Andrea gave up her career as an artist to work for an advertising company. Now in her late thirties, Andrea hates her job, she drinks a lot, she has sex with men she ends up hating, and she has a strange relationship with her mother. As people around her seem to find happiness and success, Andrea still doesn’t know what she wants in her life.
The story alternates between the past and the present as Andrea revisits the events that affected her life: the death of her drug-addicted father when she was a teenager; her relationship with her brother, her sister-in-law, and her mother; her relationship with men, but also her relationship with art which she gave up because she couldn’t see a future in it. Sharp, honest, and humorous, this is a novel about family, love, friendship and finding a purpose in life. An emotional journey of a woman as she struggles to find her own identity and to release her dreams. (NP)
Waiting is what Jarvis has been doing for six years; struggling to
hold on, for herself and for Martin, her coma-stricken husband. Only
leaving home to visit him at the assisted living facility, Jarvis wanders in her empty loft every single day, savouring the snippets of memories she
and Martin shared. Things take on an unexpected turn when on a trip to the
laundromat she meets The Kept Man Club, three men who stay at home
while their wives work. With their help, she starts to get herself
together, taking steps towards redefining herself in a whole new
direction. But when she discovers a set of photographs left by Martin, she
starts to see her husband in an entire new light, as secrets unfold and the
truth sinks in. Though the characters in this book are not entirely
likable, the story itself is captivating and engaging, with random musings
of the protagonist on life - it's certainly not your typical chick lit. (XT)
