Lessons in Heartbreak cover art

Lessons in Heartbreak

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Lessons in Heartbreak

By: Cathy Kelly
Narrated by: Aoife McMahon
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About this listen

The new novel from the international no. 1 bestselling author.

Izzie Silver left the small Irish town of Tamarin behind her for life in New York. She's big, beautiful, and dreams of her own model agency for plus-sized women (what her grandmother would call healthy.) Life is good – but she's just broken one of her cardinal rules and fallen for a married man.

On the other side of the ocean, Izzie's aunt Anneliese discovers the pain of infidelity for herself. Her husband Edward has been having an affair with her best friend, Nell. Devastated and angry, Anneliese is facing the realisation that she is now alone.

When Lily, the matriarch of the family is taken ill, the family must put their own problems aside. Izzie, intrigued by her grandmother's past begins to discover things she never knew about wise, calm Lily. Annaliese feels despair build as Lily, the one person who could have helped her, starts to slip away.

And the lessons each of the women learns – past and present – bring both joy and heartbreak. Lessons they will carry with them forever.
Then suddenly the girls are forced to forget their personal problems and come together as Lynne, the family matriarch, is gravely ill. Arriving in the dramatically beautiful seaside town where they all once lived, Izzie and Jane soon come to realise that we can't ever choose who we fall in love with, but we can choose how we move on in life…

©2008 Cathy Kelly; (P)2008 HarperCollins Publishers Ltd, London UK
Fiction Genre Fiction Historical Historical Fiction Military Protector Romance War & Military Women's Fiction

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Critic reviews

Praise for Cathy Kelly:

‘A must for Kelly’s many fans; a warm, moving read ’ Daily Mail

‘Bursting with emotion, heartache and dreams…realistic and likeable characters that meet life-changing events head on ’ Ireland on Sunday

‘Totally believable ’ Rosamunde Pilcher

‘An upbeat and diverting tale skilfully told…Kelly knows what her readers want and consistently delivers.’ Sunday Independent

‘Warm and delightful ’ New Woman

‘An absorbing, heart-warming tale ’ Company

All stars
Most relevant
This is mostly a nicely written book, but it is truly very sweet chic lit and somewhat over egged. Choc lit is not my cup of tea, so inevitably, it's not really for me. I love Aoife McMahon's narration, that and Annalisa's story kept me with it until quite late chapters, when I could no longer cope with the smaltz and returned it. For me there are too many characters. I found the stories of Izzy and especially of Annalisa interesting, but I'd just be getting nicely involved and we would be off on a tangent elsewhere. It felt like two books in one for me.

Too many characters. Very chic lit!

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Thoroughly enjoyed this book. The narration was perfect, and I couldn't wait to find out what was going to happen to each character.

Beautiful story

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I found the writing a bit too over descriptive it was irritating especially the 'love making' parts. Narration was good but that's about it.

A bit OTT for me

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