The modern woman is a Jill of all trades - wife, lover, mother, daughter, friend, fixer, boss ...it's never-ending. Ava is juggling a life that seems to have too many pieces. First, there are her chalk-and-cheese daughters, Alison the angel and Sarah the tearaway. Then there's husband Paul. Unfortunately, he seems more interested in work than home - which might explain why her sex life is practically on life support. That certainly can't be said about her Viagra-popping Dad, a loveable rogue who is determined to grow old disgracefully. She would envy her best friend Sally, sassy single singleton-about-town, if she didn't know that behind her polished exterior Sally is as vulnerable as a kitten. Somewhere in there is Ava herself, trying to do her best for all of them but lately feeling like she's running on empty. But that's before she notices Alison is in deep trouble. Now she knows there's no such thing as empty - not if she is to hold on to the most precious pieces of her heart...
I have read many of Sinead Moriarty's books and I can honestly say this is my favourite of her books so far. This book is a great read.
The story is about Ava, her husband and two daughters, along with her father who is twice widowed and living with them temporarily, while his new appartment is finished. The story starts as a basic story of family life but soon turns to a more storyline when her eldest daughter, Ali, is dumped by her boyfriend, leading her to develop a serious illness, anorexia.
I was surprised that this was not mentioned on the book as it is a great read for showing how this cruel illness affects not only the sufferer but also the whole family and their struggle to treat her in the family home before admitting her to a eating disorder clinic, where Ali stays for several weeks and it is a time of great sadness for her after friendships are formed.
Although the story is of a serious illness, there are times of humour surrounding Ava's father and his Polish girlfriend and also Ava's other daughter, Sarah and her continual spray tanning and adaptation of Romeo and Juliet in modern times.
I found this book a great read and wanted to continue to read until i had finished. the chapters are quite short and these lend themselves to an easy read. The topics within the book are of a serious nature but as I said above, there were also times to laugh with the characters aswell as cry with them too.
If you are a fan of Sinead Moriarty's books I would recommend this to you all.
Thank you to Penguin Books for sending me a copy to review.
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