What can be better than discovering a wonderful new author? Since this is only Carrie Adams' second novel (and I haven't read the first yet!) there is the promise of great things to come in the years ahead.
First of all, to the casual observer this would seem to be chick lit. The cover art, the premise (woman decides that she loves her ex-husband and wants him back just as HE announces that he is engaged to a younger woman), and the book jacket all suggest an entertaining light read. Inside, however, the reader is quickly drawn into the lives of two very different women. One is Bea, who ended her marriage to James 4 years previously. Bea is an overweight and unhappy supermom to 14-year-old Amber, 9-year-old Lulu and 8-year-old Maddie. She has maintained a good relationship with James over the years and of late has come to the realization that things might be much better if the family reunites. Tessa King is a 38-year-old business woman who believes she has finally found the love of her life in James and is determined to win over his three daughters, especially the recalcitrant Amber, who has her father wrapped around her little finger. Over the course of the novel we witness a complex interweaving of relationships and resulting difficulties involving extended families, broken marriages, addiction, and adolesence. The unique aspect of this novel is the technique of alternating between the viewpoints of the two female protagonists in four-chapter segments in real time. While we are experiencing Bea's life, Tessa's continues on out of sight. As we rejoin Tessa she takes up at the point in time where Bea left off, and so on. I found this to be a very effective way of telling the story.
I am looking forward to reading Adams' "prequal", The Godmother, and whatever comes next!
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