Lessons in Heartbreak

by Cathy Kelly

Book Overview

From #1 bestselling Irish novelist Cathy Kelly, one woman's journey to truly know the family she's always loved...Lessons in Heartbreak.

Izzie Silver--a warmhearted Irishwoman with a mane of chestnut hair and a zest for life--is a New York success story, a highly successful booking agent at a top-notch modeling agency. But while she dreams of starting an agency for plus-sized models, at heart she's still the convent schoolgirl...

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1416586245
• ISBN13: 9781416586241
• Release Date: February 2009
• Publisher: Gallery Books
• Length: 448 Pages
• Weight: 0.60 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.2" x 5.3" x 8.2"

Customer Reviews

I Loved It!

Did we all read the same book? I am suprised at the mediocre reactions to this book! I love it so much! I read it in a day and a half. And this is a thick book! I have always been a Cathy Kelly fan. (I am so glad that her books are now available in the US so easily. I used to have to buy imports!) Cathy Kelly's books are always good, in my opinion. As usual, the irish setting attracted me, but beyond that, I really felt the story was so well written. I enjoyed hearing about the main character, Izzie and her struggle with heartache. The novel also includes the romances of her Aunt and Grandmother, which I found enchanting.I love the settings switches from current day Ireland to WWII England. I would describe this book as a "family saga".There were so many twists and turns and flashbacks. I would not consider this book as chick lit. As with all of Kelly's previous books, I really enjoyed Lessons in Heartbreak.

Another engrossing Cathy Kelly book

I've read other Cathy Kelly books, my favorite being Just Between Us, so I knew she was a good writer before I ordered Lessons in Heartbreak. Once again, this story drew me in, hooked me, and wouldn't let go until the end. Yes, it's about a distasteful subject to most married women (which I am): infidelity. The main character Izzie Silver is involved with a married man and can't seem to get herself untangled. Is there any good excuse for allowing yourself to be seduced by a married man? Not really. But life is never cut and dried. Ms Kelly paints a very vivid picture of the angst a woman of morals would suffer when she allows herself to be caught in this sort of situation. I was also charmed by Izzie's grandmother Lily. By her strength and her understanding. Ms Kelly smoothly transitions between the past and the present, telling the grand-daughter Izzie's story and the grandmother Lily's. Infidelity is seen from several viewpoints. From the mistress's and from the wife's. I think it's a book worth reading for any woman. No matter what side of the situation you're on.

A good read. Part modern heartbreak, part historical romance.

I liked the different intersecting storylines of this book. Instead of feeling choppy as many multi-plotted stories do, these went together to compare and contrast love and loss, modern days versus days gone by, and societal class differences. I liked the characters, the story, and the ending, though I felt that Izzie's story lacked the resolution I'd have liked it to have. I'd have liked to see a glimmer of her own lifemate, as her grandmother found at the end of her story. It was a good read, simply put.

www.booksandchat.com says - A Super Read, but have tissues handy!

Lessons in Heartbreak by Cathy Kelly This is a novel of lessons, of what it feels like to be the betrayed and be the betrayer. This is about how you have no choice in who you fall in love with, but you do have a choice in how it turns out. You just need to find the strength within your self. The novel starts with Izzie Silver, a nearly 40-year-old woman who works for a New York modeling agency but has dreams of opening her own "plus" sized agency. She falls for Joe Hansen mega rich and supposedly 'separated' from his wife of many years. There is Izzie's Aunt Anneliese, a woman who is suffering from severe depression and the betrayal of he husband with her best friend. Then there is Lily - the family's matriarch, a nonagenarian that has her own deep secrets to keep. What I adored about this novel is it did not really paint anyone as truly `the bad guy' or overly naïve. The author did not try make us overly sympathetic with the person making the poor choices. Ms Kelly kept these actions clear to us that they were not the characters best choices and she did not try to ply us with the "love" card. Ms Kelly never once glossed over anything that might make us uncomfortable, nor did she beat us over the head with any kind of message. You did leave the book knowing that there was a message but it was a gentle `take it or leave it' sort of message. Oh and I want to warn you...you may, as I did, need a handful of tissues during some parts of this book. HOWEVER, the last 60 or so pages I dare you to read without shedding a tear or two! ( or like I did, outright sobbing).

fantastic family drama

Booking agent Izzie Silver has come a long way from convent school in Tamarin, Ireland as she has made it in Manhattan as a successful booking agent. Still the Irish expatriate is not satisfied with how far her career has come as she hopes to one day open her own agency for plus-sized models. Her only setback is falling in love with charming financier Joe Hansen, who happens to be married. With her prime advisor nonagenarian Grandma Lily hospitalized with a stroke Izzie turns to Aunt Anneliese in Tamarin for help. Anneliese has her own heart issues. Despondent, she has learned her husband is having an affair with her best friend. Thirty seven years of marriage and he betrays her though she tries to hide her feelings of rage and hurt. The aunt and her niece find Lily's 1930s and 1940s diaries that describe the family matriarch also suffered from heartbreak. LESSONS IN HEARTBREAK is a fantastic family drama that focuses on three generations of females with relationship issues. The lead trio is fully developed although much of what we know of Grandma comes from her diaries and the observations of her daughter and granddaughter. The rich character study contains brilliant spins as Grandma back before and during WWII, and Anneliese and Izzie in the present are obtaining advanced degrees in "How to Mend a Broken Heart" (the Beegees). Harriet Klausner