All the Luck of the Irish? (City Girl - Patricia Scanlan)

Member Name: Foxy-Lady

Product:	City Girl - Patricia Scanlan
Date:	01/12/03 (104 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: A lovely story of friendship

Disadvantages: Didn't want the tale to end

Devlin, Caroline and Maggie, the main characters within this book, are three young girls growing up in the Irish city of Dublin.

The girls come from very different backgrounds and have extremely varying personalities....

....Devlin is blonde, slim and beautiful. She has always been spoilt by her rich parents and is used to getting her own way and having the perfect life.

....Caroline is overweight and very shy. After the death of her mother, she took on her parental role, looking after her father and brothers, and always putting them before herself.

....Maggie, who is slightly older than the other girls, was originally brought up in the country but her fun loving and vivacious qualities mean that she has easily settled into the hustle and bustle of city life.

The book introduces the girls individually and tells the story of how their paths cross and they meet each other for the first time. Despite their obvious differences, their friendship develops and they become the best of friends.

As they mature and begin to stand on their own two feet within the strict and narrow minded Irish society, they inevitably come across various hurdles and have to deal with each and every harsh blow that life throws at them. Such is life! They find though, that even as friends who have got their own personal problems, they are still there to support each other through thick and thin.

The lives of the three girls begin to take differing paths and dramatic lifestyle changes have to be endured by each of them - some through choice and others that are due to uncontrollable circumstances. I wont tell you exactly what happens but I can say that they certainly dont seem to have the luck of the Irish!

Throughout their individual journeys of self discovery and realisation, their experiences gain them strength and independence. They learn that nobodys life is perfect and that you never know what is round the corner. Th
eir friendship sustains and battles on to become even firmer than it was before. They are always there for each other in the end. Thats what friends are for!

This bestseller by Patricia Scanlan is sure to strike a chord with every reader due to the vast array of subjects that are included in the three interweaving storylines of the girls.....love, sex, drugs, alcoholism, death, adultery, betrayal, pregnancy, homosexuality, tragedy, marriage, domestic violence and of course, friendship....all of this in one book!

You may think by reading this that there is too much going on, but the author succeeds in threading all of these themes together in a unified way, resulting in an interesting and exciting plot.

I would describe the book as being gripping to say the least. It is very well written and is moving, sensitive but yet amusing in parts. You actually feel like you know the three main characters and feel their emotions with them - particularly anger which is directed at the men in their lives!

At the end of the book, I must admit I felt slightly disappointed, but in a good way. I wanted to know more....wanted to know how the girls cope with their new beginnings and the opening chapters of their lives!

Little did I know that there is in fact more in the form of two other books, *City Women* and *City Lives*. As far as I know, these are a continuation of the stories of Devlin, Caroline and Maggie. I cant wait to find out what happens to them next!



Published by Bantam Books £5.99

ISBN 0-553-40943-3

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