SOMEONE LIKE YOU by CATHY KELLY

SOMEONE LIKE YOU

BY CATHY KELLY

THE BLURB:-

Emma, Leonie and Hannah all want just one thing in life- and then they'll be truly happy.

For just-married Emma, happiness means escaping the control of her domineering father and conceiving a much longed for child with her beloved husband.

For Leonie, divorced mother of three teenagers, it means finding the true love that was missing from her ten-year marriage.

And for Hannah, striking out alone after the man she loved abandoned her, happiness means independence and security- something she doesn't think any man can provide.

But sometimes when you wish with all your heart for a dream to come true, you rick destroying the happiness within your reach.

THE REALITY:-

This chick lit is certainly teaching me something and one of those things is that the men in this particular novel seem to be more in touch with their emotions than I am. Take Emma's Pete, for example, when trying to explain her father's bullying to her: he knows that Jimmy picks on his daughter so that it makes her doubt whether her opinions and feelings are valid, and once that doubt creeps in (as if often does) he can dictate and replace her feelings with whatever he wants them to be, and therefore control her. I'm not a woman who's clued up about feelings and psycho-babble, so it's nice to have things explained to me in black and white (even though I get the jist, it's not something that comes naturally.)

There were certain referenced things I needed to look up. I did not understand the Mr. De Mille bit until I googled him and did wonder what on earth a Saluki woman was (apparently some kind of dog.) I fear that I'm not on the same wavelength as these chick lit writers. Or rather I'm glad. I've never been one for the Loose Women-esque all-girls-together-sitting-and-moaning-about-men sessions. I've always called these sorts of women whingeing harpies.

This book was very long (nearly 700 pages) for a light, bright and trite story, although I did like many of the characters and didn't find it too much like hard work. I admired the way serious issues such as bullying, infertility and Alzheimer's reared their all too realistic heads and was glad that all three of the main characters got some kind of happy ending. I also loved the descriptive and atmospheric descriptions of Egypt, where the three women meet.

My book, The Reject's Club is also long and centres around the friendship between three women, but I think it's much too meaty to be classed as chick lit and has a certain noir quality. Did I enjoy this read? It was okay but nothing spectacular. Would I read Cathy Kelly again? Yes, but I wouldn't go out of my way to do so.