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The Things We Do for Love
One crisp September evening art teacher Audrey Matthews sits alone in room six at Carrickbawn Senior College, wondering if anyone is going to sign up for her Life Drawing for Beginners class.
By eight o'clock six people have arrived. Six strangers who will spend two hours together every week until Halloween, learning the fine art of life drawing.
Nobody could have predicted on that cold autumn day the profound effect the class would have on its students and their lives.
Least of all Audrey, the biggest beginner of all, who is to discover that once you keep an open mind, life - and love - can throw up more than a few surprises ...
By eight o'clock six people have arrived. Six strangers who will spend two hours together every week until Halloween, learning the fine art of life drawing.
Nobody could have predicted on that cold autumn day the profound effect the class would have on its students and their lives.
Least of all Audrey, the biggest beginner of all, who is to discover that once you keep an open mind, life - and love - can throw up more than a few surprises ...
368 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 2011
83 people are currently reading
315 people want to read
About the author
Roisin Meaney
44 books386 followersBorn on 3rd September.
A published author of twenty books for adults and three for children, Roisin worked as an advertising copywriter for a number of years, and brings a vast amount of experience to the editing team. Her first novel, The Daisy Picker, won a Write a Bestseller competition. Her third novel, The Last Week of May reached number one on the Irish bestseller list and her fourth, The People Next Door reached number two. Her books have been translated into several languages, and two, Semi-Sweet and Life Drawing for Beginners, have been published in the US. She is currently working on her next book, which is scheduled for publication in autumn 2023. She is also plotting another children's book - shhhhh.
A published author of twenty books for adults and three for children, Roisin worked as an advertising copywriter for a number of years, and brings a vast amount of experience to the editing team. Her first novel, The Daisy Picker, won a Write a Bestseller competition. Her third novel, The Last Week of May reached number one on the Irish bestseller list and her fourth, The People Next Door reached number two. Her books have been translated into several languages, and two, Semi-Sweet and Life Drawing for Beginners, have been published in the US. She is currently working on her next book, which is scheduled for publication in autumn 2023. She is also plotting another children's book - shhhhh.
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Displaying 1 - 26 of 26 reviews
October 30, 2011
Earlier this year I tried Irish author Roisin Meaney for the first time. I picked up her novel Half Seven on a Thursday really cheap when I was in England in 2010 and when I read it, I thoroughly enjoyed it. It had a lot going on, sure, but once I got into the novel it was easier than I expected to juggle all the characters and plots going on. So when I was asked if I’d like to review her latest novel The Things We Do For Love, I said yes because I thought it sounded brilliant. I spent my weekend reading it and I can report it is a really good read.
The Things We Do For Love is another somewhat chaotic novel. I do think the word chaotic sums up Roisin’s novels nicely as there’s a lot going on. The novel spans six weeks broken up into weekly sections and then further broken down into daily chapters, chronicling the lives of the folks in the novel. It’s a good approach, actually, and it’s good to see how people’s lives can change in such a short time. Instead of having one big plot, the book has many. However the one thing most of the characters have in common is Audrey Matthews’ life drawing class. That’s how they all meet, or that’s how they all end up interacting eventually. It’s the catalyst for the novel, its the novels focal point, if you will.
As for the many subplots there are a lot. There are at least 10 main characters with many lesser-but-still-important characters and, I admit, it took me a long time to remember who everybody was and how they all connected. How they came into whose story, how they added to the book, but it’s safe to say that by the time I reached the halfway point of the novel I had a faint grasp of who everyone was and how they all impacted the novel. There were a few characters and stories that I preferred over others. I like Zarek and his Polish contingent, how he was trying to make it in a new country; I liked Audrey and her new dog, Dolly; I liked Michael Browne and the story he had with Carmel and Barry; I liked Fiona’s story, too and Jackie was a favourite. There were parts I could have done without, too. I wasn’t a fan of Meg, not really, finding her ungrateful. Anne’s story was probably the most intriguing as she tries to cope with being single all of a sudden and I felt that hit home the most, but the story I wanted more of and could have happily continued reading about was the Michael/Carmel/Barry story.
It’s almost as if the novel was many smaller stories, like vignettes. Like a film, where you see the characters going about their own business, interacting with other characters and then have it all come together as the characters lives start overlapping. With so many characters and stories to keep up with it was difficult to feel involved with the characters. However the ones who made an impact on me, who I liked, were Audrey, Michael, Carmel, Jackie and Zarek. Irene and Meg didn’t really speak to me, both seeming somewhat cold and selfish. However it was a nice large cast of characters and their stories and their lives and how it all crossed over was excellent. Roisin Meaney weaved an excellent story and managed to keep it all going chapter by chapter. I did find the ending a bit abrupt. I would have liked to have seen an Epilogue of some kind, set a year or two later, maybe. However I thoroughly enjoyed reading the novel. It was excellent and I look forward to reading more from Roisin in the future!
The Things We Do For Love is another somewhat chaotic novel. I do think the word chaotic sums up Roisin’s novels nicely as there’s a lot going on. The novel spans six weeks broken up into weekly sections and then further broken down into daily chapters, chronicling the lives of the folks in the novel. It’s a good approach, actually, and it’s good to see how people’s lives can change in such a short time. Instead of having one big plot, the book has many. However the one thing most of the characters have in common is Audrey Matthews’ life drawing class. That’s how they all meet, or that’s how they all end up interacting eventually. It’s the catalyst for the novel, its the novels focal point, if you will.
As for the many subplots there are a lot. There are at least 10 main characters with many lesser-but-still-important characters and, I admit, it took me a long time to remember who everybody was and how they all connected. How they came into whose story, how they added to the book, but it’s safe to say that by the time I reached the halfway point of the novel I had a faint grasp of who everyone was and how they all impacted the novel. There were a few characters and stories that I preferred over others. I like Zarek and his Polish contingent, how he was trying to make it in a new country; I liked Audrey and her new dog, Dolly; I liked Michael Browne and the story he had with Carmel and Barry; I liked Fiona’s story, too and Jackie was a favourite. There were parts I could have done without, too. I wasn’t a fan of Meg, not really, finding her ungrateful. Anne’s story was probably the most intriguing as she tries to cope with being single all of a sudden and I felt that hit home the most, but the story I wanted more of and could have happily continued reading about was the Michael/Carmel/Barry story.
It’s almost as if the novel was many smaller stories, like vignettes. Like a film, where you see the characters going about their own business, interacting with other characters and then have it all come together as the characters lives start overlapping. With so many characters and stories to keep up with it was difficult to feel involved with the characters. However the ones who made an impact on me, who I liked, were Audrey, Michael, Carmel, Jackie and Zarek. Irene and Meg didn’t really speak to me, both seeming somewhat cold and selfish. However it was a nice large cast of characters and their stories and their lives and how it all crossed over was excellent. Roisin Meaney weaved an excellent story and managed to keep it all going chapter by chapter. I did find the ending a bit abrupt. I would have liked to have seen an Epilogue of some kind, set a year or two later, maybe. However I thoroughly enjoyed reading the novel. It was excellent and I look forward to reading more from Roisin in the future!
October 18, 2013
Storia carina, ma troppi protagonisti che si intrecciano fra loro.. alla fine si rischia di fare un gran casino.
Finali diversi e non banali. :)
Finali diversi e non banali. :)
August 18, 2017
Great
Excellent read, am'd expect nothing less from Roisin. She's an amazing writer and I can't get enough of her books!
Excellent read, am'd expect nothing less from Roisin. She's an amazing writer and I can't get enough of her books!
March 28, 2019
Light read with nice characters but would have liked more solid endings for their stories
January 26, 2020
My favorite of her books so far. Very well paced story, well developed characters and good plot. Really kept me turning pages.
January 15, 2018
This is a wonderful tale of a group of disparate characters brought together for an adult life drawing class. Not only are we invited in to their lives as the class progresses but also one or two peripheral characters that are somehow inexorably entwined in the tale. There is no overt laying down of many of the characters but somehow you "get" them as they unfold on the page.
I'm not quite sure exactly how Ms Meaney achieves this but there is a clarity of purpose such that plot and character flow effortlessly on to the page and you feel somehow as if you are viewing the whole tale rather than reading it. There are no overtly contrived scenes to move the plot along but there are things that are glaringly obvious from the get go - like Audrey's burgeoning romance, right from the get go you know how that one will turn out.
The characters that populate the pages are a good rang of age and personality type with all of them having their own secrets, of the mainly small variety it must be said - just as flesh and blood people do and this is something that is often missed in paper and ink people.
