The Goddess Rules

by Clare Naylor

Book Overview

Here's the delightful new novel from Clare Naylor, whose sleeper hit Dog Handling was one of Cosmopolitan's Best Beach Reads for 2002. Fresh and fun, The Goddess Rules is an outrageous, wry, and... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0345470532
• ISBN13: 9780345470539
• Release Date: March 2005
• Publisher: Ballantine Books
• Length: 352 Pages
• Weight: 1.10 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.2" x 5.8" x 8.5"

Customer Reviews

Awesome characters, loved it!

I loved this book! Having read all of Clare Naylor's novels, I think this is one of her best. She has created wholly unique characters in Kate(plain, no-frills painter) and Mirabella(sex goddess celebrity and animal savior) and the chronicle of their growing friendship was a delight to savor. Then there's Louis, the unkempt, adorably rugged, introvert and Leonard, Kate's gay friend and neighbor who's known Mirri since his wilder younger days. All in all, a great beach read!!

Sweet, romantic, fun, and predictable.

I give it three and a half stars. It was so slow to start that I almost gave up, but a few chapters in, the pace picked up. Still not a suspenseful pageturner, but it is a really cute story of "Lessons Learned," in Life and in Love. At the beginning, twenty-eight year old Kate Disney has very little self confidence. She doesn't really believe in her talent as an artist and a painter, or in herself as a beautiful and desirable woman. And Kate's life is in a bit of a rut -- living in a shed, not making a lot of money, dealing with an absolute PRICK of a boyfriend. She's dated Jake for three years, and he's still taking her for granted. He doesn't call for weeks, then he shows sporadically and makes love to her, but otherwise unwilling to be committed. She can't even say to him that he is her boyfriend without him freaking out and running off into the night. And then an amazing and famous former screen siren, Mirabelle Moncour, comes into Kate's life. I am not sure what Goddesses had to do with anything. Gratefully, there is no list of Goddess Rules that Kate Disney is asked to follow. Kate just learns a lot from the beautiful and eccentric Mirri Moncour. She doesn't seek to be a duplicate of Mirri, and the two are so different that Kate hates Mirri at first. But Mirri does know some things about life and love, and gives Kate some good advice: be confident in yourself. With Mirri pushing her, Kate learns to believe in her inner "Goddess" -- the beautiful woman within her -- and that she deserves to be treated like a special and beautiful woman, because every woman is special and beautiful in her own way. The more Kate believes in herself, the better things turn out for her. Kate finally gets the kind of love that she deserves. Of, course, Kate doesn't have perfect judgment, so she still stumbles along the way. And so does Mirri. There are chapters where they both did things that made me cringe. But, overall, their mistakes make them seem more real and human.

Fun and exciting

Kate, ironically enough the daughter of a taxidermist, is a burgeoning painter of animals, making a name for herself in London. She lives in Primrose Hill in the garden shed of a wealthy, eccentric gay man named Leonard. Recently broken up with a cad named Jake, Kate is in the middle of putting the pieces of her life back together, with the assistance of friends and family members. She's really quite an ordinary 28-year-old woman- until she meets screen legend Mirri Moncur. Mirabelle "Mirri" Moncur is a French actress world-famous for her conquests. Now over the age of 60, Mirri has returned to London from hiding in Africa for over twenty years. The actress absolutely adores wild animals, even keeping them as house pets. That's how Kate Disney meets Mirri- one of Mirri's lovers was Kate's present landlord. But that is the kind of influence Mirri has upon men- she can even charm the homosexuals. Mirri swoops into Kate's life by walking in on Kate and her ex boyfriend having sex, announcing that Kate will paint the portrait of her favorite lion cub. Mirri doesn't bother asking for things, because she already knows that she will get them. Kate finds the 1960s sex icon and her eclectic taste in pets a trifle off-putting at first; Mirri having sex in Leonard's back yard with a famous, married A-list celebrity in his thirties doesn't help, either. It eventually proves to be one of the most exciting and interesting commissions Kate has ever done. Then there's the case of Jake, Kate's ex-boyfriend. He's making her life miserable, though she keeps going back to him time and time again for the sex. Within five seconds of meeting him, Mirri has fashioned him a "slug," and turns out to be absolutely right. It proves that, although Mirri seems like a complete flake, she is in reality quite perceptive about the characters of others. The heart of this book lies around the relationship Kate and Mirri have with each other, despite differences in age and life perspective. This compelling tale about being single in the big city is both inspiring and heartwarming. Its too bad this isn't selling that well- The Goddess Rules is a rare and unknown gem that ought to be more widely read.

