The O’Hara Affair by Kate Thompson

The O’Hara Affair tells the story of three entirely different woman who all reside in the quiet village of Lissamore, which suddenly becomes the centre of the universe when Holywood comes to shoot the film “The O’Hara Affair” and everyone crowds to the sleepy seaside village all hoping for glimpses of the cast.

Living in Lissamore are three women, all completely different in personality and the lives that they lead.

French Fleur O’Farrell, seems to have it all, with owning an unique boutique carrying vintage labels that have all women of the village and far around want to be seen wearing, but unfortunately with the credit crunch, not everyone has the budget for the exquisite fabrics and labels, but nevertheless with a rich lover on hand, she manages to get by. But one day she decides to venture into a virtual world and create a new persona and discovers that not everyone is as straight forward as they may appear.

Dervla Vaughan moved to Lissamore to escape the rat race after giving up her career as an estate agent. She and her husband Christian build their dream house, hoping to relax whilst she tries to write a buyers guides for houses, but then Christian’s mum, Daphne moves to Lissamore after being diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease. When Christian is called away on business and Daphne’s carer away on holiday, Dervla is then left with caring for Daphne, who is hard work and demanding, leaving Dervla to question her very own sanity.

And finally there is Bethany O’Brien, who is a quiet girl but a dreamer and is completely unaware of how pretty she is, until she visits Madame Tiresaia at the Lissamore Fair who convinces her to follow her dream of acting and to enrol in an acting school and to be more confident. So she manages to secure a place as an extra in the film and begins to make new friends.

She also then ventures in the virtual world of Second Life just like Fleur and meets a boy who has the potential to be the one, as he behaves like her Prince Charming, she easily falls for the boy claiming to be Hero. But also like Fleur, she discovers that everything is not as it seems and how easy it is to deceive people online.

This book was an interesting read, as all three women are so different. I haven’t read a Kate Thompson book in a while, the last one I read by her was under her pseudonym “Hard to Choos” and I loved it.

The O’Hara Affair is a funny, sweet read where everyone has a happy ending. Kate has created so many wonderful characters in this read, that sometimes it was hard to keep up with them all! I particularly loved Bethany as I joined her on her adventure from quite, naive girl to a confident, outspoken woman. A wonderful read from another great Irish author.

You can buy [amazon_link id=”1847561004″ target=”_blank” ]The O’Hara Affair on Amazon [/amazon_link] and other good bookshops.