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Open Cathy Kelly's newest novel and you enter a world full of characters you would like living in your neighborhood. They instantly warm the atmosphere around you with fresh cooking aromas, English gardens and pets so adorable you'll ache to cuddle them. Curling up with WHAT SHE WANTS is an ideal way to pass the lazy days of summer. It's a great feel-good book.
Hope Parker has a gorgeous husband, Matt, and two children whom she yearns to spend more time with. But when Matt unilaterally makes the decision to uproot his family and transplant them to Redlion in County Kerry, Hope balks at the idea. He argues that he needs the freedom and atmosphere to write the great novel that is bottled up inside him. Always compliant, Hope bites her lip, smiles and agrees. Writer's block isn't the only problem that faces the couple in Ireland.
Hope's sister Sam lives the life of the high-powered businesswoman in London, pushing herself through a daily grind that constantly assaults her physical and mental well-being. It takes a medical scare and a trip to Redlion to make her step back and see herself as those around her do. A surprising change comes into her attitude and, ultimately, her life. What had at first seemed a pesky new neighbor blossoms into an enchanting new male friend. Their verbal sparring lessens, but there are still rocky roads to travel.
Meanwhile, Nicole --- young, beautiful and talented --- has hopes of becoming the newest pop star. Darius, Sam's business colleague, discovers Nicole at a karaoke bar one night and falls hopelessly in love with her and her husky voice. Nicole, feeling her usual responsibility for her mum and little sis, wrestles with her conscience over her newfound love and freedom. She wants to share any success with all of them.
Widow Virginia Connell, a year out from losing her beloved husband Bill, picks up stakes and moves to Redlion, her goals manifold. She wants to cherish his memory, but without painful everyday reminders. And her three grown children and their families worry about her too much. Being a greater distance away, she hopes, will give her the breathing --- and grieving --- room she longs for. Then along comes Kevin, a Redlion widower, and he and Virginia strike up a friendship. The awkwardness of seeing a member of the opposite sex is quickly apparent to both of them after lengthy, happy marriages. Settling into a rhythm with each other proves challenging.
Mary Kate, founder of the Redlion Macramé Club --- a euphemistically named group organized as an excuse for the ladies to get together and indulge in cocktails and frank talk --- is the voice of reason, dishing out sage advice along with her wild martinis. She is the glue when their lives fall apart.
Cathy Kelly has a Maeve Binchy style about her. There is something so wholesome about WHAT SHE WANTS, yet primly erotic, that it's seductive. Don't try to put it down. Hope, Sam, Virginia, Nicole and the Redlion community will beckon from the pages, drawing you deep into their lives, their problems and their joys.
--- Reviewed by Kate Ayers
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