Once in a Lifetime - Cathy Kelly

I do tend to stick to authors I know and love, but am always open to recommendations of new books and writers too. When my mum suggested a year ago I read a Cathy Kelly book, I tried her latest 2008 release and while I enjoyed it, I didn't think it was anything special. However, when I saw this being advertised as her "best-ever novel", I was intrigued to see if it'd live up to the hype and so set about getting a copy from the library. It arrived and started reading it, and was hoping that it was going to be a good read, but sadly I have to say I wasn't right. The town of Ardagh in Ireland loves its local department store, Kenny's, run by David ...  Read the complete review

***The Plot and Characters*** As this is one of those books that follows the lives of several interlinked characters, I'm going to outline the plot and characters together to try to make it less confusing! Ingrid - Ingrid is a television presenter whose world is turned upside down when her husband David dies. Ingrid is understandably devestated and as a likeable character, it's difficult not to feel lots of sympathy for her as she struggles to control her grief. David - The owner of Kenny's department store, David's death affects a lot of people. His death happens quite early on in the plot, so he's more of a background character who has a ...  Read the complete review

I have always enjoyed Cathy Kelly books and this one is no different. This story involves Ingrid and David Kenny, David Kenny being the owner of Kennys Department Store. When tragedy strikes for Ingrid, her life is altered forever and as her children fly the nest she discovers a secret that shakes her to the very core. We meet all kinds of weird and wonderful characters in this story including Star Bluestone who has a magical gift along with a link to David Kenny, Natalie who shares a flat with Ingrids daughter Molly and Charlie Fallon who works at Kenny's. The story flows easily and you feel like you are really involved with the people and their lives. It was an easy ...  Read the complete review

Being a Cathy Kelly fan I was really looking foward to her new book Once in a Lifetime. I was going to buy the book but it is quite a hefty hardback (the paperback not being out until September this year) so in the end I ordered the talking book (CD) from my local library. When it arrived I couldn't wait to get started. However, I was a little disappointed as it took me quite a long time to get into. There are a lot of characters and the first one introduced is Star Bluestone, who didn't really capture my imagination at first. This is very unusual for Cathy Kelly books as like, Maeve Binchy, she normally manages to grab my attention with the first couple of pages. ...  Read the complete review