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THE PROMISE OF HAPPINESS: A Moving Irish Family Drama About Sisterhood and New Beginnings
Louise McNeill arrives home to the idyllic Irish town of Ballyfergus, hoping that it will provide the sanctuary she desperately craves. Starting again with her three-year-old son Oli, Louise's heart is full of apprehension.
To make matters worse, Louise's sister Joanne seems far from happy as she watches Louise's little family blossom. But as Joanne grapples with her 'perfect' marriage, is everything as idyllic as it seems?
Meanwhile Louise's youngest sister Sian has decided she doesn't want children and wants to dedicate her life to ecological living with husband Andy. But is this a mask to disguise a bigger issue? And is Andy ready to sacrifice parenthood?
Join the McNeill family as they attempt to come together to provide the love and support that they all need, whether they know it or not.
To make matters worse, Louise's sister Joanne seems far from happy as she watches Louise's little family blossom. But as Joanne grapples with her 'perfect' marriage, is everything as idyllic as it seems?
Meanwhile Louise's youngest sister Sian has decided she doesn't want children and wants to dedicate her life to ecological living with husband Andy. But is this a mask to disguise a bigger issue? And is Andy ready to sacrifice parenthood?
Join the McNeill family as they attempt to come together to provide the love and support that they all need, whether they know it or not.
418 pages, Kindle Edition
First published March 1, 2011
20 people are currently reading
157 people want to read
About the author
Erin Kaye
17 books45 followersErin Kaye (real name Patricia Kay) was born in Larne, Northern Ireland in 1966. She studied Geography at the University of Ulster where she met her husband, Mervyn. They married ten days after graduating and moved to Scotland where Erin joined a Scottish bank as a graduate recruit. Ten years later she’d had enough of the long working-hours culture and decided to pack it all in to write her first novel. Mothers and Daughters was published in 2003, followed in 2004 by Choices, Second Chances in 2005, Closer to Home in 2006 and My Husband's Lover in 2008.
Erin lives in North Berwick on the East Coast of Scotland with her husband, two young sons, Ryan and Liam, and Murphy the dog.
Star sign: Scorpio
Middle name: Anne
Parents: Pat and Jim
Siblings: Mary, Janet, Jim and Susan
Erin lives in North Berwick on the East Coast of Scotland with her husband, two young sons, Ryan and Liam, and Murphy the dog.
Star sign: Scorpio
Middle name: Anne
Parents: Pat and Jim
Siblings: Mary, Janet, Jim and Susan
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Displaying 1 - 16 of 16 reviews
August 12, 2017
This book was nice enough - not a challenging and it doesn't leave any loose ends.
The story is about three sisters, Louise, Joanne and Sian. Each sister is facing her own relationship challenges. Louise, after making the decision consciously to become a single mother, moves home to Ballyfergus. She clashes with the more conservative members of her family for her "non-traditional" family unit. Joanne has been married for years to the father of her three daughters but feels as though her husband is slipping away. The baby of the family, Sian, is preparing to marry her fiancé, Andy, but faces a difficult situation when she and Andy cannot agree about if they want children.
The frustrating thing that I found about this novel were the obvious double standards which are too often applied to women. If a man is a philanderer, it's barely commented on. But if a woman is involved in an adulterous affair, it is treated as so much worse. I should have known that I'd find some of the characters grating - on page 6, the narrator tells the reader that Louise "liked to look her best, of course, and had not, like some other mums she knew, let herself 'go'". For all that the main character seems meant to be progressive, she spends most of her time doubting her ability to be all that her son needs and looking for someone to fill the father role for her child.
The story is about three sisters, Louise, Joanne and Sian. Each sister is facing her own relationship challenges. Louise, after making the decision consciously to become a single mother, moves home to Ballyfergus. She clashes with the more conservative members of her family for her "non-traditional" family unit. Joanne has been married for years to the father of her three daughters but feels as though her husband is slipping away. The baby of the family, Sian, is preparing to marry her fiancé, Andy, but faces a difficult situation when she and Andy cannot agree about if they want children.
The frustrating thing that I found about this novel were the obvious double standards which are too often applied to women. If a man is a philanderer, it's barely commented on. But if a woman is involved in an adulterous affair, it is treated as so much worse. I should have known that I'd find some of the characters grating - on page 6, the narrator tells the reader that Louise "liked to look her best, of course, and had not, like some other mums she knew, let herself 'go'". For all that the main character seems meant to be progressive, she spends most of her time doubting her ability to be all that her son needs and looking for someone to fill the father role for her child.
