Not a great book. The characters were rather one-dimensional - the bitter wife, the selfish son, the selfish daughter who turns into the unselfish daughter when her own child is born, the feisty straight-talking matriarch, the quirky friend, the gay hairdresser. They were all cliches. The story wasn't super-interesting. It all worked out in the end but I didn't care enough about any of them to be that invested in the ending. Not very well written either.Two stars as I finished it to the end but maybe I should have given it one. Katie, aged thirty, has recently lost her parents and thinks she's coping fairly well. Then she loses her job, and she's beginning to wonder whether or not she really wants to stay with her frequently absent boyfriend, although he was very supportive through the time she grieved for her parents. If all that weren't enough, she is given an unexpected letter by a solicitor, which changes just about everything. At first resistant, Katie decides to follow it up, and finds herself involved in a family drama when she becomes friendly with an old lady who has just lost her son, meets some relatives who are not at all keen on her, and also starts to fall for someone who might or might not be her cousin... It's quite a premise, and I thought the book started well, although Katie seemed almost too unemotional, and I never entirely related to her. It's a good story, even if the storyline feels more like a soap than a novel at times, but I felt that it was rather drawn out in places... there was a lot of introspection, and some conversation that did not seem to go anywhere. It could perhaps have benefitted from some editing. Still, it was an enjoyable novel, just right for some light reading before bedtime. Three-and-a-half stars would be fairer.
What do You think about Kind Van Haar Vader (2012)?
Pleasantly enjoyable book. My guilty pleasure, Erica James books...
—jojo
Very rare I find a book I enjoy so much as this one!
—Nick
