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The Best Kind: A Novel
Funny and poignant, The Best Kind charts the triumphs and heartaches of a motley cast of women you won’t soon forget.
Rose McNally hails from a long line of Newfoundland women who’ve been practically bred to put everyone else’s needs first. Self-care is as foreign a concept to Rose as expecting anything other than a life of misery is to her mother. Margaret has tried everything under the sun to make her eldest daughter see the sense in putting up with the hand you’re dealt and is just about out of her mind with Rose’s foolish claptrap notions of life fulfillment and purpose. Despite a legendary effort to blaze her own trail to contentment, Rose finds herself staring down her 40th birthday as an unemployed, overweight wife and mother, contemplating an affair that will destroy her marriage, the one thing she’s managed to get right until now.
Just as Rose starts to believe her mother’s life philosophy may be best after all, she learns her beloved grandmother, Hannah, is much sicker than anyone realized. On her deathbed, Hannah relives the mortal sin she committed more than seventy years ago. She’s sure she can save Rose from making the biggest mistake of her life, but must decide if revealing the secret upon which the McNally family is built is too big a price to pay.
As Rose and Hannah reveal the desperate measures they have taken to find love, they uncover the damage inflicted by keeping secrets and discover the redemptive power of memory and forgiveness. The Best Kind, rooted in quirky Newfoundland culture, is a wild ride that will have you laughing and crying in equal measure.
“Two very different voices are satisfyingly written….a tight, compelling story of generations living out torment and passing wisdom to the next. A work of women’s fiction that is truly a standout.”
Diane Donovan, The Midwest Book Review
Rose McNally hails from a long line of Newfoundland women who’ve been practically bred to put everyone else’s needs first. Self-care is as foreign a concept to Rose as expecting anything other than a life of misery is to her mother. Margaret has tried everything under the sun to make her eldest daughter see the sense in putting up with the hand you’re dealt and is just about out of her mind with Rose’s foolish claptrap notions of life fulfillment and purpose. Despite a legendary effort to blaze her own trail to contentment, Rose finds herself staring down her 40th birthday as an unemployed, overweight wife and mother, contemplating an affair that will destroy her marriage, the one thing she’s managed to get right until now.
Just as Rose starts to believe her mother’s life philosophy may be best after all, she learns her beloved grandmother, Hannah, is much sicker than anyone realized. On her deathbed, Hannah relives the mortal sin she committed more than seventy years ago. She’s sure she can save Rose from making the biggest mistake of her life, but must decide if revealing the secret upon which the McNally family is built is too big a price to pay.
As Rose and Hannah reveal the desperate measures they have taken to find love, they uncover the damage inflicted by keeping secrets and discover the redemptive power of memory and forgiveness. The Best Kind, rooted in quirky Newfoundland culture, is a wild ride that will have you laughing and crying in equal measure.
“Two very different voices are satisfyingly written….a tight, compelling story of generations living out torment and passing wisdom to the next. A work of women’s fiction that is truly a standout.”
Diane Donovan, The Midwest Book Review
295 pages, Kindle Edition
First published October 5, 2015
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Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews
July 28, 2017
I really enjoyed this book! Im not sure where I found this little gem, but Im so glad I did. Im sure alot of the enjoyment came from the fact that I, too, am a NL woman, and to read that the Author was from St. Bernards was another treat as I am from the Burin Peninsula as well. The beginning was a little iffy for me but once I got into it, I loved the stories of both Hannah and Rose. The dialect, the mention of so many familiar places was great as well. But beyond its "Newfoundland-ness" there is a story familiar to many women, of feeling low self worth, that our lives are not how they could or should be. But wound up in these stories is a great humor and in many places I laughed out loud. Great work, Rhonda Hackett!!
August 28, 2022
My wonderful second cousin is the author of this book and reading it provides me with a sense of connection to the side of my family that I never got to be close with as my dad moved from NL to start a family in Ontario. Recommend to anyone looking for a comfortable fun read!
December 13, 2015
The story centres around Rose McNally, who is about to turn 40. The birthday feels like a milestone to her, and it sends her into a bit of a spin. She's a likeable character, though I often wonder how characters in books, like Rose, can be parents and yet never spend five minutes actually parenting their kids. She also spends no time at all with her husband. Rose seems to spend more time out drinking and dancing with her friends than she does anything else.
Rose is tempted by a man for whom she has been carrying a lusty torch for years, despite being married to the best guy on the planet.
Rose's story is told simultaneously with that of her grandmother, Hannah. Hannah also had decisions to make regarding men, love, and lust when she was much younger than Rose. The differences in the options open to women in the two different time periods are remarkable, and yet many attitudes remain the same. The setting for the story works to support the two tales as well. Rose lives in St. John's, NL, the only large city in the province, whereas Hannah lived in a small, tight-knit, religious community. As a side note, St. John's is my home town and it was delightful to see parts of the city highlighted in this story.
I found Hannah's voice more compelling and believable than Rose's, but the two stories work together nicely. I also very much enjoyed the bond between these two women.
Rose is tempted by a man for whom she has been carrying a lusty torch for years, despite being married to the best guy on the planet.
Rose's story is told simultaneously with that of her grandmother, Hannah. Hannah also had decisions to make regarding men, love, and lust when she was much younger than Rose. The differences in the options open to women in the two different time periods are remarkable, and yet many attitudes remain the same. The setting for the story works to support the two tales as well. Rose lives in St. John's, NL, the only large city in the province, whereas Hannah lived in a small, tight-knit, religious community. As a side note, St. John's is my home town and it was delightful to see parts of the city highlighted in this story.
I found Hannah's voice more compelling and believable than Rose's, but the two stories work together nicely. I also very much enjoyed the bond between these two women.
July 22, 2016
This was a great read and laugh out loud funny.
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews