The Trouble with Catherine

I *really* liked this book. I kept on carrying it with me, catching small moments to keep reading because I was so enthralled with the story. The main character is very appealing, and a wonderful change from all the "independent" female figures who just crumple into a tepid, traditional and trite charicature of a middling everywoman at the end of their journey. As a semi-regular reader of chick-lit, I'm all too familiar with this procedure - where the protagonist goes off to find herself, and discovers that she really is happy with so many of the mainstream conventions that she snubbed in the past. Now that she's seen the light, she gets to maintain a quirk or two to prove that she hasn't succumbed to the tyranny of the majority. However, she's really just a cookie cutter mold with slightly different icing.Sorry if that was overly bitter about other books that have failed to live up to their beginnings. But this story was great not simply because it didn't fall down as others have. It is worthy of praise in its own right, simply because the story is original without being contrived and the characters are gripping. True, many of the supporting ones could have been developed more than they were, but this isn't Dickens.A nicely rewarding treat when I was expecting pure fluff!

Catherine Lacey is one savvy, street-wise, competitive, feisty woman. She swims easily among the (male) sharks in her life, manages a wholesale fish business, dresses like a man, deals with restaurants, with advertising moguls, photographers, and models. In fact, she can do just about everything except give up control. She cannot let herself be vulnerable and she can't manage a long-term relationship. So what will she do as the biologic clock is ticking ahead and all her friends are getting married?The "plot" as outlined by the other reviewers is somewhat beside the point. She settles all too quickly on Mr. Right, begins to have doubts, goes through a long and agonizing reappraisal, makes peace with her parents after years of family warfare, and-- well-- begins to grow up. Meanwhile she is drinking too much, staying up too late, spinning her wheels, and fighting to stay in control.Author Hruby is a masterful writer who brings this complex character to life in a wonderful, deep way. By the end of the book I felt I had made a new friend--yes, a difficult friend,--but one with a deep inner beauty. It was a great opportunity. I recommend this book highly. Reviewed by Louis N. Gruber

Funny, the "negative" quality that bothered other readers is the very thing that drew me in to The Trouble With Catherine. Does that make me a sourpuss? I don't think so. What Hruby recognizes is that the most interesting characters in fiction and life are the ones whose flaws are apparent rather than hidden beneath layers of mannered insincerity. It takes a certain amount of bravery to walk out on that ledge, risking the scorn of people who prefer the pretty surfaces of things. I'm looking forward to Hruby's next effort.

Hruby's first novel is a winner! She has found the heart and soul of a woman who is fiercely independent, and shared it with her readers. Catherine is a woman who struggles with her sense of self because society has dictated the rules, but she doesn't fit. She is the square peg and the world around her is the round hole. No matter which way she turns or who she tries to please she is distinctively herself, much to her fiancee's chagrin. As the story moves on, we are witness to her family and friends, all who support her and love her as she struggles to figure out who she is and what she wants. Every woman needs a safety net such as this underneath them, and Hruby brings it home.

I picked up this book expecting another one in a long line of books I've recently read that follow the "Bridget Jones" line of thinking....woman on the verge of 30, being threatened by the fact that all her friends are getting married, etc etc etc. What I read surprised me. 'The Trouble with Catherine' is a heartfelt, honestly written, funny book. Hruby expertly goes beyond the surface story and really gets the nuances of her characters down. Unlike some female characters in recent novels who play at being an "independent woman" while secretly yearning for husband and babies, Catherine embodies the "independent spirit" which makes her life that much more difficult to find a man who can equal her without being threatened. I look forward to Ms. Hruby's next book!