Revenge of the Middle-Aged Woman by Elizabeth Buchan
This book is a wonderful example of the adage the best revenge is living well.  Despite the title, it is not about a bitter, aging woman plotting her revenge.  Instead, it could be the story of any of us now or a few years down the road.

When we first meet Rose, she seems to have an ideal life.  She's an avid gardener who lives in a house she adores with her loving husband of twenty-five years.  Her job as editor of a book review column is fulfilling, and she has raised two wonderful children.  But life is hardly ever as it seems.  During the past year or so while Rose is enjoying her comfortable life and living on autopilot, she does not notice her spouse becoming restless.  That is until he breaks the shattering news that he is leaving her to start a new life with her friend and much younger editorial assistant, Minty.  If that weren't enough of a shock, things get worse as Rose soon loses her job to Minty and is faced with other family problems. 

You would think Rose would want to crawl into bed and never get up, and she does go through adjustments and depressing times.  However, she admirably emerges from the wreckage of her old life stronger and with a renewed sense of possibility.  Rose makes new friends, develops new professional relationships, and is reunited with an old flame.  Hardly anything in her life is as it was, but that can be a good thing - even if you thought you were perfectly happy before.

Who among us hasn't wondered at some point what life would be like if we had taken a different path.  This book offers a glimpse of this and gives us hope as a potentially devastating situation is turned into a second chance.  Definitely a great read with a truly likeable and realistic protagonist.

About the Author:  Elizabeth Buchan is the author of several highly acclaimed books of fiction and non-fiction. She lives in London with her husband and two children.

 Revenge of the Middle-Aged Woman