AAR

[Leigh]

I just finished Ms. Seidel's new book, Keep Your Mouth Shut and Wear Beige. I didn't read all of it, after starting I skipped to the last chapter.

I miss the romance in her books. While her characters still experience growth, it is not centered about the love between a man and a woman. And so to me her books seem more mundane. I guess in a nutshell I don't want to read about more realistic daily problems.

Anyone else read this?
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Gone to Rainbow Bridge - Lily 2000-2011

[maggie b.]

I did read it and I actually really loved it. I think one of Seidel's strong points is how she shows the complex reality of the roles of women within their families. In this case, I really enjoyed going with Darcy for the ride of struggling with her new roles as divorced mom, divorced partner with ex and new friend to her daughter in laws family. All of it was written in such a way that it kept me turning the pages to figure out what would happen next. I like women's fiction though, so since I knew the book wasn't a romance going into it I was able to enjoy it for what it was.

Spoiler Alert. Spoiler Alert. High light to read: I thought it was interesting how the divorce came about. She deals with it in the first few chapters but I liked the fact that Darcy really stood up for herself in that regard. OTH, I did not like what happened in the end of the book. I felt Mike, the ex, got a complete pass on what happened while Claudia, the girlfriend, took the complete hit. IMO, the reality was that both were to blame and him more than her in fact since this was his son's wedding and he had allowed a woman he had been dating less than a year to take advantage of the son/daughter in law to further her career. Right from the first it put everyone in an awkward situation and yet he got off for free while she got branded a pariah and had to leave. What struck me was that it struck too close to home -- too often the woman takes the brunt of the blame for everything while the man waltzes away, cleared of any wrong doing (and many times clueless to any wrong doing.


maggie b.

[AAR Rachel]