Fun romantic chick-lit!

I have loved reading Clare Naylor's witty novels since Love: A User's Guide. She has a way to write that draws me in and does not let go until its final pages. Yes, her novels are often predictable, but the manner in which her stories are written more than makes up for their banality. The Goddess Rules is about Kate Disney -- a struggling artist who does not know her place in the world. She lives in a shed in a chic house owned by an eccentric gay friend, is in a revolving door relationship with an unreliable man, and makes a pittance painting portraits of rich people's pets. But when legendary Parisian actress Mirabella Moncur moves into the house, her life isn't the same. While Kate paints a portrait of Mirri's lion cub, she reluctantly listens to the sixty-year-old sex kitten's advice on life and love. Kate does not like Mirri's uninhibited and transparent nature at first, but as her life begins to make sense and she encounters several romantic prospects, she realizes that Mirri is not the arrogant, self-absorbed woman she once thought she was, especially when she discovers something that has haunted Mirri for years. The Goddess Rules was a pleasure to read. I have not read chick-lit this good in a while. Clare Naylor is the only Brit-chick author out of the famous lot of them (Jane Green, Marian Keyes, Helen Fielding) whose work has remained consistent over the years. Her crisp wit and sharp dialogue are terrific. She mixes the usual single-girl-in-London foibles with sweet, heady romance. Naylor's work is not particularly unique per se, but it is nevertheless wonderful. The characters are great. Mirabella is quite a colorful character. The fact that this novel features a beautiful, sexually confident sixty-year-old woman who can make younger men fall madly in love with her makes the book all the more special. The way the character was written makes the aforementioned descriptions quite believable. Kate is the usual dazed and confused twenty-something-going-on-thirty woman going through relationship dilemmas and career woes. However, that is not to say that she is not a terrific character, because she is. I also liked Louis and Jake -- they were very well developed, especially Jake. The one thing I do not like is how the Jake situation was resolved. The aforementioned issue is a loose end that I did not like, especially since the story centered on Kate and Jake for a vast part of the novel. And, like others here have said, the ending is a little too predictable. Then again, I had expected it to be. All in all, The Goddess Rules was a great read and another terrific offering by Ms. Naylor. And I love the book cover. The outside package gives the story justice.

A Fun Read

Clare Naylor's "The Goddess Rules," deals with Kate Disney who paints animals for a living and she lives in a shed own by her late father's friend, Leonard. Kate has a somewhat dysfunctional relationship with Jake who seemed to take advantage of her and who does not treat her well. For some reason, Kate was unable to break it off with Jake, partly because she loved him and partly because she wanted to build a family with him. Kate's life was turned upside down when Mirri, a old actress as well as a sex symbol showed up at Leonard's door step to stay for the summer. Mirri was the exact opposite of Kate and was on Kate's nerve constantly as she was always giving her advice which Kate felt she didn't need. However, Kate realized rather unwillingly that Mirri, in fact, had a thing or two to teach about men. It was quite a predictable read as there aren't many surprises along the way. The strength of this book comes from the development of the characters. The characters had their faults and weaknesses but by the end of the book, they have come to a realization of what's important and became more mature. It was also interesting to read about the relationship between Kate and Mirri and how they have grown to rely on each other for help. Their friendship, I think, was the highlight of this book. This wasn't the best chick-lit I have ever read but it's still better than average.