It is Kabak’s ability to capture the entanglement of human relationships in such a very real way that makes Cover the Butter such a powerful read. But even so, there are some secrets that she keeps to herself, the pain of which, to this reader at least, seemed so real I could feel the aching grief resonate off the page.

And when she marries her self-centred, emotionally distant and just a little bit pompous husband, Rodney, the escape she once dreamed of is anything but.įortunately she has strong friendships, rooted in a shared childhood, and two doting Welsh grandparents to whom she can turn.

It’s this very complication that ties Kate in knots: she never seems to be able to break free of her parents restrictive and confidence-sapping chains. Coupled with a weak-willed father, who succumbs to his wife’s domineering ways, the Cadogan family is a complex mesh of pain and devotion, humour and heartbreak, unfulfilled expectations and adoration. Kate’s story spans the 1960s to the 1990s, covering the turmoil, both good and bad, of her transition from inexperienced teenage girl to worldly wise forty-something mother.Ĭentral to the story’s emotional impact is the relationship between Kate and her Irish mother, Biddy, whose moods swing in unpredictable and hurtful ways – one minute tender and loving, the next heartbreakingly cruel. Review copy courtesy of the author.Ĭarrie Kabak’s Cover the Butter is a warm, funny and poignant novel which charts the life of Kate Cadogan, a “lost” housewife trying to make sense of her past and present. Fiction – hardcover Dutton Books 355 pages 2005.

Cover the Butter by Carrie Kabak