What amazed me was how much I enjoyed a book that is, essentially, about nothing. The plot really is just everyday life and it is entirely charming and believable. The nastinesses of life are never overlooked so there are harsh things that happen (or happened in the past but have indelibly affected the character) to some of the characters but this just adds to the fullness of time and place.
If you can't tell I thoroughly enjoyed this book and am looking forward to raiding the back catalogue of this particular author.
I'm not quite sure exactly how Ms Meaney achieves this but there is a clarity of purpose such that plot and character flow effortlessly on to the page and you feel somehow as if you are viewing the whole tale rather than reading it. There are no overtly contrived scenes to move the plot along but there are things that are glaringly obvious from the get go - like Audrey's burgeoning romance, right from the get go you know how that one will turn out.
The characters that populate the pages are a good rang of age and personality type with all of them having their own secrets, of the mainly small variety it must be said - just as flesh and blood people do and this is something that is often missed in paper and ink people.
What amazed me was how much I enjoyed a book that is, essentially, about nothing. The plot really is just everyday life and it is entirely charming and believable. The nastinesses of life are never overlooked so there are harsh things that happen (or happened in the past but have indelibly affected the character) to some of the characters but this just adds to the fullness of time and place.
If you can't tell I thoroughly enjoyed this book and am looking forward to raiding the back catalogue of this particular author.
March 18, 2020
Lovely story telling
This is a lovely book, very much in the style of Maeve Binchy. It is set in Ireland and revolves around a small group of people attending a life drawing class. It took me a while to remember who was who, but their stories ended up being interwoven across several different threads. This was a very pleasing book to read and I didn't want it to end. Particularly likeable was Audrey, the class teacher, I would love a follow up book to see how things ended up for her.
This is a lovely book, very much in the style of Maeve Binchy. It is set in Ireland and revolves around a small group of people attending a life drawing class. It took me a while to remember who was who, but their stories ended up being interwoven across several different threads. This was a very pleasing book to read and I didn't want it to end. Particularly likeable was Audrey, the class teacher, I would love a follow up book to see how things ended up for her.
October 4, 2017
Nice little read
Nice little read, not grabbing your attention what happening next. Lots of characters struggling for identification. Abrupt ending! Inoffensive so could recommend on that level.
Nice little read, not grabbing your attention what happening next. Lots of characters struggling for identification. Abrupt ending! Inoffensive so could recommend on that level.
May 24, 2018
Warm, funny and poignant
This was a very good read. The characters lives interwoven in a most interesting way, what is it they say six degrees of separation. Loved it.
This was a very good read. The characters lives interwoven in a most interesting way, what is it they say six degrees of separation. Loved it.
August 26, 2018
This was a nice book. Nice story, nice characters (in the end) and a nice ending.
April 9, 2020
I really enjoyed this one.
May 20, 2021
A pleasant read.
Reminds me of Maeve Binchy.
Reminds me of Maeve Binchy.
Read
April 9, 2025Dnf
September 27, 2018
UN INTRECCIO DI SOFFERENZE
Uno dei migliori intrecci di storie di cui abbia mai letto, il cui esito è innegabilmente prevedibile, ma comunque ricco di emozioni. Molte recensioni, tuttavia, lamentano l'esorbitante quantità di personaggi e, in effetti, soltanto farne un elenco provoca la nausea: Audrey, Anne, Fiona, Zarek, James, Irene, Michael, Jackie... E forse ho anche dimenticato qualcuno! Ma, ve lo assicuro, ognuno di essi ha alle spalle una vicenda personale così particolare, così diversa da quelle degli altri, che lo spaesamento iniziale non dura che un secondo. A fare da filo conduttore sono invece il dolore e la sofferenza con cui essi sono costretti ogni giorno a fare i conti.
Sarà un corso di disegno dal vero a legarle le une alle altre, queste sofferenze, le quali, dopo una trama ricca di avvenimenti, di tematiche essenziali (il tradimento, la gravidanza, la paternità, l'omosessualità...) e di occasioni di commozione, troveranno pian piano il loro posto, dando al romanzo il senso auspicato fin dall'inizio.
