How About a Book Review? The First Wives Club

Standard

This review is of The First Wives Club by Olivia Goldsmith. I wrote this review in February of 2014.

 

[amazon template=image&asin=1416562834]While I was aware of the movie The First Wives Club, I’ve never seen it (is Bette Midler in it?) and didn’t know it was based on a novel until I heard Sarah Wendell (author of Everything I Know About Love, I Learned from Romance Novels) talk about it on NPR. Wendell recommended it highly, so I sought it out on BookMooch.

Wow! This novel is awesome fiction. The characters are complicated. None are totally good or totally evil; all are fleshed out and flawed. The plot has many twists and turns to keep the reader guessing about what will happen next. (I never saw the ending in the very last paragraph coming.) The writing is accessible but not boring or trite.

True, the story centers around three rich women in New York City in the late 1980’s. I can’t say I usually care much about rich women or their problems, so it is a testament to the wit and writing ability of Olivia Goldsmith that I could barely put this book down after reading the first page.

This book is light reading, yes, but not drivel or mindless fluff. It examines the role of women once they slide into middle age. It challenges the late 80’s quest for “success” at all cost. It gives us three kickass female characters who demand vengeance when the men in their lives do them wrong, three women who dare to break out of the roles their society mandates for them.

Sure, read this book on an airplane or at the beach or while in bed recuperating from a cold, but do read this book!

About Blaize Sun

My name is Blaize Sun. Maybe that's the name my family gave me; maybe it's not. In any case, that's the name I'm using here and now. I've been a rubber tramp for nearly a decade.I like to see places I've never seen before, and I like to visit the places I love again and again. For most of my years on the road, my primary residence was my van. For almost half of the time I was a van dweller, I was going it alone. Now I have a little travel trailer parked in a small RV park in a small desert town. I also have a minivan to travel in. When it gets too hot for me in my desert, I get in my minivan and move up in elevation to find cooler temperatures or I house sit in town in a place with air conditioning I was a work camper in a remote National Forest recreation area on a mountain for four seasons. I was a camp host and parking lot attendant for two seasons and wrote a book about my experiences called Confessions of a Work Camper: Tales from the Woods. During the last two seasons as a work camper on that mountain, I was a clerk in a campground store. I'm also a house and pet sitter, and I pick up odd jobs when I can. I'm primarily a writer, but I also create beautiful little collages; hand make hemp jewelry and warm, colorful winter hats; and use my creative and artistic skills to decorate my life and brighten the lives of others. My goal (for my writing and my life) is to be real. I don't like fake, and I don't want to share fake. I want to share my authentic thoughts and feelings. I want to give others space and permission to share their authentic selves. Sometimes I think the best way to support others is to leave them alone and allow them to be. I am more than just a rubber tramp artist. I'm fat. I'm funny. I'm flawed. I try to be kind. I'm often grouchy. I am awed by the stars in the dark desert night. I hope my writing moves people. If my writing makes someone laugh or cry or feel angry or happy or troubled or comforted, I have done my job. If my writing makes someone think and question and try a little harder, I've done my job. If my writing opens a door for someone, changes a life, I have done my job well. I hope you enjoy my blog posts, my word and pictures, the work I've done to express myself in a way others will understand. I hope you appreciate the time and energy I put into each post. I hope you will click the like button each time you like what you have read. I hope you will share posts with the people in your life. I hope you'll leave a comment and share your authentic self with me and this blog's other readers. Thank you for reading.  A writer without readers is very sad indeed.

I'd love to know what you think. Please leave a comment.