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Easy Connections (Cathy #1)

4.18 of 5 stars 4.18 · rating details · 104 ratings · 13 reviews

'No more exams. No more boring holiday work. Just two blissful weeks painting in the country - then, art college at last. Just paint, paint, paint!'

Cathy Harlow is a gifted painter. She is seventeen and three glorious years at art college stretch blissfully ahead of her.

But when she meets Paul Devlin, lead guitarist of the rock group Easy Connection and a millionaire super...more

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Jun 06, 2009 Katie(babs) rated it 1 of 5 stars

Shelves: gag-worthy-book

This book has become a cult classic in a way and is marketed to young adults. Yes, the subject of rape is controversial, but the way the author handles it is very wrong and plain disturbing. Berry makes it okay to rape a young girl because the rapist is a handsome rich rock star. And when her brother agrees that the victim wanted it and calls her a whore, this is when this book gets thrown against the wall.

It all starts when 17-year-old Cathy Harlow is drawing cows in a field. She wants to beco...more This book has become a cult classic in a way and is marketed to young adults. Yes, the subject of rape is controversial, but the way the author handles it is very wrong and plain disturbing. Berry makes it okay to rape a young girl because the rapist is a handsome rich rock star. And when her brother agrees that the victim wanted it and calls her a whore, this is when this book gets thrown against the wall.

It all starts when 17-year-old Cathy Harlow is drawing cows in a field. She wants to become a painter. Two men find her there and drag her back to their house. One of them is Paul Devlin. He is an angry and vain individual along with his band mate Chris who was the first one to spot Cathy. Chris wants her also. They are in a band called Easy Connections and are loved by England and beyond. They both decide through vindictive matters who will get this naive and innocent girl. They think she is a groupie, which the reader knows right away is not true. For some reason Dev and Chris have no reason not to believe her. Cathy ends up with Dev and he rapes her. Cathy runs away hoping to forget the whole ting. She never goes to the police or a doctor or anything of the sort to handle this trauma. Dev decides he wants Cathy to the point of obsession and practically wants to own her soul.

Cathy tries to get on with her life by going to art school and almost falling in love with a boy there. But then Dev finds her again and to make matters worse she finds herself pregnant. Dev stalks her and people begin to side with Dev (mainly because he has money and is loved by millions). The outcome is shocking and leaves the story open for a sequel, which Berry has written called Easy Freedom.

The way everything was handled in this story was just plain wrong and gives the impression just because a man is rich and beautiful, etc... it will give him the right to do whatever he wants, including violating a young girl. Cathy is close to stupid and ignorant from the point she enters the house with these two men. And the fact that people thought she wanted Dev all because of what he is, is something victims of rape have been trying to stop for generations.

I would keep all impressionable teenage girls away from this book. What was Berry thinking when she wrote this? How has this book become so popular? Again rape is such a sticky topic, that when written about, it should be handled with respect and understanding. The author has not done this in any way. I would say it is up to the reader to decide, but recommending a book like this would be wrong.
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Feb 04, 2013 Andrea Maxand rated it 5 of 5 stars

I read this when I was a teenager, excited to read it because I had my own "rock star" fantasies. As others have noted, it was marketed as young adult fiction, but the book holds up for me as an adult. There IS controversial subject matter, the rape, of course, but also the way everyone else in Cathy's world reacts to what happens to her. All of the other characters' reactions to the rape are arguably as controversial as the rape itself. I find the way events play out in the story to be very re...more

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Aug 14, 2010 Christina Fernandez rated it 4 of 5 stars

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here. This is an explanation about Easy Connections/Easy Freedom from Liz Berry's website (the author):

"Easy Connections, intended to show the disastrous effects that a single act of mindless violence could have on everyone concerned, including the guilty person, was published in the UK in l983 to ferocious criticism and controversy and almost hysterical attacks. Westminster Council (home of the most notorious case of political corruption in two hundred years!) banned it from their public libraries. I...more This is an explanation about Easy Connections/Easy Freedom from Liz Berry's website (the author):

