NEW RELEASE
Driving Lessons - Zoe Fishman (2014)
Sarah, a New York City to small town Virginia transplant, used to be a top executive at a famous cosmetics firm and now spends her days puttering around her dream kitchen. She is used to having her friends and family close by, but now is having a hard time fitting in with the people in her new town. She followed her husband Josh when he accepted a residency at a college in town, with hopes of "getting away" from the hustle and bustle of the city. Josh had hopes of not only enjoying the slow pace of the small town life, but of starting a family too. Which is something Sarah is unsure she will ever be ready for. The only problem with leaving the "hustle and bustle" of the city for Sarah is the lack of public transportation. Sarah is too terrified to drive. Having avoided sitting in the driver's seat for over two decades, she enlists herself in some driving lessons to refresh her skills. As her lessons progress, she finds that not only is she starting to get the hang of driving around her new town, but she's starting to enjoy and maybe even "find" herself again. Everything is looking up for Sarah when turmoil suddenly strikes her friend back in the city. On her trip to visit, Sarah learns a few new things about the people in her old life she thought she knew well. What does this all mean for Sarah? Well you will have to read to find out! Is it possible for a book to seem both fast paced, and too long? I lost interest in the book a few times which made me take a few weeks to get through it. It was interesting enough, but not something I couldn't put down, nor was it something that left me hanging off the edge of my chair. But it was a nice palate cleanser before my next read. (AV)
Sometimes life's most fulfilling journeys begin without a map in Zoe Fishman's Driving Lessons. The summary says: "An executive at a New York cosmetics firm, Sarah has had her fill of the interminable hustle of the big city. When her husband, Josh, is offered a new job in suburban Virginia, it feels like the perfect chance to shift gears. While Josh quickly adapts to their new life, Sarah discovers that having time on her hands is a mixed blessing. Without her everyday urban struggles, who is she? And how can she explain to Josh, who assumes they are on the same page, her ambivalence about starting a family? It doesn't help that the idea of getting behind the wheel - an absolute necessity of her new life - makes it hard for Sarah to breathe. It's been almost twenty years since she's driven, and just the thought of merging is enough to make her teeth chatter with anxiety. When she signs up for lessons, she begins to feel a bit more like her old self again, but she's still unsure of where she wants to go. Then a crisis involving her best friend lands Sarah back in New York - a trip to the past filled with unexpected truths about herself, her dear friend, and her seemingly perfect sister-in-law ... and an astonishing surprise that will help her see the way ahead."