Women’s Fiction | Stacy Alesi's BookBitch.com™

GOLDEN GIRL by Elin Hilderbrand

June 4, 2021

From the publisher:

In this satisfying page-turner from “the queen of beach reads” (New York Magazine), a Nantucket novelist has one final summer to protect her secrets while her loved ones on earth learn to live without their golden girl.

On a perfect June day, Vivian Howe, author of thirteen beach novels and mother of three nearly grown children, is killed in a hit-and-run car accident while jogging near her home on Nantucket. She ascends to the Beyond where she’s assigned to a Person named Martha, who allows Vivi to watch what happens below for one last summer. Vivi also is granted three “nudges” to change the outcome of events on earth, and with her daughter Willa on her third miscarriage, Carson partying until all hours, and Leo currently “off again” with his high-maintenance girlfriend, she’ll have to think carefully where to use them.

From the Beyond, Vivi watches “The Chief” Ed Kapenash investigate her death, but her greatest worry is her final book, which contains a secret from her own youth that could be disastrous for her reputation. But when hidden truths come to light, Vivi’s family will have to sort out their past and present mistakes—with or without a nudge of help from above—while Vivi finally lets them grow without her.

With all of Elin’s trademark beach scenes, mouth-watering meals, and picture-perfect homes, plus a heartfelt message—the people we lose never really leave us—Golden Girl is a beach book unlike any other.

Hilderbrand continues to stretch her literary chops with her latest summer read, and it’s a good one. The kind of book you can’t put down. There is a bit of suspense – the hit-and-run at the center of the story is a mystery to be solved, but even I figured that out without really trying. Doesn’t matter though, it’s a good story with a beautiful Nantucket setting, characters who come to life on the page, and a bit of magical realism. Or a touch of fantasy/paranormal, whatever floats your boat, in that our main character, the golden girl herself, Vivian Howe, is the victim of the hit-and-run and is watching from heaven’s waiting room. A nice touch, especially for a mother who worries about her kids. And it feels a bit autobiographical, too – the main character is a novelist who sets all her books on Nantucket. Makes it feel more personal.

From heaven’s waiting room, Vivi meets her “person”, Martha, a Hermes scarf always around her neck and she helps Vivi navigate her afterlife. There Vivi can watch over her kids for the summer, and she is gifted with three “nudges” that she can use to help point her kids in the right direction. It makes for an interesting subplot.

There is a lot of family drama and laughs, and the story really moves quickly making it impossible to put down. If you like family drama with a touch of romance and an edge, this ticks off all those boxes. Another excellent read from the Nantucket Queen of beach reads, and this may be her best book yet, and that is really saying something. Don’t miss it!

6/2021 Stacy Alesi, AKA the BookBitch

GOLDEN GIRL by Elin Hilderbrand. Little, Brown and Company (June 1, 2021). ISBN: 978-0316420082. 384 pages.

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THE CAVE DWELLERS by Christina McDowell

May 25, 2021

From the publisher:

A compulsively readable novel in the vein of The Bonfire of the Vanities—by way of The Nest—about what Washington, DC’s high society members do away from the Capitol building and behind the closed doors of their stately homes.

They are the families considered worthy of a listing in the exclusive Green Book—a discriminative diary created by the niece of Edith Roosevelt’s social secretary. Their aristocratic bloodlines are woven into the very fabric of Washington—generation after generation. Their old money and manner lurk through the cobblestone streets of Georgetown, Kalorama, and Capitol Hill. They only socialize within their inner circle, turning a blind eye to those who come and go on the political merry-go-round. These parents and their children live in gilded existences of power and privilege.

But what they have failed to understand is that the world is changing. And when the family of one of their own is held hostage and brutally murdered, everything about their legacy is called into question.

They’re called The Cave Dwellers.

McDowell’s debut novel (after her memoir, After Perfect) is a brutal, satirical look at life in Washington, D.C., and the author knows whereof she speaks; she grew up there. The catalyst for the story is the torture and brutal murder of a wealthy, power-wielding family, including their teenage daughter. One of her classmates is determined to get to some sort of understanding of what happened and why, and she goes to the jail to visit the young Black man who was arrested for the crime. It turns out his father was an employee of the family that was killed, and motive is quickly established. The wives of the most powerful families in the nation’s capital are all perturbed, but so are their children, the teenagers and private school classmates of the murdered girl. These are among the most privileged families in the country, and the satire here is deeply wounding; racism, misogyny, and class hierarchy are all fair game, and the irony is inescapable and delicious.

