Backstory: This is a bargain book I picked up at Borders for about five dollars–so my expectations were low. Its cover, title, and inside flap made it seem like standard chick lit fare. But I was encouraged by a blurb on the back from Marisa de los Santos; I loved both of her novels, Love Walked In and Belong to Me.
One-Sentence Plot Summary: 36-year-old Prudence Whistler, fired from her job and dumped by her boyfriend, begins to re-evaluate her life after seeing a woman who has everything Pru thought she’d have by this point.
Review: In some ways, this is the classic chick lit novel. Pru’s primary longing is for a husband and a family; though concerned about losing her job, she has no real passion for it. The romantic target is readily apparent, and the novel ends predictably.
However, Flowers’ novel is elevated somewhat by her portrayal of Pru’s family. Her sister, Patsy, provides a nice foil to Pru. Where Pru is practical and even a little cold, Patsy is impetuous and passionate. The two sisters are united, though, by their love for Patsy’s two-year-old daughter, Annali. Pru’s relationship with them provides the real emotional heart of the novel.
By contrast, Pru’s relationship with her primary romantic interest, John, feels a little flat. Pru interacts with so many characters–her sister, her sister’s ex-boyfriend and current boyfriend, her niece, her mother, her gay best friend McKay and his partner, Bill, her friends Fiona and Kate–that John seems to suffer from a lack of screen time. The interactions between Pru and John are well-written, but it’s easy to forget him while Flowers focuses on the other aspects of Pru’s life. And as the novel approaches resolution, Flowers chooses to relate most exchanges between Pru and John through Patsy or McKay, which decreases the romantic tension.
To Flowers’ credit, though, the inevitable conflict that arises between John and Pru isn’t artificial or contrived. There’s no dramatic accident or misunderstanding; the conflict is internal and feels very genuine. This is also true of the difficulties that Patsy has with her romantic interests in the novel. In both cases, the problems are realistic and complex.
Flowers has also created multidimensional secondary characters. McKay isn’t the stereotypical bitchy queen or cutesy sidekick version of a gay best friend. And Fiona isn’t a cookie-cutter mother figure, which is made clear when she reveals her true feelings about being pregnant again to Pru.
The downside of this complexity, however, seems to be a lack of humor. The novel as a whole is serious, even a little melancholy. I didn’t laugh once, which is odd for a novel that, despite its virtues, still feels like a light read.
Conclusion: Though this book isn’t destined for the literary canon, it’s an enjoyable (if not humorous) story that goes a little deeper than other novels that begin with similar premises, situating the novel in the upper echelon of its genre.
Available at: Amazon, Barnes and Noble, Powell’s. Also available in Sony eBook Reader and Kindle formats.
