I randomly chose this book at the public library because I was intrigued by the title. It turned out to be an enjoyable, entertaining novel. ( )

Kate is a doormat - I totally sympathise - my relationship with my mother was not quite extreme in my teens but close and we have all compromised to please family instead of ourselves at some point. There were moments when I wanted to smack Kate but a lot of the time I laughed instead. Full of pathos and humour its an easy read. ( )

When first we meet Kate Fanshaw, she's a woman with one broken spirit. Back from a weekend trip with her aloof and inconsiderate husband, Rodney, she finds her lovely English home in a shambles -- and all at the hands of her teenage son, Charlie. Bottles are strewn about; urine puddles on the floor. And after a disastrous weekend spent trying to "reconnect" with her boorish husband, Kate has definitely had it.

We know where she is now.

Just not how she got there.

Carrie Kabak's Cover The Butter is the story of one woman's coming-of-age: the twists, turns and broken relationships that brought her to that wrecked kitchen in what was once her marital home. We're introduced to her controlling and manipulative mother, Biddy; her mousy but attentive father, Tom; her Scottish grandparents, the true heroes of this story, Mamgu and Griff; and Kate's best friends from school, Moira and Ingrid. We travel back in time to when Kate was a teen herself, standing complacently as Biddy ordered her about. Trying to please her mother. Trying to get her mother's attention.

Kabak's novel is, first and foremost, an exploration of motherhood -- and what it means to be a mother and a daughter. And Biddy? Well, she isn't a very good one. The entire length of the book, Biddy dangles her approval over Kate's head like a balloon: visible but always out of reach. Unattainable. It's not until she meets Rodney -- dependable, boring, from-good-stock Rodney -- that Biddy finally begins to show her only child some approval. And Kate craves it like a drug.

I started Cover The Butter over the weekend and devoured it quickly, soaking up as many passages at a time as I could. Highly readable and with excellent voice and flow, Kabak's writing was engaging, entertaining and unique. Told entirely from Kate's perspective, I really felt like I got to know our heroine -- and could relate to her struggles to please everyone in the world but herself. When her mother dismisses her dreams of baking and canning preserves, she banishes them, too. When Rodney tells her he'd prefer her to stay home with the baby, building her life up within the home, she does.

On the surface, it seems as though Kate allows her parents, friends and boyfriends to control her -- and as we make our way through the decades of her life, that definitely seems to be the case. It's not until she finally gives herself permission to displease her parents and live for herself that she's free. And it takes many years to get there, yes, but get there she does. I've read reviews expressing frustration and total annoyance at Kate's door-mat-ness, and I understand where readers are coming from -- but for me? It was all very true to character. After a lifetime of being molded by her mother's talons, Kate wasn't going to suddenly kick off her shackles and tell them all to get bent. What child doesn't search for love and affection from a parent? And hurt when they don't receive it?

The book's strength, for me, came from Kate herself. It was fascinating to read about a woman's entire life -- or, well, the life she's lived to date. Sprinkled with plenty of humor and anecdotes, Cover The Butter had a serious side, too, and dealt with plenty of growing-up issues. But for as dense as that sounds, the story flew by in Kabak's capable hands. By the time I'd reached the story's denouement, I was shocked. Over so soon?

Fans of women's fiction and/or British fiction might find this a warm, interesting and entertaining read that hasn't garnered much attention. And if you head into the novel knowing Kate lives most of her life on someone else's timeframe, you'll appreciate her a little better. And hopefully cheer a little louder when she's finally released from those bonds. ( )

This is the story of Kate, a doormat. Most of her life is spent under her mother's thumb in some way or another, and that need for approval from the one person in her life least willing to give it forces Kate into a slew of bad decisions throughout her life. That's not to say this book is all depressing, though sometimes it was a bit frustrating to see Kate putting up with such poor treatment. There are also parts that are touching, like Kate's eternally devoted grandparents, and parts that are hilarious, like her lovingly (and brutally) honest friends. Almost all the characters are so detailed I could hear them in my head. In all, it's a pretty good depiction of how a woman can let her life get so far off track - and, happily, how she can get it back on again. ( )

This is Kate's story of her life with a controlling (insane?) mother and wimpy father from the '60s through the '90s. Parts of the book are fun, and the writing is good, but you wonder if Kate is ever going to get a clue and cut the apron strings. Chick lit with a bite. ( )