Uno dei migliori intrecci di storie di cui abbia mai letto, il cui esito è innegabilmente prevedibile, ma comunque ricco di emozioni. Molte recensioni, tuttavia, lamentano l'esorbitante quantità di personaggi e, in effetti, soltanto farne un elenco provoca la nausea: Audrey, Anne, Fiona, Zarek, James, Irene, Michael, Jackie... E forse ho anche dimenticato qualcuno! Ma, ve lo assicuro, ognuno di essi ha alle spalle una vicenda personale così particolare, così diversa da quelle degli altri, che lo spaesamento iniziale non dura che un secondo. A fare da filo conduttore sono invece il dolore e la sofferenza con cui essi sono costretti ogni giorno a fare i conti.
Sarà un corso di disegno dal vero a legarle le une alle altre, queste sofferenze, le quali, dopo una trama ricca di avvenimenti, di tematiche essenziali (il tradimento, la gravidanza, la paternità, l'omosessualità...) e di occasioni di commozione, troveranno pian piano il loro posto, dando al romanzo il senso auspicato fin dall'inizio.
September 16, 2016
I'm not sure if the author does this on purpose but I always feel sort of sad when it ends and not because it ends too soon, but because there is no resolution its abrupt.
I do think the writing is good, its a bit more substantial than a normal chick lit novel but I don't enjoy it as much as something a little fluffy?
I don't love the characters, there are so many stories intertwining (which is something I do enjoy) that it can be difficult to keep up with who is who, who is related to whom and so on. I like the fact stories intertwine because it makes things interesting, its interesting to see or rather read how everyone knows everyone else (we all know this to be true!) And I appreciate how hard it was to write this and keep track but its just too tough when there is so many people. I think just two or three less and some resolutions(!!) would have made this story a lot easier to read and a lot more enjoyable from my perspective!
I do think the writing is good, its a bit more substantial than a normal chick lit novel but I don't enjoy it as much as something a little fluffy?
I don't love the characters, there are so many stories intertwining (which is something I do enjoy) that it can be difficult to keep up with who is who, who is related to whom and so on. I like the fact stories intertwine because it makes things interesting, its interesting to see or rather read how everyone knows everyone else (we all know this to be true!) And I appreciate how hard it was to write this and keep track but its just too tough when there is so many people. I think just two or three less and some resolutions(!!) would have made this story a lot easier to read and a lot more enjoyable from my perspective!
February 26, 2015
At first I found it really difficult to get into this book and took ages to get past the first 60 pages. However after that, once the links has started to be made and I could work out the connections between characters I began to enjoy it more and more and towards the end even speculate what might happen next which I didn't think I'd be doing at the start.
Overall I enjoyed the plot twists and the writing was intelligent in a way that had me really liking a character in one persons point of view and disliking them again from someone else's point of view, which I really enjoy and so appreciated this aspect of the book. However due to the rocky start I didn't grow as attached to the characters as I felt I could have but would recommend this to people who like to see things come together as a bigger picture and romantic themed books.
Overall I enjoyed the plot twists and the writing was intelligent in a way that had me really liking a character in one persons point of view and disliking them again from someone else's point of view, which I really enjoy and so appreciated this aspect of the book. However due to the rocky start I didn't grow as attached to the characters as I felt I could have but would recommend this to people who like to see things come together as a bigger picture and romantic themed books.
October 27, 2013
One of those books with storylines going on with difference characters, and there is eventually some connection between them. I particularly liked the storyline with Michael and the girl who insisted she was the girlfriend of his late son and that her young son Barry was therefore his grandson. A great read, my first by Roisin and certainly not the last.
August 1, 2014
With a multitude of characters at the start I expected to be confused by the intertwining stories & plots but the story was well told and the outcomes cleverly thought out. Really enjoyed this - it was really lovely and the characters were delightful.
July 29, 2012
A lovely story with interesting structure. There are surprises, but all believable! Pulled me right in.
August 20, 2014
Bella la copertina, ma poco pregnante con il libro. Storia un pò così. Banale.
December 2, 2013
Some times you deserve to read a little sweet thing like this. I really enjoied it.
give-up
February 14, 2014Dopo 164 pagine mi sono dovuta fermare. I personaggi sono troppi e nemmeno poi così interessanti. In più è noioso e lento.
December 22, 2014
Very light but enjoyable
May 4, 2016
Troppi personaggi....troppa confusione. Ci si perde di continuo!!!
December 2, 2016
It was an amusing interlude. Very easy to read.
September 4, 2014
Didn't not want to put it down , wanted to see where the characters would take you. Great .
Displaying 1 - 26 of 26 reviews