Revenge of the Middle-Aged Woman

I was infuriated at Rosie for not fighting. She didn't yell, scream, or pitch a fit about losing her husband and job to Minty. If there is one thing I hate it's a woman acting like a door mat. But Rosie didn't act like a door mat. She fought when she needed too and gave in when she felt like it. She picked up the pieces of her battered heart and went on living. In the end she became a stronger woman then Minty will ever be no matter how often she goes to the gym.

I liked this book precisely because Rose didn't actively seek revenge! I have no idea why I even picked this book up, it is not normally the sort of book I would be interested in, but the reviews on the cover made me want to give it a go. I found it well written and thought provoking. Rose is dealt a double blow with the loss of her husband and job to the same younger woman who's character I found dispassionate, selfish and shallow. Instead of seeking revenge, which would have made me put the book down instantly, Rose tries to make sense of what has happened. At times she is a door-mat, but when it matters she is not. She rediscovers herself and ironically it is her that achieves the 'freedom' her husband said he was seeking in leaving show more her. 'Revenge' is hers but she doesn't actively seek it, in fact she feels sorry for them both as they struggle through the realities of their decisions. I could believe and identify with her and that is why I found the book refreshing and uplifting, living well is indeed the best revenge! show less

I really think this is quite a good book. It's not just chick lit - to tag it that way does give you some idea of the feel of the story, but it goes way deeper than 95% of that genre.
What I like about this book is the way it gives the reader some idea of the complexity of real relationships under threat and in breakdown mode. Of course they're all different, but none is a simple case of one person being 'right' and the other 'wrong'....although we are being presented a story of a hetero couple in which the man is more 'wrong' than the woman, and the split is initiated by him. I was interested to read about how the (grown up) children responded, and it struck me that my own children could easily respond in similar ways. They correctly show more see that neither parent is perfect and do wish to maintain their adult relationships with both parents. And of course, they go on to repeat their parents' mistakes in some sense.
There's humor here, but not the sort of humor that detracts from the seriousness of the story element.
I was never bored with this book, and, despite the warnings that her follow-ups are not as good, I've started reading the sequel, which is a story from the point of view of the man's second partner. show less

Despite a title I consider unfortunate (if 47 is middle-aged, what am I???), this is a very readable, wry and nicely written story of emotional shake-ups and their aftermath, emotional ties and their long effects, and the dangerously anodyne comforts of family life.

This is the story of Rose Lloyd, a middle-aged book editor whose life is reasonably predictable, and basically very contented. Suddenly her life falls apart... the back of the book gives a rather disappointing spoiler that meant I wasn't quite so surprised as I should have been when the revelation happens, but perhaps I'd have guessed anyway. Most of the book is about Rose picking up the pieces, and the ramifications on her family, friends and social life.

I felt it was well-written, quite believable, and thought-provoking. The characters weren't nearly as well-rounded as, say, Rosamunde Pilcher's, and I didn't relate too deeply to any of them. On the other hand, I was interested to find out what was going to happen and what the show more 'revenge' of the title would be. I was pleased to find there was no heavy emotion, no artificial conversation, no lurid sex-scenes, and hardly any shopping. Some of Rose's acquaintances were obvious caricatures, but that wasn't really a bad thing; it made them more memorable.

The ending was hopeful without being trite, or too neat and tidy, and all in all I enjoyed it. show less

Rose Lloyd, book editor for a London paper, is (she thinks) happily married to Nathan, an executive editor on the same paper, and the mother of two adult children, Sam and Poppy. Her life is probably as good as it gets, and though Rose isn’t complacent, she is certainly unprepared for the betrayals about to implode her life.

Nathan announces he’s leaving and moving in with her trusted assistant, the younger and sexier Minty. Reeling, she learns next that she’s to be replaced as editor by Minty because her boss wants someone younger, with new ideas, running the book section. Her woes mount as she hears that her mother needs surgery and Nathan is no longer paying her medical insurance. Her much loved cat dies, daughter Poppy e-mails show more from Thailand that’s she’s married hippie boyfriend Richard, and Nathan also wants their house for him and Minty. A bitter blow, because Rose has loved fixing it up and making a beautiful garden.

At first she weeps, wonders where she went wrong, can’t eat, drinks too much. But then she begins to fight back. She visits a college friend in Paris who makes her buy some sexy clothes, is given some interesting jobs, is befriended by a Cabinet Minister who’s been hurt by a scandal caused by his mentally ill wife, and meets up again with her first love, American Rhodes scholar Hal Thorne, now a famous travel writer. As she recalls how she met and parted from Hal, she learns that Nathan is finding life with Minty more complicated than he’d expected and that he misses his family. With her children making interesting changes in their lives, Rose is ready for a few herself.

This book had so much potential and, being from a British writer, I had high hopes for some great British wit peppered throughout. For me, this novel fell very flat, was predictable and cliched. There must be a way to tell these types of stories that aren't: a) so predictable and b) written for the lowest common denominator. I was so divested from the story that the last third of the book was really a slogging skim-a-thon.

I received this book from a friend (a hand-me-down) and, while I recognized it was outside my usual type of reading, held out hope because of the British-ness and the strong reviews I had read about it. This will teach me for reading a book that has trees on the cover (a task requirement fulfilled for the "Seasonal Reading Challenge").

I wouldn't recommend this novel, even as a light, beach-read. It's just not worth it. show less

At the beginning of the book is an old Spanish proverb, which reads, "The best revenge is a life well lived". This sums up the book perfectly. This book is not about getting revenge, it is about a woman whose life is shattered in many areas, and yet she manages to get through it and go on. Ultimately, she is the better for it. I thoroughly enjoyed this book and have read it more than once. Anybody who has ever been "dumped" will especially appreciate it.