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Sign up todayThe Real Liddy James
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Learn more"Smart and funny . . . Liddy will resonate for readers who love strong, mature women with a bit of Irish fire, as with fans of Cecelia Ahern and Marian Keyes and Maria Semple’s Where’d You Go, Bernadette." --Booklist
A witty and captivating novel about a modern-day superwoman who leans in so far she falls over
Forty-four, fit, and fabulous, Liddy James is one of New York’s top divorce attorneys, a bestselling author, and a mother of two. Armed with a ruthless reputation and a capsule wardrobe, she glides through the courtrooms and salons of the Manhattan elite with ease. What’s her secret? Liddy will tell you: “I don’t do guilt!”
This is the last thing literature professor Peter James wants to hear. Devastated by his divorce from Liddy six years earlier, the two have a tangled history his new partner, Rose, is only just sorting out. But Rose is a patient woman with faith in a well-timed miracle and she’s determined to be sympathetic to Peter’s plight. Together, Liddy, Peter, and Rose have formed a modern family to raise Liddy and Peter’s truculent teen and Liddy’s darling, if fatherless, six-year-old.
But when Rose announces she’s pregnant, Liddy’s nanny takes flight, the bill for a roof repair looms, and a high-profile divorce case becomes too personal, Liddy realizes her days as a guilt-free woman might be over. Following a catastrophic prime-time TV interview, she carts her sons back to Ireland to retrace their family’s history. But marooned in the Celtic countryside things are still far from simple, and Liddy will have to come to terms with much more than a stormy neighbor and an unorthodox wedding if she ever hopes to rediscover the real Liddy James.
Fun, fearless, and full of heart, The Real Liddy James takes a fresh look at the balancing act every family performs. With the deft characterization and sharp wit that made her first novel an international bestseller, Anne-Marie Casey invites us into the ambitions, passions, and misadventures of this extraordinary heroine.
"Witty, clever, elegantly-written, fascinating and wise. I ADORED." --Marian Keyes, internationally bestselling author
"Whip-smart and crackling with energy . . . had me stopping nearly every page to read paragraphs out loud to anyone who would listen. A true delight!" --Elin Hilderbrand, New York Times bestselling author
Anne-Marie Casey is a novelist, screenwriter, and playwright. Her film and TV scripts have been produced in the UK and Ireland and her theatrical adaptations of Little Women and Wuthering Heights enjoyed sell-out runs at the Gate Theatre in Dublin. No One Could Have Guessed the Weather, her first book, was an international bestseller. She is married to the novelist Joseph O'Connor. They live in Dublin, Ireland, with their two sons.
Reviews
Praise for The Real Liddy James:"Whip-smart and crackling with energy, The Real Liddy James had me stopping nearly every page to read paragraphs out loud to anyone who would listen. A true delight!" --Elin Hilderbrand, New York Times bestselling author
"Witty, clever, elegantly-written, fascinating and wise. I ADORED." --Marian Keyes, internationally bestselling author
"Although there are plenty of other novels exploring the consequences of trying to have it all, Casey adds new perspective . . . Liddy’s family history in Ireland and her difficult relationship with her parents offer substance and true understanding to how she became the woman she is today. The language is smart and funny, and the observations are wry. Liddy will resonate for readers who love strong, mature women with a bit of Irish fire, as with fans of Cecelia Ahern and Marian Keyes and Maria Semple’s Where’d You Go, Bernadette." --Booklist
“[The Real Liddy James] is an energetic novel; Liddy's self-deprecating humor makes for chuckles in even the toughest situations. And while Liddy is clearly the protagonist, other characters have interesting triumphs and tribulations as well. . . . Liddy is a memorable character who could easily appear again as The New and Improved Liddy James in Casey's next novel. Let's hope so.” --Kirkus Reviews
"Rife with drama both in and out of the courtroom, infidelity, and more, The Real Liddy James is perfect for fans of women’s fiction with a dose of travel and a strong—and sometimes flailing—female lead." --Library Journal
"Unputdownable for all working moms. Witty and wise." --Cathy Kelly, internationally bestselling author
“Wonderfully funny, brilliantly observed and completely addictive!” --Rosamund Lupton, New York Times bestselling author of Sister and The Quality of Silence
"Original, sharp, funny and timely, The Real Liddy James is a spectacular novel from Anne-Marie Casey, who understands the high wire act every working mother attempts in the circus of life. Your ringside seat to Liddy's big adventure will fill you with joy and empathy as you root for this everywoman, who might as well be your best friend, as she navigates love, parenting, and work in times so demanding you wonder if Liddy will possibly survive them. A dazzling gem." --Adriana Trigiani, New York Times bestselling author of All the Stars in the Heavens
“Liddy's manic success, fueled as much by fear of failure as by ambition, offers rich potential for both humor and sympathy. Readers will enjoy spending time in her tumultuous company . . . [and] will be rooting for this human manifestation of drive and blind determination to stop leaning in and start breathing in. And out. Slowly.” —Publishers Weekly
"Zippy, smart, well-written . . . The great feat of The Real Liddy James is how it manages to be both delicious escapism and refreshingly real. . . . It's a delight to read about Liddy's glossy but stressful work life, and by switching viewpoints--mainly to that of Rose--we get a sympathetic portrayal of the varied attitudes women can have to career, children, and each other." --The Times (UK)
"Brilliant writing . . . Casey's observations of posh New York life are as hilarious as her descriptions of Ireland are poetic, and the central character is wonderful. Liddy is clever, honest, hardworking and well-meaning and you'll root for her like mad." --Daily Mail (UK)
"A wonderfully entertaining take on a modern woman's dilemma in the manic, sparkling world of Manhattan. Liddy James is a fresh, deeply sympathetic character who keeps her coolheaded yet messy life in check until inevitable disaster. Immensely readable, fast-paced, and full of Casey's charming yet acerbic wit, the book is thoroughly engaging all the way through." --Jennifer Kaufman and Karen Mack, bestselling authors of Freud's Mistress and Love and Longing in L.A.
"Energetic and immensely readable . . . Liddy is sure to resonate with readers who like no-nonsense, mature heroines with a bit of bite and a good deal of self-deprecating humour, and the lively pace will suit fans of Marian Keyes and Cecelia Ahern." --Irish Independent (Ireland)
"If you're a fan of The Good Wife and like your Maeve Binchy-esque midlife tomes with a cynical bite, you're in for an existential crisis treat." --Stellar magazine (UK)
“Breakneck and bursting at the seams with all of modern life’s great questions and challenges, The Real Liddy James made me wish my chair had a seatbelt. Anne-Marie Casey has a way of skewering city life with her acute observations.” --Alison Jean Lester, author of Lillian on Life
"A charming and insightful study of one fabulous, forty-something woman." --Jules Moulin, author of Ally Hughes Has Sex Sometimes
"An extremely funny, mischievous tale." --Sunday Independent (UK)
"Smart, funny, and thought-provoking." --The Sunday Mirror (UK)
"Casey can be very funny, but also makes serious points about modern womanhood. Delicious." --Saga Magazine (UK)
"The Real Liddy James is a lively, stimulating piece of fiction, of a kind that revels in the intricacies of small-scale domestic drama. What was good enough for Jane Austen and the Brontes two hundred years ago is celebrated here in its contemporary context today." --Sunday Business Post (UK)
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