Gemma Jackson

A forgotten birthday and wedding anniversary sets Finn Emerson on a journey to discover herself and break free from the tiny cage her overbearing husband has kept her in for twenty years. During her voyage she makes new friends, finds a career and connects with family he never knew she had.
I really enjoyed this book. Finn's metamorphosis from Nuala (her husband's name for her) back to Finn is not a smooth rapid event. She encounters opposition from her sons and the Irish society she inhabits show more as her husband broadcasts their marital troubles, casting himself as the victim. I found the story engaging and Finn a lovely character. Even as things start to fall into place for Finn, she still suffers from the weight of years of being diminished by her husband. I enjoyed the relationship she had with her Da and her Da-Ma and her burgeoning friendship with a younger woman who went through a similar experience in her own marriage. show less

I received this book offered to me as a LibraryThing Early Reviewer, with no expectation of a favourable review. Finn is 21 years married to Ireland's darling mid-morning radio presenter. They have two sons so handsome they often appear in local soap operas. We enter the story on Finn's 40th birthday and 21st wedding anniversary, which apparently all three of her men have forgotten. She is alone in the house she has recently completed renovating over a couple of decades and which now has show more everything literally which opens and shuts and electronic gadgetry throughout including screens in every room. Not everyone has forgotten Finn's special day, friends turn up to celebrate and commiserate. Finn has a hobby, one her husband has made her feel ashamed of, she makes fanciful items from scrap metal. These are spotted by the son of a friend buys some for his friends which in the next few months makes her a sensation.
The book takes us over the year that Finn has turned 40. In this time she dumps her husband in some of the most humerous descriptions I have read, she comes to know her sons better and they her, and she reconnects with her father and his partner, discovering truths she had never thought to ask.
When Finn goes to a lawyer for advice regarding a divorce she gets this
'"A woman of your years cannot expect to catch another husband." The twit if a lawyer had looked at her over his glasses and smirked.
She'd wanted to punch his lights out. She wasn't looking for another husband. She already had one too many.'
Food features substantially throughout the book, and the rituals surrounding food, especially the eating of food as a group. From a huge Irish breakfast to a street party, the love of food and how gathering together is vital for Finn, as the daughter of a chef she has been taught to cook well and generously, and she has raised two men for whom the way to their listening to her is through their stomach. '...-she'd even made their favourite French bread. Her famous hazelnut cheesecake was sitting on a glass stand in the cool room. She knew her men -the way to their hearts might not be through their stomachs but a mountain of food would guarantee they remain seated at the table - and she needed to talk to them.'
Finn's husband decides the changes she is making to their lives must be regarding the menopause and publicly announces this on his radio programme. Women attack her in the street for making her husband unhappy. Finn on the other hand has evidence of his adultery via the screens throughout the house filming his creeping into the house with a range of women whilst she - Finn is busy working in her workshop in the back garden.

I highly recommend Her Revolution, a delightful example of the modern novel with realistic characters, situations and resolutions. You leave the book satisfied, but I will re-read again and keep on my Kindle. show less

A young woman is on the run. She is running from her parents and an arranged marriage, running from her violent and abusive brothers, and running from a life of boredom and drudgery. But, when she is arranged to marry the local Nazi sympathizer who relished in abusing her and having his way, Krista knows she must run...as her brother did. Krista must escape not only the marriage and her family, but also the darkness that is surrounding 1940s Europe. Her salvation comes when an English couple show more stop at their family shop on their way out of town - and she jumps into the trunk of their car. Krista will never imagine where this journey will take her and how dangerous it has now become.

This book was so good!!!! I was so mad when I discovered it is a short story! I wanted to keep reading and find out what happens!!!!! That sequel better hurry up and come out quickly!!!! A great beginning to a riveting story. Hurry please Gemma Jackson! :) show less

I loved the book.
Sure, it was over the top, but sometimes I do not mind.
The friendly Finn, who while decorating the house and loving her family forgot to tell her sons she was not their slave.
Luckily one day she remembers and she goes on strike.
I loved that, very much.
I loved the way she stood up for herself, took care of herself, struggling not to go just back to her old role, wife and mother.
Luckily she won.
I loved the computer system in the house too, certainly after she discovered what show more was kept hidden from her.

What I did not like were the loose ends.
Gemma Jackson could have done so much more with the things Finn discovered. The author could have played with it during the divorce.
The divorce, another loose end. A pity, because Finn is very good at using anything she finds.

But luckily, we had the terrible husband and the sexy sons, who in the end realise they can miss their mother in stead of missing their coffee.

It was difficult to see in which period the story is set. I only found out halfway the book, when Finn thinks of irish money and french francs. About two third of the book, one person mentions the year he lives in. Far too late in my opinion. Before that time, I kept wondering if people were really like that, in modern day Ireland.

In the end, it did not matter. I enjoyed the book very much. It was so much fun. show less