Homecoming by Cathy Kelly

Title/Author: Homecoming by Cathy Kelly
Publisher/Date published: Gallery Books, July 10th 2011
How I got this book: received it from the publisher as an egalley

Goodreads summary: "Eleanor Levine left Ireland seventy years ago with little more than a suitcase and her mother's handwritten recipe book. Now, a lifetime later, she's returning from New York with hard won wisdom and memories of her own. A renowned psychoanalyst, Eleanor knows there's one final journey she has to make...
Lovely young actress Megan Bouchier didn't have to chase success - it arrived effortlessly. Fame was what she always wanted until a disastrous affair made her the wrong kind of headlines - now Megan needs a place to hide...
Darkly beautiful Rae is a wonderful wife, a loyal friend and a dedicated community carer. From Titania's Tea Rooms she dispenses tea and sympathy to everyone - until a painful secret from her past threatens everything she holds dear.
Big-hearted teacher Connie O'Callaghan has given up on love. She's cheerfully approaching forty and besides, why does no man ever match the heroes in her beloved romantic novels?
As Eleanor re-reads her mother's comforting words and watches life unfold from her window in Dublin's pretty Golden Square, she slowly becomes drawn into the lives of Megan, Rae and Connie. But can treasured wisdom handed down from mother to daughter really be relevant today? And what are the ingredients for a life well lived?"

I jumped at the chance to read the newest Cathy Kelly book as I've devoured her novels in the past. She writes sweet chicklit that both me and my mother enjoy reading.

As you can see from the long summary, there's a lot going on in this book. And reading that summary it made me a bit anxious, cause with so much going on, how can you really get into the characters? Get to really know the main character, since you have 4? I so love to connect with them and I remember that in the past when I read Kelly's novels, I usually only really connected with one of her main characters (she usually has about 3). And this time for me it was Connie I connected to.

Connie is a lovely, caring person who thinks that because she's 39 and single, she's on the shelf for life. She lives with her younger sister and teaches at a girls' school. Of course she falls for the single dad, Steve, living in the same building. I loved Steve's daughter Ella, though I did think she sounded a bit younger than her age.

I enjoyed the stories about the other women as well, except maybe for Eleanor's. Eleanor is the wise older woman (84) who sort of guides these women. I could have done without her character, as I felt she didn't really add to the storyline. At the start of every chapter there were fragments from the book Eleanor's mother had written for her and I could have easily done without them as well. They slowed the story down for me.

The book is over 400 pages and still I had the feeling that some things were rushed. Especially the part where Connie and Steve's romance come in, I would have loved to read more about them together. Connie's story could have been a book in itself, and would have been wonderful in my opinion.

While I enjoyed the book, I didn't feel involved in these people's lives, and the switching point of view made me feel like I was missing things. I enjoyed some of Kelly's previous books more than I did this one.

My rating: 3 stars