Product Description

Friends like this are hard to find! From the bestselling author of SOMEONE LIKE YOU and WHAT SHE WANTS an uplifiting novel about how three very different women cope with the complexities of their lives -- relationships, careers, and families -- to find fulfilment. Full of Cathy Kelly's trademark warmth, romance, optimism and wit. What's the secret of the fabulous Miller girls!? Everyone says that they lead charmed lives: beautiful, brilliant Stella, effortlessly juggling career and single-motherhood; witty TV writer, Tara, and dreamy, artistic Holly. Perhaps it comes from their calm, elegant mother, Rose, the centre of the family and adored wife of Hugh. Now, with Hugh and Rose married for forty years, their perfect daughters and their friends in the Irish country town of Kinvarra are looking forward to a celebration. But as plans are made for the party of the decade, the secret heartaches the four women have kept hidden, even from each other, begin to emerge. Are any of them strong enough to deal with the truth about themselves and their golden lives?

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #75700 in Books
• Published on: 2008-06-02
• Original language: English
• Binding: Paperback
• 656 pages

Amazon.co.uk Review
On the surface, Rose Miller, the heroine of Cathy Kelly's Just Between Us, has a golden life: she's just about to celebrate her 40th wedding anniversary with her lovely husband Hugh, her three daughters are all wonderful and her home in the small Irish town of Kinvara is gorgeous. So far it sounds like a feature in a glossy magazine, where everyone is happy and smiling and the only foreseeable problems ahead involve estimating the exact quantity of canapés for the party guests at Rose's ruby wedding bash. But Cathy Kelly doesn't deal in slick clichés. Her characters, despite their glamorous exteriors, face real emotional dilemmas and heartaches. As Rose says: "It was one thing to look as if your life was perfect, it was another thing for it to be so. Looks could be deceptive."

Cathy Kelly, with great warmth and compassion, begins to reveal the not-so-gilded truth about the four Miller women. Rose is questioning her marriage; her youngest daughter Holly is lacking in self-confidence and stuck in a boring job that stifles her creativity; single parent Stella is a brilliant lawyer and mum, but romance seems to be by-passing her; and Tara has a glowing television career, but her home life is turning out to be far from rosy--her husband seems to be drinking to excess. Over the course of some 500 hundred chatty pages Cathy Kelly reveals the women's secret doubts. Their problems are distressing, but the novel still has that feel-good factor; the author mixes humour with realism and the result is this compelling sixth novel from the bestselling Irish author. --Eithne Farry

Review
'The carefully structured narrative culminates in a powerfully insightful and ultimately moving denouement.' CHOICE 'Told with Kelly's trademark warmth and wit, this novel will have you pinned to your deckchair.' Woman and Home Pre-publication review of JUST BETWEEN US: 'Kelly has earned her place on the bestseller lists with her sharp understanding of behaviour, and this splendid women's read will keep her there. The feel-good factor! is a particularly endearing trait, spreading warmth and a satisfying conclusion.' Publishing News, September 2002 Acclaim for Cathy Kelly's novels: 'A compulsive read' Woman's Weekly 'Kelly dramatises her story with plenty of sparky humour' The Times 'Down-to-earth and insightful, her novels are as compelling as Big Brother' Andrea Henry, The Mirror 'Totally believable' Rosamunde Pilcher 'Compassionate and compelling' Irish Independent

Choice
‘The carefully structured narrative culminates in a powerfully insightful and ultimately moving denouement.’

Customer Reviews

Enjoyable, interesting - and not too predictable!
You know what it's like: you've a train journey ahead and nothing to read. So you buy something in a rush at the station, cross your fingers and hope for the best. Well,this time it worked out all right for me. Cathy Kelly has written a realistic account of family life, based around a couple and their three grown-up children: a single mum, a newly-wed script writer and "the shy one" (the youngest daughter). Although I wouldn't say that it's the best of the best (hence 4 stars rather than 5) this book is well-written, sufficiently multi-layered so that it is entertaining, yet not completely predictable. Then again, it has a happy ending, which is a bit predictable, but I think in this genre one expects a happy ending. The book deals with adultery, which is not particularly original, and the reactions of the characters are (in my opinion) a bit simplistic, but overall it is a fine, realistic portrayal. Additionally, one gets to like all the characters (especially the adorable grandaughter)so a happy ending is welcome.
All in all, a good, happy & uplifting summe read. Doesn't promise anything it doesn't deliver. I will probably be reading more books by Kelly if I can find them.

Like a chat with an old friend
Just Between Us is a warm, uplifting and enjoyable novel that is perfect for reading by the fire on a cold winter night.
Cathy Kelly has a way of writing novels that we can all relate to. Her characters and real and vibrant and their stories are wonderfully entertaining. Sitting down with Just Between Us will not disappoint anyone who wants a light read, but wants to feel as if you are simply listening in to a conversation between your oldest and dearest friends.
The book centres around the Millers sisters, Stella, Tara and Holly and their mother Rose. Each has a secret the others no nothing about, and despite being a warm and loving family they have to make their way through life's problems on their own.
In particular I identified with Holly who had no confidence in herself but the other characters were warm and wonderfully crafted that I could see something of myself in all of them.
I recommend this book to anyone.

A summer delight
Cathy Kelly has done it again! Her books always are a pleasure to delve into - especially during the hot lazy, langorous days of summer when one wants a read that will amuse, enchant, entertain, and divert. Two pages into this delight and I was hooked ... by the plot, the three sister protagonists, by the wit, by it all! To my delight (and chagrin the next day), it kept me reading well into the wee hours. If only all contemporary writers were this insightful, sharp, and clever. Cathy Kelly is decidedly one of my Must Read Brit(Chick)Lit authors, along with Jill Mansell, Zoe Barnes, Catherine Alliott, Fiona Walker, Lesley Pearse, Victoria Routledge, and Isabel Wolff. If you like any of these other ladies' books, you will love JUST BETWEEN US.