"Easy Connections, intended to show the disastrous effects that a single act of mindless violence could have on everyone concerned, including the guilty person, was published in the UK in l983 to ferocious criticism and controversy and almost hysterical attacks. Westminster Council (home of the most notorious case of political corruption in two hundred years!) banned it from their public libraries. I think academic snobbery and antipathy to rock music might also have had something to do with it. Despite all this it went into paperback, and then into both hardback and paperback in the States, and then into various editions in other languages. The readers wrote to me and said they loved it, which kept me writing. It stayed in print for over ten years. It is interesting to see that the controversy hasn't completely died, (see a couple of comments on Amazon) and the same misreading and misrepresentation flares up from time to time, mainly from people who haven't read the sequel. Easy Freedom, dealing with redemption and forgiveness, was originally written as part of Easy Connections. 'Too long,' said the publishers, 'They won't read that length. Split it up.' It eventually appeared as a separate book in l985 - to only moderate interest."
- Liz Berry

I read Easy Connections as a teen in the '80s and it did really capture my imagination. What is disturbing to me is not what happens in the book, but that so many readers are horrified that an author would *dare* tackle such a subject, and have the characters react in a way that isn't "acceptable". Since the two books were split up by the publisher, I didn't find out until reading the sequel, Easy Freedom, about a week ago for the first time that the book is ultimately asking if a reprehensible act makes the perpetrator beyond redemption, and if the victim is ever made whole unless they can find a way to forgive. I understand that these books may not be everyone's cup of tea, but in my 39 years I've come to realize that life isn't always tied up neatly in a bow, and that we don't always make the best decisions when it comes to who we let into our lives. Sometimes the picture isn't a pretty one, but that doesn't mean depicting it (as an artist/author) translates into condoning it.(less)

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Dec 22, 2011 Lisa (scarlet21) rated it 5 of 5 stars

First published in 1983, this novel met with great controversy because of the subject matter and to this day opinions are greatly divided between disgust and admiration.
Cathy is a talented artist and has won a place at Art College but before she gets there she inadvertently trespasses on the land of a renowned rock star when staying with her policeman brother whose home backs on to the land. What comes to pass is shocking and unexcusable and the basis of the story, though seen in many different...more

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Sep 07, 2008 Janice (Janicu) rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here. Cathy Harlowe is a young artist, only 17 and just out of high school, staying with her brother in the country before going into art school. She doesn't realize she is trespassing on the property of Paul Devlin (Dev), from the band Easy Connections. Apparently he's beautiful, like some kind of elven god, and throughout the book he and his bandmate Chris seem to put everyone into a spell with how dangerous and alive they are. Cathy is "attracted and repelled in equal measure". When they meet Dev i...more Cathy Harlowe is a young artist, only 17 and just out of high school, staying with her brother in the country before going into art school. She doesn't realize she is trespassing on the property of Paul Devlin (Dev), from the band Easy Connections. Apparently he's beautiful, like some kind of elven god, and throughout the book he and his bandmate Chris seem to put everyone into a spell with how dangerous and alive they are. Cathy is "attracted and repelled in equal measure". When they meet Dev is high on alcohol and lack of sleep from a tour and eventually forces her to have sex with him. The messed up thing is that he feels like she is his soulmate, is sorry later for what he did, but then he uses all his money and power to try to make Cathy marry him. She runs away but nothing she does can escape his influence, and even more disturbing, everyone thinks she should marry him too. They either don't believe she was raped because he seems soo in love with her, or they think she should marry him anyway. Her dreams of being a famous painter sort of get swept away in the tidal wave of Dev's fame, money, and power, and the attention of the media.

I spend a lot of the book speechless. For both of these books I say everything seems like this big complex, crazy mess. It was really addictive to read because I was wondering where the author was going! I'm not sure I could even say what the message from these books are. Maybe it's about how difficult it can be to be a young woman, without any means to support yourself? Or is it about rape and it's consequences? Or fame and power? Or what freedom is? Or forgiveness? Or all of the above and more? I wonder if the author *wanted* the reader to be shocked and frustrated, or angry at the main characters.

