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Loading... Bookends: A Novel (original 2000; edition 2003)1,912 | 34 | 8,681 |
(3.46) | 13 | Fiction.
Literature.
Romance.
Humor (Fiction.)
HTML: British sensation Jane Green delivers a sparkling tale of old friends reunited and old jealousies rekindled.
Catherine Warner and Simon Nelson are best friends: total opposites, always together, and both unlucky in love. Cath is scatterbrained, messy, andâ??since she had her heart broken a few years backâ??emotionally closed off. Si is impossibly tidy, bitchy, and desperate for a man of his own. They live in Londonâ??s West Hampstead along with their lifelong friends, Josh and Lucy, who are happily married with a devil-spawn child and a terrifying Swedish nanny, Ingrid. Allâ??s well (sort of) until the sudden arrival of a college friendâ??the stunningly beautiful Portia, who is known for breaking hearts. Though theyâ??ve grown up and grown apart from Portia, the four friends welcome her back into the fold. But does Portia have a hidden agenda or is she merely looking to reconnect with old friends? Her reappearance soon unleashes a rollicking series of events that tests the foursomeâ??s friendships to the limit and leaves them wondering if a happy ending is in store. Fortunately, Cath has plenty to take her mind off Portiaâ??s schemesâ??like her gutsy decision to leave her job in advertising to fulfill her dream of opening a bookstore. And then thereâ??s James, the sexy real-estate agent who keeps dropping by even after the bookstore deal is done. With his irresistible smile and boyish charm could he be the one to melt Cathâ??s heart? Told with Jane Greenâ??s captivating wit and flare, Bookends is above all a story about friendshipâ??its twists, turns and complicationsâ??and how it weathers the challenges of love, ambition, marriage, and, most of all, growing up. Warmhearted, sophisticated, and full of delicious surprises, Bookends… (more) |
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The first time I met Josh, I thought he was a nice guy but a transient friend. | |
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▾References References to this work on external resources. Wikipedia in EnglishNone ▾Book descriptions Fiction.
Literature.
Romance.
Humor (Fiction.)
HTML:British sensation Jane Green delivers a sparkling tale of old friends reunited and old jealousies rekindled.
Catherine Warner and Simon Nelson are best friends: total opposites, always together, and both unlucky in love. Cath is scatterbrained, messy, andâ??since she had her heart broken a few years backâ??emotionally closed off. Si is impossibly tidy, bitchy, and desperate for a man of his own. They live in Londonâ??s West Hampstead along with their lifelong friends, Josh and Lucy, who are happily married with a devil-spawn child and a terrifying Swedish nanny, Ingrid. Allâ??s well (sort of) until the sudden arrival of a college friendâ??the stunningly beautiful Portia, who is known for breaking hearts. Though theyâ??ve grown up and grown apart from Portia, the four friends welcome her back into the fold. But does Portia have a hidden agenda or is she merely looking to reconnect with old friends? Her reappearance soon unleashes a rollicking series of events that tests the foursomeâ??s friendships to the limit and leaves them wondering if a happy ending is in store. Fortunately, Cath has plenty to take her mind off Portiaâ??s schemesâ??like her gutsy decision to leave her job in advertising to fulfill her dream of opening a bookstore. And then thereâ??s James, the sexy real-estate agent who keeps dropping by even after the bookstore deal is done. With his irresistible smile and boyish charm could he be the one to melt Cathâ??s heart? Told with Jane Greenâ??s captivating wit and flare, Bookends is above all a story about friendshipâ??its twists, turns and complicationsâ??and how it weathers the challenges of love, ambition, marriage, and, most of all, growing up. Warmhearted, sophisticated, and full of delicious surprises, Bookends ▾Library descriptions No library descriptions found. ▾LibraryThing members' description
Book description |
Catherine Warner and Simon Nelson are best friends: total opposites, always together, and both unlucky in love. Cath is scatterbrained, messy, and — since she had her heart broken a few years back — emotionally closed off. Si is impossibly tidy, bitchy, and desperate for a man of his own. They live in London’s West Hampstead along with their lifelong friends, Josh and Lucy, who are happily married with a devil-spawn child and a terrifying Swedish nanny, Ingrid.
All’s well (sort of) until the sudden arrival of a college friend — the stunningly beautiful Portia, who’s known for breaking hearts. Though they’ve grown up and grown apart from Portia, the four friends welcome her back into the fold. But does Portia have a hidden agenda or is she merely looking to reconnect with old friends? Her reappearance soon unleashes a rollicking series of events that tests the foursome’s friendships to the limit and leaves them wondering if a happy ending is in store.
Fortunately, Cath has plenty to take her mind off Portia’s schemes — like her gutsy decision to leave her job in advertising to fulfill her dream of opening a bookstore. And then there’s James, the sexy real-estate agent who keeps dropping by even after the bookstore deal is done. With his irresistible smile and boyish charm could he be the one to melt Cath’s heart? | |
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"Bookends" has Cath and her best friend Si dealing with being unlucky in love. Living in London they seem to be going through the motions of things. Cath refuses to try her hand at love again after having her heart broken and Si is desperate to meet Mr. Right even though the men he is usually with are terrible.
Cath and Si have boring, but familiar get togethers with their college friends Josh and Lucy and things seem to be carrying along fine until a woman (Portia) from their college days pops up again.
Most of the book is Cath thinking about Portia and how Portia supposedly held them all together until she broke up their friend group. What gets me though is that when we readers finally get a glimpse of Portia, she's not all that Cath (or Green) makes her out to be. There is no there there, and I wanted there to be better development of her.
Cath stumbles upon a love interest that wasn't that interesting and Si ends up with a shocking new way of life after a betrayal. The book just ends up taking too many things on and not doing them well.
If the above isn't enough, we also have Cath trying to open a bookstore.
The writing is typical older Green (when she wrote her chick lit books taking place in London). This just doesn't read or feel like chick lit. The flow is okay, though going back to past and present was a bit much.
I guess I was just put out by the whole lesson to be learned about real friends that people who should be old enough should already know at this point. ( )