Best of Friends

by Cathy Kelly

Book Overview

You can have it all Abby Barton's TV career is taking off and now she and her husband can have the life they've always dreamed of in a lovely Irish town -- at least, in theory But when your husband... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0743490258
• ISBN13: 9780743490252
• Release Date: February 2005
• Publisher: Downtown Press
• Length: 528 Pages
• Weight: 1.05 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.4" x 5.4" x 8.1"

Customer Reviews

Engaging Story of Friendships and Real Life

This was certainly an engaging story of a group of women thrown together by geography and other circumstances. The story focuses on the individual women's stories and struggles, yet all of their lives are intertwined throughout the book. I was drawn in almost immediately and stayed interested throughout. This is great "chick lit", but I would say has more depth than much of traditional "chit lit". An overall great read.

Such a fabulous read

If you want sex and young 20's/30's dating problems, this is not the book. If you want deep interest in characters that are real, this is the one. I have not yet ready a Kelly book that is not fantastic. This gets into the characters, and I love them. It is a book that you can't stand to put down, but hate to read it and have it over. It seems so real and so empathetic. Loved it! I wish there was a sequel....

A Refreshing Book

This book goes from happy to sad and back again, it's a little bit emotionally draining. It begins through the eyes of four very different women. Abby, a national TV celebrity; Erin, a young married woman with a troubled past just moving back to Ireland; Lizzie, a divorcé trying to help pay for her daughter's elaborate wedding; and the woman who brought them all together, Sally, a happily married mother of two young boys who recently found out she has a very developed form of breast cancer. After Sally's death, the three other women attempt to see the positive in their own lives and bond together to pay tribute to their friend.

An enjoyable and easy read

Cathy Kelly is known for writing about engaging women characters and following them through the various trials of their lives. She does it again with this book. Her style and choice of topics reminds me very much of the bestselling Irish author Maeve Binchy. Best of Friends follows four women of different ages as they struggle with families, careers, infidelities, and even death in their small town in Ireland. Cathy Kelly's descriptive storyteling makes you feel that you know each of these women personally. I was attracted to some characters more than others but by the end of the book I cared about them all. She is especially adept at moving from one character to another without ever creating confusion or disjointedness. If you want a nice leisurely read with a satisying ending then this book is for you.

fine character study

Abby Barton has become a famous TV personality with the success of her show "Declutter: Your Home and Your Life". However, she feels pressure on all sides from her producer to her spouse, but mostly her reticent teenage daughter Jess. Medical receptionist Lizzie Shanahan nurtures everyone but herself. However, in spite of caring for patients, her adult children and even her former husband Myles, Lizzie feels alone; her despondency is augmented by Myles finding a new love in his life. After a decade in the States, Erin Kennedy and her spouse Greg return to Ireland where he begins a new job in Cork. However, she worries about returning to Ireland after fleeing from her family years ago to live in Boston, and Chicago. Sally Richardson is contented with raising her children with a loving spouse, but her happiness is tempered by cancer. When she dies, her three friends, who believed they had the weight of the world on their back, learn what life is all about. The four subplots are handled with dexterity so though rotated in no obvious order; readers with a degree of difficulty will be able keep track of how each of the key females feels. Readers will care about these women and hope for the best for each of them. The character driven subplots are complex and interesting as the surviving trio begins to appreciate what they already have. Cathy Kelly furbishes a fine tale with the moral of live life to the fullest with loved ones for one day you will be an angel sitting on a cloud looking down hopefully with joy towards those you cherish. Harriet Klausner