A very absorbing read, but also a disturbing read. Only read it if the review above intruiged you rather than made you want to run screaming. If you think you may throw these books at the wall - it is quite possible. Yet you may pick it up and still want to see what the eff is going to happen next. I'm definitely going to remember and find myself mulling them over later on. Doesn't really leave you when you finish reading them.

More of this review (with Easy Freedom review) at my book blog -http://janicu.livejournal.com/39145....(less)

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Apr 05, 2010 Sarah rated it 3 of 5 stars

I read this some time back in the early 90's and had conflicting emotions about it, and this prompted me to seek it out again more recently.
It's quite a frustrating read, for the reasons mentioned in many of the reviews here (the rape, followed by what can only described as a forced marriage) - but still strangely intriguing enough for me to pick up a copy of the sequel - which I must say I preferred as the main character seemed to grow a bit more of a backbone.......

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Mar 03, 2013 Detrishious rated it 4 of 5 stars

I started reading this in the 80's and am constantly drawn back to it. I am currently awaiting the follow-up book as I don't recall if I have read it or not. I don't believe it's justifying rape because of money, it's showing a manipulation. But it also shows how Cathy tries as hard as she can but shows how easily even loved ones can be bought and paid. An interesting read. I do love Cathy's character!

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Dec 06, 2008 Donna rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: romance, read-in-scotland, teen-fiction

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here.

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Oct 23, 2011 Zeeba rated it 4 of 5 stars

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here.

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Jan 20, 2012 Luisa rated it 5 of 5 stars

l have read this a few times over the years & always find myself drawn to it. I love the characters & the compelling chemistry between them, it radiates off the page.

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Aug 19, 2008 Elizabeth rated it 1 of 5 stars

Berry's "Easy Connections" and "Easy Freedom" novels involve a young girl's involvment with a rock star in the '80s. I personally found some of the plot pretty disturbing (the musician essentially forces her into a relationship, both physically and psychologically)and the characters to be unrealistic. However, this book have something of a cult following. I would recommend Berry's novel, "Mel," which is much more enjoyable and the characters are more realistic (not TOO realistic--"Mel" involves...more

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Nov 01, 2008 CLM rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: fiction

Cathy is an aspiring artist in her late teens when she unexpectedly meets an incredibly attractive rock star, Dev. Their relationship is violent, manipulative, and distorted, although he appears to genuinely love her, and some readers are alienated from the book because of his violence to Cathy. While I too find it disturbing that did not prevent me from being very interested in the characters, and I would like to read the newly available sequel.

Although this is billed as a YA novel, it could be...more

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Jul 06, 2010 Júlía Þóra Oddsdóttir rated it 4 of 5 stars

Beautifully written and exciting.

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May 19, 2013 Dísa Svövudóttir rated it 5 of 5 stars

May 18, 2013 Elisha Flores marked it as to-read

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May 04, 2013 M-Moo rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: my-teen-years, young-adult

May 02, 2013 Arushi Bhaskar marked it as to-read

Apr 23, 2013 Ciarra marked it as to-read

Apr 16, 2013 Katherine Mccarthy rated it 5 of 5 stars

Apr 15, 2013 Kim rated it 5 of 5 stars

Apr 14, 2013 Sarah Marsh rated it 5 of 5 stars

Apr 13, 2013 Edda Japing rated it 5 of 5 stars

Mar 31, 2013 Kim Banks rated it 5 of 5 stars

Mar 28, 2013 Louise Page rated it 5 of 5 stars

Mar 23, 2013 Tomeaddict rated it 4 of 5 stars

Mar 23, 2013 Charli Denae marked it as to-read

Shelves: epic-rockstar-stories

Mar 21, 2013 Nomes marked it as to-read

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About Liz Berry

Liz Berry was born and lives in London. She worked in offices, magazines, politics and for a well-known examination body, before becoming a careers guidance advisor, helping young people plan their futures and finding employment opportunities for them. Then, for twenty-two years, she was Head of Art in an East London Comprehensive school.

At the same time she started and ran the East London Gallery...more

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Bright Lights Shining/Fool's Gold (Janey, #3-4)

Janey and the Band/Sing the Blues (Janey, #1-2)

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Easy Connections (Cathy #1)

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