HOME REPAIR (Liz Rosenberg)

This is Rosenberg's first novel for adults.  The author reveals at the end of the book that she didn't write it in consecutive scenes, but rather bit by bit, eventually combining all of those bits into a whe novel.  I wasn't sure how I felt about this book as I was reading it as it was in some ways depressing.  Eve was a young widow when she met and married Chuck, a very handsome "younger' man.  Now, years later, Chuck walks out on the family during a garage sale, leaving Eve to pick up the pieces of her life and to raise Marcus (her 17-year-old from her first marriage) and Noni, their 9-year-old daughter, on her own.  Eve's emotional journey is depicted through references to the "Heartbreak Diet" as she sheds pounds while dealing with her grief.  Chuck is not out of the picture.  He pops back into their lives occasionally, but he remains an annoying and superficial character (why on earth did she ever marry him?).  In contrast, Eve's mother, Charlotte, Jonah Cement, who oversees the local park, Mia, Clemente, Lev, Tracey, and other quirky characters fill out the story, all of them blossoming into better, more realistic versions of themselves as Eve comes to terms with her future.  There is a lot of humor in this novel, even in the descriptions of Eve's clothing choices as she loses weight.  In the end, I was glad I read "Home Repair", and I think you will be, too.  It looks and sounds like it should be chick-lit, but for some reason it is most definitely not!