The Importance of Being Me

Format: ebook via Netgalley
Tissue warning: I don't think so
HEA: yes
Triggers: none
Narrative: first person, following Courtney
My reviewer rating: 4 out of 5
Recommend read: yes, refreshing adult fiction
Published: June 29, 2017

The author, Ms. Grace-Cassidy, has done a wonderful job in writing a truly refreshing adult fiction novel. There's no sex thrown in there just to sell more copies to a certain demographic. The relationship with Courtney and Tony the builder is real. No instalove here, folks. Thank goodness! There's no violence. There's no hard angst. The topics are relevant to this time, even.

The blurb is slightly misleading to me. To me, there isn't a true "crisis" with Susan. There's a moment where Courtney feels she needs to step up and mother the child, but that's understandable. Nothing tragic or impending doom lies ahead, and that's a good thing. Any circumstance other than all the mess Courtney and Claire feel they had on their plate would have been overkill.

I truly enjoyed this story.

full review at www.iseeyoursmile.com

Three and a half, I thought this was going in a different direction, stars.

Courtney is a divorced mother of a fifteen year old daughter, Susan, living in Dublin. Her ex-husband David left Courtney to live with a beauty therapist called Mar-Nee. Ever since David left Courtney, Susan has been uncommunicative and recalcitrant. Courtney has been offered a fantastic temporary to permanent job opportunity in St Ives, Cornwall by her boss but she is hesitant to accept the offer given her family circumstances.

When I read the blurb for this book I assumed (yeah, I know what they say about people who assume) that this would be broken down one-third of the book with Courtney in Dublin explaining her situation then two-thirds in Cornwall making a new life for herself. The reality was that 64% into the book on my Kindle and she was still in Dublin!

Whilst I enjoyed this book I felt it was trying to be too many things. With a women's book set in Dublin the comparisons to [author:Marian Keyes|6104] are unavoidable, the descriptions of Mar-Nee and David felt very much like her kind of work. This was also an Eat, Pray, Love kind of journey (and I hated that film) for Courtney as she stops living life for her daughter and starts living for herself. There's a lot of cooking, every other page Courtney is whipping up mushroom vol-au-vents for the relentlessly vegetarian Susan.

I think my biggest problem with this book was Courtney. As a 51 year old woman I don't understand why a 38 year old woman living in a large city with an office job acts like an 80 year old when presented with technology. I agree I don't 'get' Snapchat, but I have an iPad, an iPhone and I regularly use various kinds of social media. Crikey, even my 78 year old parents have iPads and are on Facebook. Courtney was also a bit obsessive about Susan and tried to hover over her 24/7 whilst also being a doormat and allowing Susan to dictate their lives. As several people told her, you are the parent, not her BFF, you have to set the rules but no, Courtney just let Susan do whatever she wanted.

Overall, I was hoping for more self-discovery in Cornwall, less of the irritating Susan, more of the delicious sounding Tony Becker, and Granny Alice's recipe for seafood linguine of course!

well written solid read

what a great book happy/sad and LOL moments .another successful and beautifully written book by one of my fave authors

A grown-up story about a grown up trying very hard to be grown up in a new direction. Caroline Grace-Cassidy has created an interesting group of characters led by Courtney Downey, a late thirties divorcee from Dublin who is finding out that life can move in different directions if you just take a chance.

Courtney, right from the start, does not seem that upset about losing her husband to a very botoxed plastic Mar-nee. She wasn't that surprised that her husband strayed and certainly did nothing to stop the situation but she is not that thrilled with the life she now finds herself living. Of particular concern is her relationship with her teenage daughter who seems to be slipping away from her and going to the dark side (well the place that Mar-nee and the ex-husband hang out). Fortunately, Courtney has people in her corner especially her best friend, Claire, and the two of them escape to Cornwall when Courtney is offered a job opportunity there. This works well for awhile even allowing Courtney to find a new lease on love but life, of course, is never that easily fixed and Courtney does find herself heading back to Dublin to sort out her daughter, Susan, whether she wants to be sorted or not.

I had a love-hate relationship with some of the characters and Courtney, herself, really frustrated me in places. I just wanted her to take chances more and really love her life. I think this is actually what the book did well because you did become very invested in what was happening. I did find the first third of the book needed to move a little faster for me but overall it was a really good story with lots to like. Well worth opening up the cover and diving in.

Courtney has devoted her life to her daughter Susan, but since her divorce Susan seems to want to spend more time with her father and his new partner Mar-nee who has a beauticians salon and is gradually pulling her away from her mother. Courtney doesn't know which way to turn, her previous easy relationship has gone and whatever she does starts a row, coupled with this her job want her to go to Cornwall for three months in the summer and she wont go unless Susan comes too and she is adamant that she wont......should she give up the opportunity of a life time!

When Susan decides that she wants to live with her father for the summer and work in the salon and Claire, Courtney's best friend needs to get away it seems like the decision is made and the two of them set off for St Ives for a summer in the sun. They soon fit in and Courtney is definitely taken with the hunky builder Tony who has been renovating their office....but can she let go of everything and build a life with him or will one phone call from Susan set her running back to Dublin and her old life?

