Bookends by Jane Green

Synopsis :

Total opposites, always together and both unlucky in love. Cath is scatty, messy and emotionally closed and Si is impossibly tidy, bitchy and desperate for a man of his own. They live near each other in West Hampstead, close to their other best friends, Josh and Lucy – who are married, with a child called Max and a terrifying Swedish nanny, Ingrid.

When Portia steps back into their lives – beautiful Portia, the undisputed queen of their group at university, who broke their collective hearts one night and from whom they have all gradually silently, grown apart – her reappearance sets off a chain of events that tests Cath and her friends to the limit.  Does Portia have a hidden agenda, or is she looking for happy endings all round?  Whatever the answers, none of them could have predicted the outcome....

Jane Green writes fairly good novels. She’s not the best there is but she’s up there among some of the key players of such female fictions. Her books are not the type that you would be dying to complete in one sitting but can take your time over. They are not that memorable but a good read that give you a satisfying buzz.

I enjoy Bookends which is also the name of the bookstore Cath opens with Lucy.  I really enjoy the the closeness these friends have with one another and they consider each other their ‘family of choice’. The story is told from the perspective of Cath and you can read of her love and concern she has for her ‘family’ but having commitment phobia herself.  Si (who reminded me of Finton of Last Chance Saloon) is really cute and upbeat and adorable.  I love Lucy too (pun intended :) but Josh has no impression on me at all.   I aslo felt that Portia’s part in this whole scheme of things is slightly overated and too much credit is given to her for the part that she played.  The story is about all of them and the things they go through in one period of their lives and the fairy tale ending they are after.

Overall, it’s an enjoyable book.