Verdict: A fascinating, gossipy glimpse into the lives of the 1% (with footnotes) that should appeal to readers who enjoyed The Assistants by Camille Perri or Capital Girls by Ella Monroe.

©Library Journal, 2021

5/2021 Stacy Alesi, AKA the BookBitch

THE CAVE DWELLERS by Christina McDowell. Gallery/Scout Press (May 25, 2021). ISBN 978-1982132781. 352 pages.

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THE KITCHEN FRONT by Jennifer Ryan

April 30, 2021

From the publisher:

From the bestselling author of The Chilbury Ladies’ Choir comes an unforgettable novel of a BBC-sponsored wartime cooking competition and the four women who enter for a chance to better their lives.

Two years into World War II, Britain is feeling her losses: The Nazis have won battles, the Blitz has destroyed cities, and U-boats have cut off the supply of food. In an effort to help housewives with food rationing, a BBC radio program called The Kitchen Front is holding a cooking contest—and the grand prize is a job as the program’s first-ever female co-host. For four very different women, winning the competition would present a crucial chance to change their lives.

For a young widow, it’s a chance to pay off her husband’s debts and keep a roof over her children’s heads. For a kitchen maid, it’s a chance to leave servitude and find freedom. For a lady of the manor, it’s a chance to escape her wealthy husband’s increasingly hostile behavior. And for a trained chef, it’s a chance to challenge the men at the top of her profession.

These four women are giving the competition their all—even if that sometimes means bending the rules. But with so much at stake, will the contest that aims to bring the community together only serve to break it apart?

This book is a heartwarming story about four women living in a small village a couple of years into World War II. The main character is Audrey Landon, a young woman widowed by the was and left with three small boys. After inheriting her family home, at least she has a roof over their head, crumbling though it is.

Audrey’s estranged sister, Lady Gwendoline Strickland, likes lording it over everyone in town. Always resentful of Audrey and how their mother favored her down to leaving her the house, Gwendoline deigns to loan Audrey some money so she can fix things up a bit. Gwendoline seems to have everything, a wealthy, powerful husband, a large estate, and some power herself – she is in charge of billeting displaced people into homes in the neighborhood. Including her sister’s home, where she sends a pregnant woman, Zelda Dupont.

Zelda is a chef who had an affair with her boss, but he had no interest in continuing it. He was a con man and a player, but she has to deal with the realities of her life. She tries hiding her pregnancy for as long as she can as she knows she will lose her job as head chef of the mess at the local factory, also owned by Strickland.

Nell is the young kitchen maid at the Strickland home, working under Mrs. Quince, the cook. Nell is gifted in the kitchen and Mrs. Quince becomes a mother figure to her. Orphaned at a young age, Nell grew up in an orphanage until she was sent to work at the estate.

These four women all end up competing in a cooking contest put on by the BBC (the forerunner of the Great British Bakeoff!) There was a real radio program called The Kitchen Front, and in this story the program sponsors a contest to get a professional cook to help out. The goal of the show is to help the housewives who are all struggling with rations, severe food shortages, and black market food. The radio show provides recipes and tips, like using all the vegetable scraps to make soup, and promoting canned foods like SPAM and sardines.

Audrey is more housewife than pro, but she’s been supporting her family by baking pies and things and selling them to local businesses. She also has a kitchen farm outside her door and has laying chickens, so is much better off than many others.

The competition between the women doesn’t seem very fierce, other than Lady Gwendoline’s husband is pushing her to win by any means possible. There is something going on in that marriage and it isn’t good.

Eventually, the women form friendships and as the war goes on, they find struggling together is much better than struggling alone. These characters were all likeable, even Lady Gwendoline eventually shows a more human side. The food history (and recipes) are fascinating, even if I wouldn’t make any of them. This was a different look at WWII from the perspective of England’s housewives, and a very interesting, compelling read. If you like historical fiction and food fiction, then this is your book; it certainly was mine.

4/2021 Stacy Alesi, AKA the BookBitch

THE KITCHEN FRONT by Jennifer Ryan. Ballantine Books (February 23, 2021). ISBN: 978-0593158807. 416 pages.

