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Critics' Opinion:
Readers' Opinion:
First Published:
Feb 2003, 368 pages
Paperback:
Jan 2004, 352 pages
Full of humor, clever insight, and a whimsical sense of the absurd - an irresistible and finely written fantasy for anyone who ever wondered what a certain age would look like from beyond the looking-glass.
For twenty-five years, Rose Lloyd has juggled marriage, motherhood, and career with remarkable success. It has been a life of family picnics, books and wine, a cherished house, and her own exquisitely designed garden—sunny and comfortable. But then the carefully managed life to which Rose has become accustomed comes crashing down around her when—over the course of a few days—her marriage and her career both fall apart.
Can Rose, whose anguish is barely softened by the ministrations of friends and grown children with their own problems, ever start over? Not easily. But it's amazing what prolonged reflection, the slimming effect of a lost appetite, a new slant on independence (and a little Parisian lingerie) will do. Especially when an old flame suddenly reappears.
Full of humor, clever insight, and a whimsical sense of the absurd, Revenge of the Middle-Aged Woman is an irresistible and finely written fantasy for anyone who ever wondered what a certain age would look like from beyond the looking-glass - and who will find it ripe with promise that the best days are yet to come.
Excerpt
Revenge Of The Middle-Aged Woman
'Here,' said Minty, my deputy, with one of her breathy laughs, 'the review has just come in. It's hilariously vindictive.' She pushed towards me a book entitled A Thousand Olive Trees by Hal Thorne with the review tucked into it.
For some reason, I picked up the book. Normally I avoided anything to do with Hal but I did not think it mattered this once. I was settled, busy, different, and I had made my choice a long time ago.
When we first discussed my working on the books' pages, Nathan argued that, if I ever achieved my ambition to become the books editor, I would end up hating books. Familiarity bred contempt. But I said that Mark Twain had got it better when he said that familiarity breeds not so much contempt but children, and wasn't Nathan's comment a reflection on his own feelings about his own job? Nathan replied, 'Nonsense, have I ever been happier?' and 'You wait and see'. (The latter was said with one of his lovely, strong-...
Revenge of The Middle-Aged Woman turned out to be far better than I expected it to be based on the jacket blurb and title, which led me to believe that this would be another tired story of mid-life crisis and extra-marital affairs culminating in a vindictive revenge in which the husband gets humiliated and everything ends happily ever after.
On the contrary, Buchan's book is literary proof that it is possible to take a tired old storyline and create a charming, poignant, believable tale replete with life's wisdom, and happily bereft of cliches or cute and tidy endings.
Recommended reading for the majority of women (and if they could be persuaded to read it, it would probably hit a nerve with many a middle-aged man), especially those who enjoy writers such as Elizabeth Berg and Christina Schwarz.
Joanna Trollope
An excellent story…strong, imaginative power…wonderful atmosphere
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