The Godmother

The Godmother is a bit different from the usual chick lit fare. It starts off typically, with Tessa King returning from a yoga retreat to her happy circle of friends in London. But all is not what it seems. Tessa has job troubles (indeed, she left her job), Billy is a struggling single mom with an oft-sick daughter and neglectful ex, Francesca has a pothead teenager, Helen is trapped in an unhappy marriage to a controlling man, and the love of Tessa's life (Ben) is married to Sasha. Claudia and Al have been trying to have a kid for years, but IVF is not working out for them.

Thus the stage is set for all kinds of interesting conflict and the occasional heartbreaking event. Some of the book was a little graphic and disturbing for my show more taste. And also, Tessa is an ambiguous protagonist. Sometimes you think she's really helpful and giving and sometimes she comes across as a meddlesome pain in the neck. She was, however, smart and often entertaining.

But it's apparent that the author put a lot of thought into the book, as the plot developments are unexpected, but not unearned. Most of the characters are fully developed, nuanced and compelling. I liked Tessa's friends enough, and usually Tessa herself, to plan on reading the sequel when it comes to the United States. show less

I don't usually read chick lit. I find the characters too self absorbed and hard to relate to (partying, rich friends, etc.). And in the beginning I expected a shallow story. But the characters developed into likeable (or like to hate) individuals. The friends changed as the grew older and faced different challenges. I couldn't put this book down. Definitely worth the read.

This is a great character driven story with some suspenseful moments. A witty story populated by believable and sympathetic characters.

This is an interesting story about female friendship. Some would classify this as chick lit, but it tends to be a bit darker and less fluffy than most. As the author stated, this is a book about not knowing what lies around the corner. Life takes unscripted twists and turns. The characters are all very well written even if you don't like them all. I could picture this group of friends in my mind. This story takes a look into married life, all of its fears and doubts as well as what makes them tick.

I had to read this to complete the trilogy. The other two were Mario Puzo’s “The Godfather” and Nicholas Coleridge’s “Godchildren”. Even if it was chick-lit I was quite happy to give it a go for the sake of literary completeness!

Nothing wrong with chick-lit in my view, except that it tends to be a bit safe, and a bit predictable. There were stages in this book when I thought the rules were going to be broken, and a seismic shock dealt, but ultimately I felt it retreated into the literary safe zone. It was an enjoyable and entertaining read, though, telling the story of single thirty-something Tessa who has multiple godchildren but is running out of time to have children of her own. The sections where Tessa recounts the stuff show more she is able to get up to, having no ties, were like having a window opened on a whole other world. On the other hand, it was hard to get a hold on who she was, essentially – she can’t make up her own mind whether she enjoys her freedom or whether she would rather give it up to have a family. As a result she came across as a mish-mash of conflicting emotions, rather than a character I could picture. On the other hand, some of the male characters seemed to have two-dimensional personalities. Al and Ben were interchangeable (they even swopped surnames a couple of times in what I took to be a proofreading error) – just a couple of all-round good blokes. Neil had practically nothing to recommend him at all.

As a story, it carried me along very happily on its tide of well paced events, and though I guessed the main plot “surprise”, I suspect it was intended, as the strongest of hints were dropped along the way. I will certainly remember it for what it taught me about ‘how the other half live’. show less

I have been given this book to read for book group. I don't like chick lit books but gave this ago because it was the book group choice. I was right, I still don't like chick lit. I don't like to give bad reviews about books becuase I feel the author has done something which I haven't and that is to write a book. In general I feel the female main characters are always pint drinking, chain smoking, bed hopping modern women with a dizzy lifestyle. Nah, life is too short to read this. In this case our heroine is a godmother to many children but not a mother, whether she becomes a mother I don't know I gave up after 100 pages. Saying all this me being anti chick lit I have read Sophie Kinsella which I thought were fun.

From my blog

This is a really great friendship story. Tessa completely lived through her friends and godchildren at a level that was almost inappropriate only because she was clueless that she didn't have a hold of her own responsibilities. The great thing is that all of her friends knew her to a T and because she was such an amazing friend it balanced out everything else.

I think this book will affect women that are moms and women that haven't decided if they want to be a mom. Some very real issues in this book and it makes you wonder how often people pretend, so much so that they forget what is reality or fantasy. And the saying always a bridesmaid never the bride, lol, well this book is always the godmother never the mother, sweet but show more scary thought when you meet Tessa. I loved that this book not only had female friendships, but males friendship and couples as friends also, you got a feel for the true circle of friends. I felt like I could be a part of this circle, that added to the enjoyment of it also. And the children, all adorable, even the teenager.

This book was long though, it had so much in it but everything made sense it just was to long. It never lost my attention mind you but it does stand out to me that I thought it was to long. There is a sequel to this one and I love the characters, so defintiely will continue with this story.

This was a fun, light but dark story, a serious spin to chick lit. If you enjoyed Firefly Lane by Kristin Hannah you will enjoy this. show less