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JUST MY LUCK by Adele Parks

April 28, 2021

From the publisher:

Over 4 million Adele Parks books sold worldwide including LIES, LIES, LIES and I INVITED HER IN!

“Utterly engrossing and brilliant”— Lucy Foley New York Times bestselling author of The Guest List

It was supposed to be the lottery win they’d always dreamed of…

For fifteen years, Lexi and Jake have played the same six numbers with their friends. Over drinks, dinner parties and summer barbecues, the three couples have discussed the important stuff—kids, marriages, careers—and they’ve laughed off their disappointment when they failed to win anything.

But then the unthinkable happens. There’s a rift in the group. Someone is caught in a lie. And soon after, six numbers come up that change everything forever.

Lexi and Jake have a ticket worth millions. And their friends are determined to claim a share.

#1 Sunday Times bestselling author Adele Parks returns with a riveting look at the dark side of wealth in this gripping tale of friendship, money, betrayal and good luck gone bad…

Lexi and Jake and their family live in a lower middle section. They work hard to maintain their lifestyle with Lexi happy with her life and the husband she has chosen. They are friendly with two other couples whose children attend the same school that Lexi and Jake’s children go to. For 15 years the three couples have gotten together on most Saturday nights eaten together and enjoyed a pleasant evening out.

Over the years they have evolved the practice of buying a lottery ticket together after each get together using the same sequence of numbers each time they purchase a ticket. Then the other two couples announce that they feel the spending the money on a ticket is throwing out the cash and they are drawing out of the custom of buying a ticket.

Of course when Lexi buys a ticket by herself the next week using the normal numerical sequence it hits and is good for a prize of more than seventeen million pounds, a sum that insures financial independence for the recipient for the rest of their lives. Jake and Lexi try to keep the winning secret but it leaks out and human nature being what it is the other two couples demand that they receive shares in the payout and insinuate that they had rightful places due to having gone in together on the lottery tickets and even lying that they had chipped into the winning ticket as was normal.

Parks describes a situation in which receiving a large amount of money distorts the viewpoints and reactions of people. Friendship goes away and greed takes over in its presence. No one in the family is exempt from the fallout of a receipt of a large amount of cash and the interactions of both adults and children are well delineated. A pleasant reading experience is enjoyed by the reader with a surprise but logical ending to complete the book.

4/2021 Paul Lane

JUST MY LUCK by Adele Parks. MIRA; Original edition (April 6, 2021). ISBN: 978-05255394140. 352 pages.

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DIAL A FOR AUNTIES by Jesse Q. Sutanto

April 27, 2021

From the publisher:

One of PopSugar’s “42 Books Everyone Will Be Talking About in 2021”!

What happens when you mix 1 (accidental) murder with 2 thousand wedding guests, and then toss in a possible curse on 3 generations of an immigrant Chinese-Indonesian family?

You get 4 meddling Asian aunties coming to the rescue!

When Meddelin Chan ends up accidentally killing her blind date, her meddlesome mother calls for her even more meddlesome aunties to help get rid of the body. Unfortunately, a dead body proves to be a lot more challenging to dispose of than one might anticipate, especially when it is inadvertently shipped in a cake cooler to the over-the-top billionaire wedding Meddy, her Ma, and aunties are working at an island resort on the California coastline. It’s the biggest job yet for the family wedding business—”Don’t leave your big day to chance, leave it to the Chans!”—and nothing, not even an unsavory corpse, will get in the way of her auntie’s perfect buttercream flowers.

But things go from inconvenient to downright torturous when Meddy’s great college love—and biggest heartbreak—makes a surprise appearance amid the wedding chaos. Is it possible to escape murder charges, charm her ex back into her life, and pull off a stunning wedding all in one weekend?

This is a top ten favorite on the April Library Reads list, and as far as I’m concerned, it should have been number one! Part mystery, part romance, part family drama, but mostly laugh-out-loud funny, this book hits it out of the park. And I’m super excited that Netflix is on board.

Meddy is the good girl in her family. There is a family curse where all the men leave, leaving her mom and her sisters to make up her family. Even her boy cousins have all moved away, but as much as Meddy wanted a different life, she just could not bring herself to leave her mom and her aunties, so she breaks up with the love of her life as he has been offered his dream job across the country. It just about kills Meddy, but she goes on with her life, settling into the family wedding planning business and trying not to think about the one who got away.

