About the Book
A compulsive overachiever, Madeline lives by the credo that easy is synonymous with mediocre—which is why, at forty-nine, she’s a senior vice president at a prominent bank, frantically adheres to a five-step nightly face cream regimen, and panics anytime she’s a foot away from her phone. Madeline works alongside her best friend, Emma—a master juggler of her own career, marriage, and motherhood to a fourteen-year-old daughter who speaks only in baffling acronyms. The path ahead for both women is brimming with opportunity. There’s only one problem: Madeline is miserable.
Seeking purpose in her life while trying to unravel the source of habits she wants to change, Madeline reluctantly agrees to try yoga, meditation, and other wacky suggestions her new-agey therapist tosses her way. She feels as if she’s risking everything—but in doing so, she just might unlock a world more fulfilling than she ever could have imagined.
My Review
I’ve been struggling a bit to write this review because it’s a book I thought I was going to enjoy more. As I put together my thoughts on the story, I want to share all the positives because there were plenty, I just struggled to really become invested in the characters lives that way. Madeline and her best friend are both at a bit of a crossroads in their lives – Madeline is on the precipice of burnout from her demanding career and Emma is balancing work with keeping her husband happy and a confusing teenage daughter who hates her. While they are usually there to rely on one another, Madeline pulls away from Emma after she starts seeing a therapist, trying yoga and meditation, and seriously considers leaving the stability (and struggles) of her job. Emma can’t understand why her best friend would throw away so many opportunities, and the two begin to drift apart as Emma takes on more work responsibilities and Madeline suddenly has more free time to think about what she really wants in life.
I enjoyed the thought-provoking narrative of taking time to decide what you really want out of life and what makes you happy. Both women were clearly struggling with this, though we get a little more of Madeline’s perspective than we do Emma’s, and I would have liked to see that a little more equal. The therapy sessions didn’t quite hit with me each time – I’m not sure if it was the writing style or just the therapist in general but I found myself having to re-read the passages to try to comprehend what was being said or suggested and I felt disjointed after each of those sections. Overall, while I liked exploring a female friendship and two women trying to make the best out of the lives they had created, I this wasn’t a very memorable read to me and I think it really had the potential to be that.
3 stars
