I received a copy of this title, from LoveReading.co.uk, in
return for an honest review.
I jumped at the chance to read an ARC of this book, as I
have fond memories of reading Cathy Kelly books and can remember feeling as if
I was wrapped up in cosy blanket. It is
a while since I have picked up one of her books and this was the perfect
opportunity to re-acquaint myself with her work.
A young couple get engaged at the top of the Eiffel Tower
after a romantic proposal in front of delighted tourists. Their phone calls home, to tell of the big
news, are met with no great surprise, as they have been together for
years. But how will the wedding effect
their family and friends?
It Started With Paris starts with the cute proposal and you can almost
feel the Paris air at the top of the famous landmark. A wonderful place to ask your childhood
sweetheart for their hand in marriage. I
was settling in for a few comfortable reading sessions and was a little
disappointed when I realised this was not going to be the case. The first chapter set the scene but then the
narrative shifts to the mother of the groom, a headmistress, an ex-pupil’s
mother (as far as I could make out) who is connected to the woman who is baking
the cake for the wedding. Then there is
the bride’s best friend, her sister and her mother. There were more characters, but at this stage
I had started using a notepad to draw up a spider diagram to see how these
people were connected. I felt no
connection to any of them, except the children of the cake-maker’s boyfriend.
I persisted much longer than I would
normally, as I like Cathy Kelly. A
talented Irish writer, with millions of books sold, I kept hoping that the novel would find its stride. I’m afraid I had to
abandon it at page 238. I really did
try. There is no problem with the writing. It is
nice and gentle and maybe had there been less characters to get my head around,
perhaps with less pages too, it may have worked better. It may even have picked up pace by page
300. I’m afraid I couldn’t persist long
enough to find out.
Maybe the fault lays with me. I have read some amazing new fiction recently
and my expectations have been raised. I
am sure that for Cathy Kelly this will still be a top ten best seller for
months to come, but it just was not for me. Also, thumbs up for the beautiful cover artwork. It is fantastic!
It Started With Paris is published by Orion on 9th October 2014 in Hardback and ebook format.
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