Her mom decides Meddy needs to meet someone so like all overly involved, well meaning moms, she sets up a fake profile for Meddy on a dating app, and pretends to be Meddy. There are red flags aplenty, but her mom, who is not a native English speaker never mind a keen reader of emojis, doesn’t realize what she’s done when she sets Meddy up on a blind date with a man she met online. It turns out he is as bad a guy as one could meet online, and Meddy accidentally kills him in self defense. I’m not spoiling anything here, this happens at the beginning of the book.

Meddy panics, dumps him in the trunk of her car, and takes him home to her mother, who calls in the aunties. These are the kind of relatives everyone should have, the kind who help you get rid of a body. But what ensues is just chaos, and it is hilarious. In between the insanity though, Meddy runs into the love of her life. Turns out he’s moved back and is now running the hotel where the family is running their biggest wedding yet.

Lots of over the top situations and slapstick humor, and it really works here. This book had me laughing out oud several times, and I I enjoyed every page. Honestly, it reminded me of the first few Stephanie Plum (Janet Evanovich) books only with a happy ending, and that is high praise! I also really liked learning about Chinese/Indonesian culture. This one is sure to make my best books of the year list – don’t miss it.

4/2021 Stacy Alesi, AKA the BookBitch

DIAL A FOR AUNTIES by Jesse Q. Sutanto. Berkley (April 27, 2021). ISBN: 978-0593333037. 320 pages.

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THE NINE LIVES OF ROSE NAPOLITANO by Donna Freitas

April 6, 2021

From the publisher:

A deeply moving novel about a woman who thought she never wanted to be a mother–and the many ways that life can surprise us

In every woman there are many stories . . .

Rose Napolitano is fighting with her husband, Luke, about prenatal vitamins. She promised she’d take them, but didn’t. He promised before they got married that he’d never want children, but now he’s changed his mind. Their marriage has come to rest on this one question: Can Rose find it in herself to become a mother? Rose is a successful professor and academic. She’s never wanted to have a child. The fight ends, and with it their marriage.

But then, Rose has a fight with Luke about the vitamins–again. This time the fight goes slightly differently, and so does Rose’s future as she grapples with whether she can indeed give up the one thing she thought she knew about herself. Can she reimagine her life in a completely new way? That reimagining plays out again and again in each of Rose’s nine lives, just as it does for each of us as we grow into adulthood. What are the consequences of our biggest choices? How would life change if we let go of our preconceived ideas of ourselves and became someone completely new? Rose Napolitano’s experience of choosing and then choosing again shows us in an utterly compelling way what it means, literally, to reinvent a life and, sometimes, become a different kind of woman than we ever imagined.

A stunning novel about love, loss, betrayal, divorce, death, a woman’s career and her identity, The Nine Lives of Rose Napolitano is about finding one’s way into a future that wasn’t the future one planned, and the ways that fate intercedes when we least expect it.

After several young adult and nonfiction books (Consent: A Memoir of Unwanted Attention,) Freitas debuts an extraordinary, multi-faceted novel for adults. Rose Napolitano is a young woman on the precipice of a life-changing decision: whether to have a child. A staunch feminist professor of sociology, Rose has never wanted children. She was explicit about that while dating her husband, Luke, and he proclaimed that he was of the same mind. But a few years into their seemingly happy marriage, his parents start exerting their influence in hopes of getting a grandchild. Luke caves, and eventually Rose agrees to start taking prenatal vitamins, and that is where the story starts. And starts again. Because this is no ordinary story of a young couple moving on to the next stage of familyhood; instead we get a glimpse into all the different lives Rose could have. Nine different lives, some more fully realized than others. Starting one morning in 2006, Rose and Luke fight over the prenatal vitamins, and the outcome of that fight changes depending on the life Rose chooses, from having a baby or not, to affairs or not, to the breakup of the marriage or not, until it ends in 2025.

Verdict: This is a serious yet fantastical look at relationships, family, and feminism told in a unique voice, and book groups should take note. The closest readalikes are Life After Life by Kate Atkinson and Replay by Ken Grimwood.

