I am interested in another. I found myself enjoying this book ok when I managed to sit down and read it, but I had a hard time finishing it.
Kelly was constantly introducing new characters that were going to be around long enough for them to be described and then they were never heard of again. Usually by page 300 I don't want to hear anymore two page long character descriptions.
I did gain a fondness for the li...more
Kelly was constantly introducing new characters that were going to be around long enough for them to be described and then they were never heard of again. Usually by page 300 I don't want to hear anymore two page long character descriptions.
I did gain a fondness for the li...more
Started off nicely but draged a bit at the end. Speaking of the end, it was too ' Happily ever after' and a bit unrealistic. Would have altered the story lines slightly. Hope's story was pretty good and interesting. Liked Sam's too, but it would have been an altogether better story line if her diagnosis was delayed till the very end of the book.
Virginia's storyline went really bad towards the end. One moment you're Reading of her extreme grief and the next she's dating and all in a matter...more
Virginia's storyline went really bad towards the end. One moment you're Reading of her extreme grief and the next she's dating and all in a matter...more
This book looked daunting as it was handed over to me from a dear friend from Kerry, Ireland. She said read this you will find it be thoroughly enjoying. I looked at it as if i would take me a year. I started it on vacation in key west and finsihed sitting at the beach in Beverly. I honestly got so wrapped up in these women's lives and was inspired by them. I was actually sad when it ended. One book I would recommend to every woman i know to read!
First, the dust jacket blurb was a little off, especially in the case of Virginia-the blurb leads the reader to think that Virginia and her husband move to Ireland, but that's not quite the case. But the book was good, but it took just about the whole book for Hope to grow a spine. Made me wish that I could find such a nice group of friends in my own area.
Engrossing and fun, similar to Maeve Binchy. Kelly writes about the lives of several women over the course of a year: some in England, some in Ireland. Their lives all collide in some way and they learn something about themselves and grow in the process.
Chick lit at its mediocre best. I have read other books of hers and I find them all very similar and perfect happy little endings, which i ususally like, I guess I am done with chick lit for a bit now and should try something a little less perfect.
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Its hard for me to not love a book. This one was just kind of long & drawn out and the story wasn't even deep enough to keep me going. It took me almost a month to read this book. When I'm used to reading books this length in 3 or 4 days, that says a lot. Plus the ending (on both sisters parts) were kind of predictable and anti-climatic. In my opinion anyway.
Enjoyed this read by one of my new favourite authors...if you like Marian Keyes, you'll also like Cathy Kelly. Definitely chick lit, and British chick lit as it were.
this is the 2nd book that i read by this author. i absolutley loved it and has quite a few twists in the story which gave me more reason 2 read it in less than a week
1st of Cathy's books that I read and WOW - in a million years I would not have thought this was "my type of book" and yet it is now one of my favorites!
A bit of a departure for me, but I wanted something light. Hopefully I am not reminded why I am so picky when it comes to books...
UPDATE: I finished this over the weekend. It was pretty good. At first the characters were a bit stereotypical, but then they became believable and likeable. By the end, I didn't want it to end and wanted to continue following their lives. This book didn't have amazing life lessons or profound to add to the world but it did underscore the importance of fe...more
UPDATE: I finished this over the weekend. It was pretty good. At first the characters were a bit stereotypical, but then they became believable and likeable. By the end, I didn't want it to end and wanted to continue following their lives. This book didn't have amazing life lessons or profound to add to the world but it did underscore the importance of fe...more
This book was over 700 pages long, it kinda got to be abit too much. Not a fantastic story but not a total loss either
It was ok. Loved the Irish and London settings. The characters were a bit frustrating at times, but it was a quick, fun read.
A good vacation read. Nothing too fancy or amazing, but a good story and of course everything works out in the end.
I gave it 354 pages, and the writing never got better than "meh." Yard sale pile. Someone might like it.
This is the first book i've read by this author and i fully enjoyed it. i'll be seeking more of her books
So I read Someone Like You by Cathy Kelly, which I thought was her debut novel, but apparently is her fourth. I really liked it, but not, perhaps, as much as Best of Friends.
Then I read What She Wants, and amazingly enough, I noticed the trend...all her stories have women (mostly three, but this had more) who're friends, who're finding themselves, careers, and love. Thankfully she's got enough characters and ideas for plot, storyline, etc., to make the pattern new and interesting wit...more
Then I read What She Wants, and amazingly enough, I noticed the trend...all her stories have women (mostly three, but this had more) who're friends, who're finding themselves, careers, and love. Thankfully she's got enough characters and ideas for plot, storyline, etc., to make the pattern new and interesting wit...more
Nice and easy book to read. Cathy Kelly had so many books to choose from - I keep seeing people read her books on the train.. so it was eeny miney mo for me, but I'd like to read some others
Reminiscent of Maeve Binchy without as much angst or infidelity
Hard to get into at first but it was a good read after a while.
so good so far and truly a book about self discovery
Ok, helppoa luettavaa...
A nice gentle read - I would happily look out others by this author
A quick fun read.
Serious chick lit--everything ends nicely in the end, no loose ties!
I can only rate this as 'okay' because although written fairly well, I didn't feel the storyline provided enough to warrant extra stars. It was more one of these 'on-going soap opera' type books. Modern and a bit nothingy if you ask me but a relaxing read if you don't want something to taxing.
Nederlands titel: Wat ze wil! Boek gaat over 4 vrouwen die door omstandigheden vriendinnen worden, elke vrouw heeft haar eigen problemen, vragen en twijfels. Samen komen ze er wel uit. Geestig boek. Leest heel vlot. Mist soms wat diepgang en personages konden nog verder uitgediept worden.
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Novelist Cathy Kelly was born in Belfast, Northern Ireland, brought up in Dublin and started her working life as a journalist in an Irish national newspaper. She worked as both a news and feature reporter, and worked as the paper’s film critic for five years, as well as being the agony aunt for seven years.
Her first book, Woman To Woman, was published in 1997 and was an instant bestsel...more
More about Cathy Kelly...
Her first book, Woman To Woman, was published in 1997 and was an instant bestsel...more
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