Mature Chick Lit
On Amazon UK HERE
On Amazon.com HERE
Reviewed by me as part of Rosie Amber's Book Review Team
Bernice is on her honeymoon in Greece; it's her second marriage, and she has two
grown up daughters. The problem is that
her husband, David, loves her but doesn't fancy her - several days into the
holiday they still haven't had sex - he's been getting his kicks from porn
websites. Oh, and he had a picture of
four of her bikini clad friends in his wallet.
Not Bernice, just her friends...
Bernice decides she can't take it any more, and will spend the rest of
the holiday alone. She meets up with
David's friend Chris, an artist who lives nearby, and makes several new
friends.
This is a smart, well written, lighthearted-with-serious-undertones sort of
book, and I enjoyed the Greek holiday atmosphere. I thought the whole subject of Bernice's dilemma
was most interesting; her relationship with her mother that led to the low
self-esteem, that led to her making a first unwise marriage, then becoming a
Facebook 'friend' of the woman for whom Husband #1 left her, and, finally, marrying
a man who didn't want to sleep with her.
I think many women would be able to relate to Bernice's tendency to
'people please', which in itself had a detrimental effect on her self-esteem,
but I thought the story might have been better suited to a slightly edgy,
contemporary drama, rather than chick lit mode, with all its zany incidents - I do sometimes wonder if anyone's ever
written a chick lit heroine who isn't ludicrously accident prone!
I was pleased that the ending wasn't predictable (I liked it alot, it made
me smile!), and I thought the message of the book, about learning to love and
accept yourself, was sincerely and sympathetically executed. The whole thing was a bit too 'whoo-hoo, you
go girl, let's all be sassy real women' for me (and a bit too naked), but that's
only personal taste; Bernice and her new friends were believable characters and
I think this book will appeal to many women.
I can imagine it being an inspiration to others caught in the low
self-esteem trap; haven't most of us been there at some point?
Nice review! This doesn't sound like my usual cup of tea, but it could be a fun read. (I enjoy chick lit, but suffer from a recurring desire to slap a little sense into the ditzy MCs...)
ReplyDeleteYou might like it, then - it's most definitely well written, and the characters are fun - it's just a bit too wacky for me :)
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