The godmother

Format:

Book

Title:

The godmother

Author:

Adams, Carrie, 1970-

ISBN:

9780061232602

9780061232619

Edition:

1st ed.

Publication Information:

Physical Description:

388 pages ; 24 cm

Series title(s):

Tessa King ;

Number in series:

Contents:

A sinking feeling -- Suicide watch -- Vanishing act -- A suspicious high -- Butterflies dancing -- Ticktock -- Baby bunting -- Pretending to forget -- Comfort blanket -- Walking on eggshells -- Pants on fire -- Pumpkin time -- Trickery -- Fairy-tale ending -- Bombshell -- Princess and the pea -- Played -- Cry wolf -- Baby tinnitus -- Hoook, line and sinker -- Speak your truth -- A mean margarita -- Epilogue : possibly ever after ...

Summary:

Contemplating the prospect of starting her own family after years of being a devoted godmother, Tessa King is drawn into the more personal aspects of her friends' lives and learns about the challenges of daily parenthood.

Subject(s):

Single women -- England -- London -- Fiction.

Spouses -- England -- London -- Fiction.

Self-actualization (Psychology) -- Fiction.

London (England) -- Fiction.

Geographic Term:

London (England) -- Fiction.

Genre:

Holds:

Available:*

Library	Call Number	Status
Searching... McMinnville Public Library	Adams, C.	Searching... Unknown

Bound With These Titles

On Order

Summary

There's nothing tying her down . . . but maybe that's the problem.

Back from a five-week escape from her obsessive former boss (read: job over, phone number changed, doorman notified), Tessa King returns to London rested and ready to reclaim her life. She has endless possibilities, and a full social calendar with wonderful friends and godchildren who adore her.

But as Tessa begins to look at all their lives, she questions whether having a family can actually guarantee happiness: Helen and Neil, parents to twin boys, are in a seemingly perfect marriage, though it hides dark and twisted secrets. Single mother Billy struggles to make ends meet and can't get over a man who doesn't want her. Happily married Francesca and Nick endeavor to guide their headstrong teenage son. Claudia and Al have everything they need to create the perfect loving family--except a baby. And then there's Ben: best friend, loyal confidant, willing drinking partner, and Tessa's everything--but also Sasha's husband.

Heartwarming, dark, funny, and almost too true to bear, Carrie Adams's extraordinary debut novel speaks to anyone who has wondered about the next step. It reminds us that the challenge in life is to find a direction that is truly our own, and that some fairy tales just aren't fair.

Reviews (4)

Publisher's Weekly Review

While 30-something Londoner Tessa King questions her no-strings-attached lifestyle, she also witnesses her friends' difficulties in marriage and parenthood while playing godmother to their broods. Nick and Francesca battle to keep their sullen teenager out of serious trouble; Billy, a single mom, can't break ties to her now remarried ex-; Helen and Neil, fairy tale parents to twin boys, are hiding something; successful Claudia and Al struggle to conceive; and Ben and Sasha have no plans to have children. But Ben also happens to be Tessa's best friend, and perhaps the love of her life. When tragedy eventually strikes the group, bonds are tested, and Tessa is forced to re-examine what she thinks will really make her happy. A painful look into the fears, doubts and desires that make and break marriages, this debut novel from Londoner Adams is notches up from the usual chick and mom lit fare. (Sept.) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved

Kirkus Review

A perky debut considers whether a Londoner's life of drinking, clubbing and one-night stands is more enviable than her friends' bumpy marriages and parenting woes. Tessa King is single, blonde, gorgeous and popular, although finding dates is getting harder as she doesn't "do married men." Her group of friends is important to her, and she is godmother to most of their children, including Francesca's 16-year-old son Caspar, whom she tries to discourage from his flirtation with drugs. Then there's privileged Helen, who still needs propping up in her struggles with her new-born twins, post-natal depression and a jerk of a husband; and Billy, whose ex-partner is being dishonest about child support. One of Tessa's oldest friends is Ben (now married to Sasha), whom she's known since they were teenagers. Ben doesn't have children but Tessa wishes he did, and with her, except that she is fond of Sasha too and has no wish to break up their happy marriage. Instead, Tessa turns to a new admirer, James King, until she learns he has a wife and two children. When Helen and her husband are killed in a car accident, Tessa has to fight Helen's unpleasant mother over custody of the twins and is forced to confront her own role in her friends' lives. She confesses her feelings to Ben and he declares his love for her too, but eventually Tessa does the right thing and turns him down. Having found a good home for the twins, she resumes her life of work and godmothering--and maybe getting back together with James, who turns out to be separated after all. Unusually child-centered for chick-lit--and considerably too long--but engaging enough. Copyright ©Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.

Booklist Review

Book groups and Anglophiles, take note: Adams has written a fast-paced, witty, and charming novel that will surprise readers with its depth and honesty. Tessa zany, curly-haired, yoga-fit is a highly successful attorney who has been forced by unfair circumstances to leave work. Unburdened for the first time in 20 years, she takes on a busy social schedule, complete with a racy sex life (descriptions are steamy). But what she excels at are her absorbing dedication to friends and her role as godmother to Caspar, a brooding, smoking teen; Cora, a single friend's (often-sick) daughter; and recent additions, twins Bobby and Tommy. She is ready to help at each summon, but the more she gets caught up in the lives of others, the more she realizes that something is missing in her own life. Just when she feels out of sorts, her friends all hit crisis mode, and what starts as a light, relatively chipper read takes a turn to the bitingly realistic. Topped off with a made-for-movie ending, The Godmother is unpredictable and absorbing.--Cook, Emily Copyright 2007 Booklist

Library Journal Review

Tessa King is godmother to four children but desperately wants to be married and have her own family. At least she thinks she does. She's really not sure whether she's ready to give up a swinging London social life full of one-night stands, and, anyway, the man she's been in love with since they were teens is already married. And when she takes a careful look around at her married friends, Tessa begins to see that they aren't living such perfect lives: Neil cheats on Helen, who is exhausted from having twins; Fran and Nick's teenage son is doing drugs; Claudia and Al have lost another pregnancy; and single mom Billy struggles desperately to make ends meet. But when tragedy strikes the group of friends, Tessa gets the chance at what she might want most. This heavy-handed British soap opera is overstuffed with too many characters and overdramatic subplots yet remains unsatisfying. For larger public libraries where British women's fiction is popular.-Rebecca Vnuk, Glen Ellyn P.L., IL (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.