An Englishwoman In New York By Anne-Marie Casey

[amazon_link id=”1848548311″ target=”_blank” ][/amazon_link]’An Englishwoman in New York’ is Anne-Marie Casey’s debut novel.

When Lucy’s husband loses his job, forcing her family to give up their plush London townhouse for a pokey apartment in Manhattan, she’s prepared for a culture shock. What she isn’t prepared for is falling in love – not with a new man (she’s surprised to find she still loves the old one), but with New York itself and the three women who against all odds become her friends. Christy, married to a wealthy older man, questions her life choices 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. Then there’s Robyn, bread-winning wife to an aspiring novelist, who has had enough. She wants what her friends are having, even if it means an affair with at least one of not all of their husbands.

‘An Englishwoman in New York’ is a witty and observant story that follows the lives of three very different women as they all deal with problems that they are suddenly faced with, from older partners, lack of money or careers, the story focuses on the women as they all struggle to find their paths in live.

I thought this story was cleverly written and with an array of colourful characters, I was hooked to this cosmopolitan tale. Slightly reminiscent of ‘Sex and the City’, where it lacked in cocktails there was an abundance of troubles that certainly made for entertaining reading. Julia who is career driven is a bit like the Miranda of the story, fiercely independent with a sharp tongue, her passion to succeed was admirable in parts, whereas Lucy played the Charlotte of the book, the English Rose, soft spoken with a strong love for her children and husband, she adapts naturally to the change in her family’s life, moving from London to New York because of her husbands job. She has to give up to some of the finer things in life, adjusting to budgets and settling for the smaller things in life. Quite the sweetheart of the story, I enjoyed scenes with her immensely, as she seemed to blossom as the story develop.

Christy was another interesting character, who dreamt of a better world for herself and her twin daughters, although financially secure with her much older and rich husband, as time goes by she seems to become more aware of the age difference as he battles bad health and she notices attractive men around her. Once comfortable in life, she begins to develop a itch for new things and finally my least favourite character of the story was Robyn, jealous of the lives that the other women lead, she harbours bitter thoughts and illicit affairs.

A wonderfully sharp and juicy debut, that makes for captivating reading, ‘An Englishwoman in New York’ is a story about friendship and reinvention that I was unable to put down!

You can buy [amazon_link id=”1848548311″ target=”_blank” ]An Englishwoman in New York from Amazon [/amazon_link]and is available to buy from good bookshops.