July 12, 2012
I enjoyed this book. The author is able to share the character's thoughts quite conversationally in real language and in the ways people (women) actually do think ... I thought at times of a character "gosh she's really torturing herself" then realised I do exactly the same thing!
The story is about 3 sisters whose lives and relationships with their men and children are the central theme ... with break-ups, new relationships born, and plenty of dramas along the way. It was a light & refresing read and it is LOVELY to read a book with a happy ending :-) Thanks for the loan, Sandie :-)
The story is about 3 sisters whose lives and relationships with their men and children are the central theme ... with break-ups, new relationships born, and plenty of dramas along the way. It was a light & refresing read and it is LOVELY to read a book with a happy ending :-) Thanks for the loan, Sandie :-)
May 11, 2015
I quite liked this novel. It was light and easy to read in spite of several characters anguish about their situations.
The ending was resolved fairly easily - almost too easily - but that didn't detract from the fact that I was looking for a pleasant read and this was it.
April 1, 2021
I really liked the journey and relationship between the three sisters and how they supported one another throughout the book.
April 14, 2022
This is the first book I have read by this author, so When I first picked it up, I thought it would be another chick lit, but I felt it had more depth. The story was about 3 sisters, so there happened to be lots of drama just as the main character came back home . Which made it a good read about your typical family dramas.
July 26, 2011
Erin Kaye came to my attention last year when I saw the beautiful green cover for her novel The Art of Friendship. I managed to get my hands on a copy, though I haven’t yet read it (oops). I saw Erin was due a new book out in July this year called The Promise of Happiness and I thought the novel sounded interesting and I accepted the chance to review the novel. It has a beautiful, summery cover and the synopsis made it sound like a good family saga, so I settled down to read it hoping it would live up to my expectations.
The back cover of The Promise of Happiness says that the novel is perfect for fans of Maeve Binchy and Cathy Kelly. I’ve not read any of Maeve’s novels and only one of Cathy’s and after finishing this book I’d say they were right. From what I’ve read of reviews of Maeve and Cathy’s books, their novels are slower than most Chick Lit novels (even erring onto the Women’s Fiction side). The Promise of Happiness is not the novel you want if you like your Chick Lit fast paced with heroines who lunge from one catastrophe to the next (in the most endearing way possible). I’m generally not a big fan of the slower more family-oriented novels but for the most part I liked The Promise of Happiness. It’s definitely not my kind of book (it’s only now, two years on from reading Chick Lit that I really know my ‘kind’ of read) but I enjoyed it nonetheless.
I did have some issues over the book, I did think Louise worried a lot over her son, Oli. Not allowing him sweets, not allowing him to watch TV, it’s obviously the ‘thing’ now for kids to watch no TV and to not eat sweets (I think) because it’s borderline illegal (that’s a joke, as far as I’m aware kids are still allowed to watch TV and eat sweets, it just depends on the ‘rents). I don’t want to get all up on Erin Kaye for writing Louise like that because that is the way children are treated now it seems. Unlike when I was a kid (which wasn’t that long ago!) things have definitely changed and I do find it hard to swallow when I read of a mother who consistently talks about healthy living. It might be proper and real, but I watched TV and ate sweets as a kid and many people would say I’m doing a-ok. I haven’t murdered anybody, I’ve never been arrested, I’m not a TV addict (honestly) or a food addict (honestly) and to me, I do think parents nowawadays are more PC over everything. I mean a bag of Maltesers isn’t going to make Oli fat, but Louise pours him a few in a bowl and chucks the rest away. It was a bit too OTT for me, that. On the other hand, though, Erin presents the opposite of Louise as her sister Joanne allows her kids to watch TV and things, so I suppose both sides of the coin are presented (and I infinitely preferred Joanne’s parenting method).
Considering Joanne, Louise and Sian are all sisters, I’ve never met three people to be such opposites of each other (can three be considered opposites? Well they are for the purpose of this review). Louise was a very strict-ish parent, Joanne let her kids get on with it whilst Sian didn’t want kids. If there’s one thing I hate reading about in fiction, it’s eco-warriors. I understand the world is crumbling (allegedly), I understand global warming is happening (allegedly) but I don’t want to hear about it in fiction. If the world is going to end, quite honestly, it will end whether or not there are eco-warriors about, honest. Well, that’s what I think anyway. I found Sian’s constant campaigning that people shouldn’t have kids because it’s “overpopulating” to be crass. You tell your sister she’s selfish because she decided to have a baby because it means one more person in an already full (apparently) world? I don’t want to see the people who live their lives ecologically sound beat the people who don’t across the head. It could perhaps be wrong of me to not want to read about eco-people, but honestly? It bores me. I don’t want to read a long chapter on better living. Nothing would put me asleep faster, although for the most part I did find Sian’s chapters to not be as heavy as I expected them to be.
