Peace and Plenty: Finding Your Path to Financial Serenity

Breathnach spent the fortune she made on her bestselling Simple Abundance prodigally, leasing an expensive Manhattan apartment, buying Sir Isaac Newton's country Chapel, renting limousines for speaking engagements, and purchasing pair after pair of Manolo Blahnik shoes. She also married "the Englishman," who was after her money and treated her "abominably" when it was all gone. This should serve as a cautionary tale for the sensible reader, who may be suspicious of receiving guidance from an insolvent author who penned her latest book from her sister's living room. But this is also part of Breathnach's charm, whose inspiration for putting this pen to this paper appears to be in effort to keep creditors at bay. It's good that her book is such a peculiarly soothing read, then, when not dispensing terribly obvious advice. And what it lacks in hard facts, it makes up for in helpful household hints. You might lose the house but you'll feel better after having installed new curtains; "So take a deep breath, ladies, and pull those damn curtains down. You'll be surprised and delighted by how expansive is your view." (Dec.)