I’ve seen this compared to the movie Sliding Doors, (available on Amazon Prime, IMDB TV, & Hoopla,) so I watched it. The movie is a shallow comparison. Once again, Pamela Dorman Books comes through for me. Don’t miss it.

©Library Journal, 2021

4/2021 Stacy Alesi, AKA the BookBitch

THE NINE LIVES OF ROSE NAPOLITANO by Donna Freitas. Pamela Dorman Books (April 6, 2021). ISBN 978-1984880598. 384 pages.

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ARE WE THERE YET? by Kathleen West

March 16, 2021

From the publisher:

Among fake Instagram pages, long-buried family secrets, and the horrors of middle school, one suburban mom searches to find herself in a heartfelt and thought-provoking novel from the author of Minor Dramas and Other Catastrophes.

Alice Sullivan feels like she’s finally found her groove in middle age, but it only takes one moment for her perfectly curated life to unravel. On the same day she learns her daughter is struggling in second grade, a call from her son’s school accusing him of bullying throws Alice into a tailspin.

When it comes to light that the incident is part of a new behavior pattern for her son, one complete with fake social media profiles with a lot of questionable content, Alice’s social standing is quickly eroded to one of “those moms” who can’t control her kids. Soon she’s facing the very judgement she was all too happy to dole out when she thought no one was looking (or when she thought her house wasn’t made of glass).

Then her mother unloads a family secret she’s kept for more than thirty years, and Alice’s entire perception of herself is shattered.

As her son’s new reputation polarizes her friendships and her family buzzes with the ramification of her mother’s choices, Alice realizes that she’s been too focused on measuring her success and happiness by everyone else’s standards. Now, with all her shortcomings laid bare, she’ll have to figure out to whom to turn for help and decide who she really wants to be.

Suburban angst is at the center of this new novel by West (Minor Dramas and Other Catastrophes). The story centers around Alice Sullivan and the clique of moms who have been friends since their children were in kindergarten, but friendship is a tenuous thing here as the moms are all secretly judging one another.

As the children enter middle school things begin to change; the good girl isn’t quite as good, the good boy is acting out, and the bad boy is getting better. Social media is at the forefront here and is wreaking havoc over all these families.

Alice also has to deal with a boss who promised her a partnership and now seems to be pushing her out and her attorney husband is working a case that takes him out of town all week leaving her to deal with the kids, but it is her mother’s secret that is the final straw for Alice.

Verdict: First world problems abound here in this midwestern family saga, but West makes the most of her material. For readers who enjoyed The Gifted School by Bruce Holsinger, When Life Gives You Lululemons by Lauren Weisberger, and Separation Anxiety by Laura Zigman.

©Library Journal, 2021

3/2021 Stacy Alesi, AKA the BookBitch

ARE WE THERE YET? by Kathleen West. Berkley (March 16, 2021). ISBN Berkley (March 16, 2021). 352 pages.

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THE VINEYARD AT PAINTED MOON by Susan Mallery

March 4, 2021

From the publisher:

Step into the vineyard with Susan Mallery’s most irresistible novel yet, as one woman searches for the perfect blend of love, family and wine.

Mackenzie Dienes seems to have it all—a beautiful home, close friends and a successful career as an elite winemaker with the family winery. There’s just one problem—it’s not her family, it’s her husband’s. In fact, everything in her life is tied to him—his mother is the closest thing to a mom that she’s ever had, their home is on the family compound, his sister is her best friend. So when she and her husband admit their marriage is over, her pain goes beyond heartbreak. She’s on the brink of losing everything. Her job, her home, her friends and, worst of all, her family.

Staying is an option. She can continue to work at the winery, be friends with her mother-in-law, hug her nieces and nephews—but as an employee, nothing more. Or she can surrender every piece of her heart in order to build a legacy of her own. If she can dare to let go of the life she thought she wanted, she might discover something even more beautiful waiting for her beneath a painted moon.

I love wine, so anything set in a winery automatically gets a second look from me. And since this is Susan Mallery, it gets a first look as well. I love her books, and this is another great addition – she never disappoints.

Mackenzie has had a lot of heartache in her life. Losing her parents when she was young, raised by a grandfather who passed away as she started college, she was left very much alone. Until her college roommate, Stephanie took her under her wing. They became best friends so when Stephanie insisted she come home with her for the Christmas break, Mackenzie went, not realizing it would change her life forever.