I did find the book to be very readable, despite the long chapters and slow pace. It wasn’t a terrible book and I’ve mentioned the issues I had with the novel and balanced them out with the other side of the argument. It would be debateable if I’d try another of Erin’s novels. I’ve definitely learned recently that I prefer my Chick Lit with more pace to it, rather than the more mundane (to me, before I offend anyone) family dramas. The Promise of Happiness will indeed be one that many people enjoy and I’d definitely say that my reading experience was positive of the book. Erin Kaye’s writing style is fairly easy to follow, and moves along nicely, too. The characters were diverse (as I’ve mentioned) and the separate choices each sister has to deal with were interesting, as they had to compromise and make big decisions. I did guess what Joanne’s husband Phil was up to. It was blindly obvious to me, so much so that I was surprised Joanne didn’t see it. I’d definitely recommend this to Cathy Kelly fans, they’ll really lap it up!
The back cover of The Promise of Happiness says that the novel is perfect for fans of Maeve Binchy and Cathy Kelly. I’ve not read any of Maeve’s novels and only one of Cathy’s and after finishing this book I’d say they were right. From what I’ve read of reviews of Maeve and Cathy’s books, their novels are slower than most Chick Lit novels (even erring onto the Women’s Fiction side). The Promise of Happiness is not the novel you want if you like your Chick Lit fast paced with heroines who lunge from one catastrophe to the next (in the most endearing way possible). I’m generally not a big fan of the slower more family-oriented novels but for the most part I liked The Promise of Happiness. It’s definitely not my kind of book (it’s only now, two years on from reading Chick Lit that I really know my ‘kind’ of read) but I enjoyed it nonetheless.
I did have some issues over the book, I did think Louise worried a lot over her son, Oli. Not allowing him sweets, not allowing him to watch TV, it’s obviously the ‘thing’ now for kids to watch no TV and to not eat sweets (I think) because it’s borderline illegal (that’s a joke, as far as I’m aware kids are still allowed to watch TV and eat sweets, it just depends on the ‘rents). I don’t want to get all up on Erin Kaye for writing Louise like that because that is the way children are treated now it seems. Unlike when I was a kid (which wasn’t that long ago!) things have definitely changed and I do find it hard to swallow when I read of a mother who consistently talks about healthy living. It might be proper and real, but I watched TV and ate sweets as a kid and many people would say I’m doing a-ok. I haven’t murdered anybody, I’ve never been arrested, I’m not a TV addict (honestly) or a food addict (honestly) and to me, I do think parents nowawadays are more PC over everything. I mean a bag of Maltesers isn’t going to make Oli fat, but Louise pours him a few in a bowl and chucks the rest away. It was a bit too OTT for me, that. On the other hand, though, Erin presents the opposite of Louise as her sister Joanne allows her kids to watch TV and things, so I suppose both sides of the coin are presented (and I infinitely preferred Joanne’s parenting method).
Considering Joanne, Louise and Sian are all sisters, I’ve never met three people to be such opposites of each other (can three be considered opposites? Well they are for the purpose of this review). Louise was a very strict-ish parent, Joanne let her kids get on with it whilst Sian didn’t want kids. If there’s one thing I hate reading about in fiction, it’s eco-warriors. I understand the world is crumbling (allegedly), I understand global warming is happening (allegedly) but I don’t want to hear about it in fiction. If the world is going to end, quite honestly, it will end whether or not there are eco-warriors about, honest. Well, that’s what I think anyway. I found Sian’s constant campaigning that people shouldn’t have kids because it’s “overpopulating” to be crass. You tell your sister she’s selfish because she decided to have a baby because it means one more person in an already full (apparently) world? I don’t want to see the people who live their lives ecologically sound beat the people who don’t across the head. It could perhaps be wrong of me to not want to read about eco-people, but honestly? It bores me. I don’t want to read a long chapter on better living. Nothing would put me asleep faster, although for the most part I did find Sian’s chapters to not be as heavy as I expected them to be.
