Anne-Marie Casey

"Liddy James is forty-four, fit, and fabulous. One of New York's top divorce attorneys, a bestselling author, and a mother of two, she glides through the courtrooms and salons of the Manhattan elite with ease. Despite a devastating divorce from her first love, literature professor Peter James, Liddy, Peter, and Peter's sympathetic new partner Rose have formed a modern family to raise Liddy and Peter's truculent teen and Liddy's adorable, if fatherless, six-year-old. With her lonely and impoverished New Jersey childhood far behind her, to the outside world Liddy's life is perfect. Until it isn't"--

The Real Liddy James

'Smart, funny and thought-provoking.' Sunday Mirror Everyone who meets her thinks they know Liddy James. A single mother of two, she is one of New York City's top lawyers (with the ruthless reputation and capsule wardrobe to match) and seems to juggle her complicated life with ease. Her work is all-consuming, her divorce was devastating, her sons are playing up and she's forgotten what more than five hours sleep a night feels like, but still - here she is - on top of the high wire. Until she isn't. When a series of unexpected events culminate in a catastrophic incident on prime time TV, Liddy realises the act is over. She decides to take some time off with the boys and retrace her family's history in Ireland. But being marooned in the Celtic countryside is by no means an instant fix, and it is not until Liddy has encountered a stormy neighbour, an unorthodox wedding and a very surprising guest, that she remembers how to be The Real Liddy James.

This homage to the charm and romance of New York is a coming-of-age novel for grown-ups that will appeal to readers of Helen Fielding's Bridget Jones's Diary, Allison Pearson's I Don't Know How She Does It and Melissa Bank's Girl's Guide to Hunting and Fishing. When Lucy's husband loses his job and is relocated to New York, she is forced to give up her posh London life and move to a tiny Manhattan apartment. Homesick and resentful at first, Lucy soon finds herself embarking on an exhilarating new affair - no, not with her husband, although she is surprised to find they do still love each other, but with the city itself and the three women she meets at the school gates who, against all odds, become her friends. Christy, married to a wealthy older man, questions her life choice as she fantasizes about her doorman and tries to make peace with her angry stepdaughter. Julia is a workaholic television writer who becomes convinced her family is better off without her, until a neighbour's dog makes her re-think everything. Meanwhile Robyn, bread-winning wife to an aspiring novelist, has had enough. She wants what her friends are having - even if it means an affair with at least one, if not all, of their husbands . . . In the tradition of Melissa Bank's The Girls' Guide to Hunting and Fishing, with shades of Sex and the City, An Englishwoman in New York is the perfect coming-of-age novel for grown-ups. This book is published in the US under the title No One Could Have Guessed the Weather 'Very smart, very savvy and very very funny' Rosamund Lupton, bestselling author of Sister 'Fabulously clever, brilliantly observed' Cathy Kelly 'Readers will find themselves on these pages and revel in the connection . . . I loved it' Adriana Trigiani, bestselling author of The Shoemaker's Wife

An Englishwoman in New York

“If you loved The Girls’ Guide to Hunting and Fishing, this book is right up your alley.”—Isabel Gillies, New York Times bestselling author of Happens Every Day A KIRKUS REVIEWS BEST BOOK OF THE YEAR! From the author of The Real Liddy James comes a novel about how the middle part of your story might just be the beginning… After her husband loses his job, Lucy has to leave behind her posh life in London and settle into a tiny East Village apartment. Now she’s a middle-aged mother in the midst of hipsters, homesick and resentful until she embarks on a new love affair—with New York City and three new friends. Julia has left her family for a mini breakdown and a room of her own. Trophy wife Christy is a bit adrift, as only those who live in penthouses can be. Robyn is constantly compensating for her wunderkind husband who can’t seem to make the transition to adulthood. And all of them are starting to learn that what you want in your twenties isn’t always what you need in your forties… Includes a readers guide

Anne-Marie Casey

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