A good story showing there is life after your children! Loved the descriptions of Cornwall, my favourite part of the country, and the great characters that they met and became friends with

The Importance of Me is the latest novel from Irish author Caroline Grace-Cassidy and is another cracker of a read from her which explores the tricky period following a divorce, and the complicated relationships that ensue between ex-spouses but especially in this instance between single mum Courtney and her teenage daughter Susan.

As the blurb says Courtney is given a great opportunity at work which would involve moving away for a couple of months but it's a difficult decision to make as she has others to consider as well as herself. I have to admit that at first I really wanted to shake Courtney and get her to stand up for herself as she was letting everyone, especially Susan, treat her as a doormat. But this was a story of three parts which showed how sometimes we need to take a step back and take a look at our lives to re-evaluate what we want out of life.

Part one was an introduction to Courtney, her family and best friend Claire and how both Courtney and Claire came to be at this unhappy stage in their lives. But it took the death of a beloved family member for Courtney to finally stand up for herself and do something that she wants to do and not just to please others.

What follows was a metamorphism of sorts as we follow Courtney's relocation to Cornwall where she fits right in with the lifestyle and rediscovers an old passion that gives her food for thought as to whether she could really start all over again at 38. But what would that mean for her relationship with her daughter if she doesn't return home?

At the same time we get a brief glimpse into the life of teenager Susan which explains why she was acting out the way she was. Not only was she having to cope with the after effects of her parents divorce, which makes her feel that she has to choose between her mam and her dad, but she's also desperately unhappy at school and suffering with lack of self-esteem due to the pressures of trying to fit in a modern day life that's filled with social media.

Another thought-provoking read that will make you realise that is OK to be selfish sometimes and take some time out to be you.

This is a book every woman - and especially every mum - should read - possibly several times.
It's a book for every woman who has ever felt taken for granted by her family - mostly especially her children (and let's face it, children have a habit of being terribly selfish creatures), or who has felt a yearning to rediscover her identity, or felt under-appreciated in work or finds herself unexpectedly single a little bit later in life and wondering whether it is worth the effort of even thinking about starting again.

Caroline Grace Cassidy is very skilled at cutting through the noise to get to the heart of a story - a story that will no doubt resonate with many women (as did her previous novels, especially her last book 'The Week I Ruined My Life' ).
She tells the story of Courtney Downey - newly single, desperate to cling on to the 'love of her life' (Her 15 year old daughter) and wondering how she lost her joie de vivre along the way - brilliantly. The addition of her quirky but vulnerable friend Claire adds to this brilliantly - as both women face personal crises in their lives.

It would be easy for a book such as this to slip into maudlin rhetoric littered with inspirational quotes and cliches - but what Caroline does in this book is interject the serious moments with laugh out loud humour, with stunning surroundings, and with much talk of mouth watering-ly delicious meals. (Can I be chief dessert taster, thank you very much?).

The women are real - flawed and funny and the story is a balm for the soul.
This book hits of a few punches along the way but remains gloriously predictable in that you just now our heroine is going to find herself and her happy ending - making this the perfect, uplifting summer read.
Do yourself a favour and pack this in your holiday case - and enjoy every deliciously crafted word.

Gosh, if ever a book was the right one at the right time, then The Importance Of Being Me was the one for me. Parts of this book felt like it could've been written straight from my own life, as Courtney navigates the tricky world of teenager daughters seemingly drifting away and finding yourself at a certain age and thinking "and now what?"

Thirty Eight year old Courtney Downey is at a crossroads. She's been offered a job in Cornwall, a place she really loves and something she really wants to do. However, her daughter Susan, is dead set against it. But then, Susan is dead set against everything about Courtney these days, and is spending more and more time with her Dad and his new girlfriend, Mar-Nee. When Susan says she want to go and live with them, heartbroken Courtney is faced with a choice. Is it time she put herself first, and in doing that will she actually get her daughter back?

Ok, so my I'm not planning on moving away from my own, younger teenage daughter, but there was just something so recognisable in this relationship that I connected to Courtney right away. I've been having my own difficulties with my teen, and Caroline Grace-Cassidy captured the distancing, frustration, worrying and complete and utter bewilderment I find myself feeling at times. I also really got Courtney's need to do something for herself and learn who she is again, having recently experienced some similar feelings as my older child left home for uni and my youngest spends less and less time with me.

I loved the relationship between Courtney and best friend Claire. It was just so perfectly written, with the sharing of troubles, laughs, cake and wine. Reading their get togethers and chats felt like I was there with friends myself. I felt pain and frustration for Courtney as Susan shuns her for her Dad's new partner, and also pretty angry when neither of them backed Courtney up, making her situation with Susan even more difficult in my opinion. There's a section towards the end of the book that really struck a chord with me, when Susan tells her mum her feelings of anxiety and lack of self esteem, and they discuss social media. This is such a real issue for teenage girls these days, and like Courtney I've been finding it difficult to always understand. Caroline Grace-Cassidy explains it beautifully from Susan, and I really took something from this myself.

What I really enjoyed about this book though was the journey of self discovery that Courtney embarks on and thought it was inspiring. When Courtney realises that to make other people happy, she needs to be happy herself, she throws herself into something new and challenging. There's a romance to enjoy too in this book, and it's convincing, fresh and one readers can easily get behind. The Importance Of Being Me is an excellent portrayal of modern mother and daughter relationships and a coming of age story for child and parent alike. It's honest, funny, painful and uplifting all at once and I thoroughly enjoyed it.