Cover the Butter

by Carrie Kabak

Book Overview

In this modern-day Alice in Wonderland novel, a 40-something housewife who falls down the rabbit hole and revisits her childhood, learns a lot about life and herself along the way.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0451218353
• ISBN13: 9780451218353
• Release Date: May 2006
• Publisher: New American Library
• Length: 355 Pages
• Weight: 0.70 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.8" x 5.3" x 8.0"
• Age Range: 18 years and up
• Grade Range: Postsecondary and higher

Customer Reviews

Touching, Humorous and Engrossing

This is a wonderful story about an English woman named Kate who married a guy named Rodney and had a son named Charlie. Unfortunatly Rodney wasn't the right man for her, actually he wouldn't be the right man for for anybody, unless, of course, your idea of the perfect beau is more into sport than he is into you. Set in the 70s and the 80's we see Kate Kadogan struggle through her marriage and through her seemingly never ending relationship with her dysfunctional parents. Fortunately she has grandparents who she loves and who love her back. If only she cold she could get away from the husband who likes cricket much more then he likes her. Maybe she can? This is a humorous and touching story that kept me totally engrossed. I found Kate sympathetic, was rooting for her throughout the book. And I guess I don't have to say what I thought about hubby dear, but I will say this, you won't like him either and that very fact that Ms. Kabak writes characters you can cheer for and loath tells you that this is a very good people study and a very good book.

Spectacular debut

One Sunday, Kate Cadogan Fanshaw decides that her life is long overdue for a change. She's 44 and miserable in a life that is nothing like the one she once dreamed of having. As Kate looks back on the past 30 years, she remembers her mother's constant control and her father's constant attempts to keep his little girl to himself. She remembers her dreams of being a caterer. She remembers the men in her life-who betrayed her trust. And she remembers her two best friends, Ingrid and Moira, who were there by her side through it all. Most of all, she remembers her life with Rodney, who came along at a low point in her life and offered her stability. While he gave her a beautiful little house to take care of-and a beautiful son, Charlie-he never gave her the love and attention she needed. Kate decides that it's time to take control of her life for the first time-to follow her dreams and finally find happiness. It's never too late, she realizes, to start over. This spectacular debut is an insightful journey through Kate Cadogan's life. It's so full of heart and emotion that it's nearly impossible to detach yourself from it. Kabak creates a wonderfully genuine heroine-one that you'll both relate to and feel for...one who will feel as real as your best friend. (I'll admit that, on more than one occasion, before going to bed at night, I set down the book and had to remind myself that I was angry with Kate's husband-not mine.) You'll laugh with her, you'll cry with her, you'll learn from her, and you'll inevitably see a bit of yourself in her. Cover the Butter is skillfully written with passion, energy, and just the right amount of humor. It's a delight to read.

A "TOUCHING" BOOK BY A TALENTED NEW AUTHOR!

What an unusual title for such a "touching" book! Ms. Kabak is a terrific writer who breathes new life into her characters with every stroke of her pen (click of her computer keyboard?). Her main character, Kate, has special meaning for me because a very dear friend struggled through similar situations with the men in her life. This author hit on a universal theme to which many women will relate, and she brings Kate's story to a satisfying conclusion with wit, charm, and a keen understanding of the frailties and strengths of the human spirit. I highly recommend this book by this insightful new talent who has a unique gift for description. I will follow her career with interest.

Welcome new voice in women's fiction

A brilliant first novel, COVER THE BUTTER is superbly written and filled with humor, crisp dialogue, and clear-eyed descriptions that will leave the reader gasping with pleasure. Kabak doesn't merely tell you about Provence; she takes your hand and leads you so close you can smell the lavender and feel the sun on your skin. Her unique voice and poignant prose will linger in your mind long after you've turned the last page. I can't remember the last time I enjoyed a book as much as this one, and I look forward eagerly to Ms. Kabak's next novel.

Best book I've read all year...

COVER THE BUTTER, Carrie Kabak's exquisite debut novel, examines the buoyancy of the human spirit. After finding her lovingly restored home in shambles from her teenaged son's party (a rollicking yet poignant scene that alone is worth the price of admission), Kate takes a searing look back at how her life, too, has come to be such a mess. Belittled by her domineering mother, failing to find an ally in her feckless father, Kate struggles to make her own voice heard beneath the white noise of everyone else's demands. Kabak's writing brings alive even the most prosaic objects (I defy anyone to find better descriptions of décor and food, for example) but her gifts are most evident in her rendering of human relationships. Kate's interactions with her mother, Biddy, are by turns horrifying, hilarious and heartbreaking; Kabak perfectly captures the mother-daughter dynamic, the tangled knot of loyalty and knowing when to let go. Kate's relationships with the men in her life are drawn with equal force and a keen wit-most notably the scenes with Rodney, her priggish yet sexually peculiar husband. ("His hair stuck up in tufts and I tried to find it endearing," Kabak writes. "I tried to yearn for the touch of those thin lips that bristled with a moustache the texture of coconut husk.") Kabak's voice is so vibrant and achingly personal I felt as if I'd known her heroine for years, and her story-and ultimate redemption-stayed with me long after I turned the last page. Carrie Kabak is a brilliant new talent, and I eagerly await her next effort.