I did find the book to be very readable, despite the long chapters and slow pace. It wasn’t a terrible book and I’ve mentioned the issues I had with the novel and balanced them out with the other side of the argument. It would be debateable if I’d try another of Erin’s novels. I’ve definitely learned recently that I prefer my Chick Lit with more pace to it, rather than the more mundane (to me, before I offend anyone) family dramas. The Promise of Happiness will indeed be one that many people enjoy and I’d definitely say that my reading experience was positive of the book. Erin Kaye’s writing style is fairly easy to follow, and moves along nicely, too. The characters were diverse (as I’ve mentioned) and the separate choices each sister has to deal with were interesting, as they had to compromise and make big decisions. I did guess what Joanne’s husband Phil was up to. It was blindly obvious to me, so much so that I was surprised Joanne didn’t see it. I’d definitely recommend this to Cathy Kelly fans, they’ll really lap it up!
Read
June 30, 2011It's a family affair…
Louise McNeill arrives home to the idyllic Irish town of Ballyfergus, hoping that it will provide the sanctuary she desperately craves. Starting again with her three-year-old son Oli, Louise's heart is full of apprehension.
To make matters worse, Louise's sister Joanne seems far from happy as she watches Louise's little family blossom. But as Joanne grapples with her 'perfect' marriage, is everything as idyllic as it seems?
Meanwhile Louise's youngest sister Sian has decided she doesn't want children and wants to dedicate her life to ecological living with husband Andy. But is this a mask to disguise a bigger issue? And is Andy ready to sacrifice parenthood?
Join the McNeill family as they attempt to come together to provide the love and support that they all need – whether they know it or not. Perfect for fans of Maeve Binchy and Cathy Kelly
Louise McNeill arrives home to the idyllic Irish town of Ballyfergus, hoping that it will provide the sanctuary she desperately craves. Starting again with her three-year-old son Oli, Louise's heart is full of apprehension.
To make matters worse, Louise's sister Joanne seems far from happy as she watches Louise's little family blossom. But as Joanne grapples with her 'perfect' marriage, is everything as idyllic as it seems?
Meanwhile Louise's youngest sister Sian has decided she doesn't want children and wants to dedicate her life to ecological living with husband Andy. But is this a mask to disguise a bigger issue? And is Andy ready to sacrifice parenthood?
Join the McNeill family as they attempt to come together to provide the love and support that they all need – whether they know it or not. Perfect for fans of Maeve Binchy and Cathy Kelly
August 5, 2011
Single Mum Louise McNeill and her son Oliver has ,made a fresh start
and moved from Edinburgh back home to Ballyfergus Joanne (her sister)
has found her a flat, she is shocked at how much her Mum’s health has
deteriorated but she will be able to help out a bit more with her
parents. However she is going to have to look for a job as she needs
the income.
Joanne is stressed with her life and children is her marriage in
trouble?
Sian is the youngest she is engaged to Andy they are both Eco Warriors,
and they don’t want children. But do they really want the same things?
I loved this book from the pretty cover to the end, it was easy to read
and follow, I would definitely recommend.
and moved from Edinburgh back home to Ballyfergus Joanne (her sister)
has found her a flat, she is shocked at how much her Mum’s health has
deteriorated but she will be able to help out a bit more with her
parents. However she is going to have to look for a job as she needs
the income.
Joanne is stressed with her life and children is her marriage in
trouble?
Sian is the youngest she is engaged to Andy they are both Eco Warriors,
and they don’t want children. But do they really want the same things?
I loved this book from the pretty cover to the end, it was easy to read
and follow, I would definitely recommend.
August 4, 2012
Loved this book, could'nt wait to pick it up and read it, when it was quiet, really a lovely book..
December 14, 2012
Positively fabulous - loved every page.
November 8, 2012
This book was good.. I guess. It was mostly about family, relationships and starting over.
It's not that I didn't like this book but I would've prefered to read something more interesting.
It's not that I didn't like this book but I would've prefered to read something more interesting.
December 3, 2012
A lovely heart warming story, lots of twists & turns that keep you guessing almost to the end about how their stories/lives are going to turn out.
July 14, 2013
Just lovely!!! I'll be getting all her other books!
November 1, 2014
I just loved this book. Loved the sisters friendsips and the three stories. well written and witty as always. sad im done
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August 10, 2016It took me awhile to get into to be honest I enjoyed it though and would recommend it
May 19, 2024
An easy read nothing too challenging 😊
Displaying 1 - 16 of 16 reviews