There she met and fell in love with Stephanie’s brother, Rhys, and after college, she married him and started working at his family’s winery. Turns out that Mackenzie is a gifted winemaker, and her place at the winery is set. All the family members have homes there, and her mother-in-law Barbara becomes her surrogate mother. Mackenzie is happy, yet we get an inkling that not all is perfect in paradise with the mention of her own bedroom. Soon enough we learn that this couple hasn’t had sex in five years and have been sleeping apart. They are the best of friends, though, but Rhys realizes before Mackenzie does that there should be more. He seduces her, but there are no fireworks and both realize that it is over. He asks for a divorce but insists that she can remain living and working at the winery.

As they try and work their way through, a few unexpected complications pop up. For one, Barbara goes bonkers on her, and ends up firing her and going full “monster-in-law”. Mackenzie realizes that she wants something of her own, to own a winery, not just be an employee of one. She sets out to reimagine what her life could be, and everything eventually falls into place – but not without a lot of drama along the way.

This was a one night read for me. I loved the friendships that sustained her. These characters all really came to life on the page and I felt I knew them. Of course, I couldn’t wait to see Mackenzie get her happily ever after, so the romance aspect is there. But at the forefront is a woman learning who she is and who she wants to be. An excellent read. Bonus: wine pairing suggestions and a recipe!

3/2021 Stacy Alesi, AKA the BookBitch

THE VINEYARD AT PAINTED MOON by Susan Mallery. HQN; Original edition (February 9, 2021). ISBN: 978-1335912794. 400 pages.

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THE COOKBOOK CLUB by Beth Harbison

January 7, 2021

A Novel of Food and Friendship

From the publisher:

New York Times bestselling author Beth Harbison whips together a witty and charming–and delicious–story about the secrets we keep, the friends we make, and the food we cook.

MUST LOVE BUTTER: The Cookbook Club is now open to members. Foodies come join us! No diets! No skipping dessert!

Margo Everson sees the call out for the cookbook club and knows she’s found her people. Recently dumped by her self-absorbed husband, who frankly isn’t much of a loss, she has little to show for her marriage but his ‘parting gift’—a dilapidated old farm house—and a collection of well-loved cookbooks

Aja Alexander just hopes her new-found friends won’t notice that every time she looks at food, she gets queasy. It’s hard hiding a pregnancy, especially one she can’t bring herself to share with her wealthy boyfriend and his snooty mother.

Trista Walker left the cutthroat world of the law behind and decided her fate was to open a restaurant…not the most secure choice ever. But there she could indulge her passion for creating delectable meals and make money at the same time.

The women bond immediately, but it’s not all popovers with melted brie and blackberry jam. Margo’s farm house is about to fall down around her ears; Trista’s restaurant needs a makeover and rat-removal fast; and as for Aja, just how long can you hide a baby bump anyway?

In this delightful novel, these women form bonds that go beyond a love of grilled garlic and soy sauce shrimp. Because what is more important in life than friendship…and food?

I used to facilitate a cookbook club, AKA cookbook discussion group, so this title grabbed me right away. Harbison writes women’s fiction with some humor, romance, but mostly friendship. This book and one other of hers that I have read (When in Doubt, Add Butter) have a foodie slant, which I always enjoy, especially when there are recipes included. I must confess I haven’t made any of the recipes, but I might! I do have a recipe for a taco salad with Doritos (thanks, Judy!) and it is always a winner at any potluck.

Three women meet over an ad and a shared interest in cookbooks and cooking. I loved these women. I could be friends with all of them. There is a lot of humor and a lot of food and some very sweet moments as well. They all have stuff going on in their lives, but this friendship brings them something joyful. I knew I was going to like this book when Margo threw her husband out:

“Eat,” she said, shoving his bowl closer as she passed him. “You’re going to need your energy.”
“For what?” He took a big bite and rolled his eyes in bliss. “You’ve really gotten so good at this lean stuff.”
She gathered her internal strength, vision blurring. “Packing and getting the hell out of here.”
He shook his head, chewing. “I don’t have to leave right away,” he said with a mouthful.
“Oh yes, you do.” Seeing how much he was enjoying her food enraged her. It was probably more accurate to say it pulled the pin on the anger that was already tightening deep beneath her disbelief, but whatever caused it, she found herself unable to fight it. “In fact, you’ve got three seconds to eat whatever else you’re going to eat there before you’re wearing it.”
He looked genuinely shocked. “Margo, this isn’t like you!”
“Correction: this isn’t like Margo your wife.” The flames of fury engulfed her. She couldn’t believe this was happening, and that it was happening so… so casually. “Let me introduce you to Margo your ex-wife.”
“Can’t we be friends?”
The idea that they could suddenly shift baffled her violently.
“No.” She picked up the bowl and dumped the whole thing in his lap, careful to make sure the oily dressing saturated his shirt. She looked him over and clicked her tongue against her teeth. “Get yourself cleaned up, Calvin, honestly, you’re a mess. Oh, and you have half an hour to pack what you want and get out. If you don’t, I’ll call the police. I don’t know if they’ll be able to enforce anything, but I do know that will embarrass you to death, and if there’s one thing you hate, it’s being embarrassed.”

Gutsy move! Almost sounds like a fantasy, but life can be tricky sometimes so why not just go with it. These women share a love of cooking and learn to love one another, to lean on one another, and that makes for a delicious read.

1/2021 Stacy Alesi, AKA the BookBitch™

THE COOKBOOK CLUB by Beth Harbison. William Morrow Paperbacks (October 20, 2020). ISBN 978-0062958624. 384 pages.

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THE PUSH by Ashley Audrain

January 5, 2021

From the publisher:

A tense, page-turning psychological drama about the making and breaking of a family, told through the eyes of a woman whose experience of motherhood is nothing at all what she hoped for–and everything she feared.

Blythe Connor is determined that she will be the warm, supportive mother she never had to her new baby Violet.

But in the thick of motherhood’s exhausting early days, Blythe doesn’t find the connection with her daughter she expected. She’s convinced that something is wrong with Violet–the little girl is distant, rejects affection, and becomes increasingly disruptive at preschool.

Or is it all in Blythe’s head? Her husband, Fox, says she is imagining things. Fox doesn’t see what Blythe sees; he sees a wife who is struggling to cope with the day-to-day challenges of being a mother. And the more Fox dismisses her fears, the more Blythe begins to question her own sanity…

Then their son Sam is born–and with him, Blythe has the natural maternal connection she’d always dreamed of. Even Violet seems to love her little brother. But when life as they know it is changed in an instant, the devastating fall-out forces Blythe to face the truth about herself, her past, and her daughter.

The Push is a rare and extraordinary gift to readers: a novel about the expectations of motherhood we’re taught not to challenge and what really happens behind the closed doors of even the most perfect-looking families. It’s impossible to put down and impossible to forget.

Three generations of women have difficulties with motherhood and their stories intertwine in this very dark debut novel.

Blythe’s mother, Cecelia, left when she was eleven years old, and Blythe assumes she probably shouldn’t have children as her mother was not a very good role model. But their toxic relationship pales in comparison with Cecelia’s relationship with her mother, Etta.

There is an air of foreboding as Blythe’s story continues when Fox, Blythe’s gentle husband of three years, convinces her that it is time to have a baby. Blythe sees other mothers with their babies and hopes that she, too, will be like them. But Blythe never feels any kind of connection to her baby daughter, Violet, although Fox is immediately enamored.

As Blythe sinks into depression, Fox is convinced that she just doesn’t love the baby enough. There are some behavioral issues that Blythe sees in Violet that increase as she starts school, but Fox always turns a blind eye. Then Blythe has a son, Sam, and her maternal feelings for him are real and deep. Things still aren’t good with Violet, though, or with the marriage, and everything spirals out of control when tragedy strikes the family.

The marriage implodes and Blythe is having serious difficulties. This is not your typical tale of motherhood by any means, and the superlative writing makes this a gripping, unforgettable story indeed.

Verdict: For readers who enjoyed the darkness of My Sister, the Serial Killer by Oyinkan Braithwaite, Eileen by Ottessa Moshfegh, or Jack of Spades by Joyce Carol Oates.

1/2021 Stacy Alesi, AKA the BookBitch

THE PUSH by Ashley Audrain. Viking (January 5, 2021). ISBN 978-0735239890. 320p.