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Sauce for the Gander
Kate is heart-broken when her husband Keith insists that they take a year’s sabbatical from their marriage, to enable him to give his attention to combining his career as a university lecturer with his new appointment as television newscaster and linkman. Kate, he says, can use the time to find her own identity that has until now been submerged in the trivia of being a housewife and mother. To Kate this wasn’t trivia. She enjoyed being a wife and mother. Lately she had been looking forward to entertaining Keith’s television colleagues; by association being part of the magic world of television. Instead she had been rejected. That her husband had made this decision known on Christmas Day in the middle of a family Christmas added to Kate’s misery. After a period of grief and loneliness Kate picks herself up and gets on with her life. Encouraged by her flamboyant friend Sally, she starts a catering business, sheds many of her inhibitions, and begins to enjoy herself. Two others who stand by Kate are Carey Barely, her daily help, and monosyllabic gardener Nat. These two are real village characters, who once they had given their support will continue to do so whatever happens. Within the family Kate had adversaries in the form of her vindictive and manipulative mother-in-law Amy, and her churlish student daughter Emma. Daughter-in-law Lois weighs in on Kate’s side, while son David sits on the fence. When Christmas comes round again it is a very different Kate who awaits her husband’s return. Although she has done as Keith suggested and discovered her identity, it is an identity that none of them, not even Kate herself, could possibly have envisaged or believed possible. Keith, on the other hand, has not changed; the new charismatic Keith is only for the television camera, at home he is still the dominating rather dull man he always was, the difference is that now Kate can see it. Kate is faced with a dilemma: she can continue out of duty with a marriage which now has become untenable, or she can break free from the marriage and enjoy the exciting new life she has carved out for herself. Kate goes for the break free option. This results in Keith and his mother resorting to emotional blackmail to force Kate to stay, using a threat that is so terrible that it seems to Kate that she has no choice but to give in. After a miserable night spent contemplating a bleak future, Kate realises that she has a choice: one that will enable her to turn the tables on the conniving pair.
240 pages, Kindle Edition
First published April 12, 2013
9 people are currently reading
65 people want to read
About the author
Rose Lawn
8 books1 followerI began my writing career as a children’s author writing for the BBC and other radio and television stations. My first book, Brown Bear and Skipper Ahoy There, was published by the BBC. Other book publishers asked me to write for them, and soon I reached the happy stage where almost everything I wrote was either commissioned or snapped up.
If something seems too good to be true, it usually is! After a few years my time as a children’s author was brought to an abrupt end by unexpected and life changing circumstances. Other than an audio tape The Kundalini Experience of a Western Woman, I wrote little during this period.
Some years on, I found myself once more with time and the urge to write. Several caravan holidays in the New Forest, and an extremely attractive camp-site warden, gave me the idea for my first novel, The Sweet Scent of Bog Myrtle. Having received praise from publishers but no offers to publish, only the well-known phrase “Our list is full” I decided to go it alone and publish this title as an Amazon Kindle e-book. Mastering the mechanics of becoming a publisher was a huge learning curve. I enjoy a challenge however, and it was with a sense of achievement that I pressed the Publish button for the first time.
Seven years on I have published seven titles as Amazon Kindle e-books. The first two, The Sweet Scent of Bog Myrtle and Honeysuckle Spring would be best described as Romantic Novels. Sauce for the Gander, Serpent Summer, Tough Love, and Changing Places are less simple, and I would describe these as family dramas.
My latest title, Murder in Merrily Green is, as the title suggests, a murder mystery. It is set in a small village in the same general area, part fact and part fiction, of the North Norfolk coast as most of my other novels. Some characters appear in several or all of them. This is something I enjoy as a reader, because it is like meeting old friends. I hope my readers enjoy it, too.
Best Wishes to you all, Rose Lawn
If something seems too good to be true, it usually is! After a few years my time as a children’s author was brought to an abrupt end by unexpected and life changing circumstances. Other than an audio tape The Kundalini Experience of a Western Woman, I wrote little during this period.
Some years on, I found myself once more with time and the urge to write. Several caravan holidays in the New Forest, and an extremely attractive camp-site warden, gave me the idea for my first novel, The Sweet Scent of Bog Myrtle. Having received praise from publishers but no offers to publish, only the well-known phrase “Our list is full” I decided to go it alone and publish this title as an Amazon Kindle e-book. Mastering the mechanics of becoming a publisher was a huge learning curve. I enjoy a challenge however, and it was with a sense of achievement that I pressed the Publish button for the first time.
Seven years on I have published seven titles as Amazon Kindle e-books. The first two, The Sweet Scent of Bog Myrtle and Honeysuckle Spring would be best described as Romantic Novels. Sauce for the Gander, Serpent Summer, Tough Love, and Changing Places are less simple, and I would describe these as family dramas.
My latest title, Murder in Merrily Green is, as the title suggests, a murder mystery. It is set in a small village in the same general area, part fact and part fiction, of the North Norfolk coast as most of my other novels. Some characters appear in several or all of them. This is something I enjoy as a reader, because it is like meeting old friends. I hope my readers enjoy it, too.
Best Wishes to you all, Rose Lawn
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Displaying 1 - 28 of 28 reviews
August 18, 2022
Read for one of the most epic comeuppances for a smug cheater.
The husband, NOT the H, tells his wife he will being taking a year's sabbatical as he pursues being a TV personality. It's his Christmas gift to her so she can explore what it means to be more than a boring housewife. That's not exactly how he says it, but close. What he forgets to tell her is he's moving in with his co-anchor, his very young, very ambitious co-anchor.
The h is a good little wife and does as he asks. She gets a makeover, starts a business that he doesn't approve of, ices out her evil MIL, gets a handsome lover, and "expands her horizons".
After a year, the husband wants to come back just as it was.
Retribution falls under the category if Be very careful what you ask for as the h ends up very nicely settling scores with her smug bastard of a husband, her MIL and her awful, awful daughter (the h's daughter not the MIL).
One thing I noted is it had a very dated vibe in terms of how she evolved, how she dressed etc. Not a big deal, but worth mentioning.
The husband, NOT the H, tells his wife he will being taking a year's sabbatical as he pursues being a TV personality. It's his Christmas gift to her so she can explore what it means to be more than a boring housewife. That's not exactly how he says it, but close. What he forgets to tell her is he's moving in with his co-anchor, his very young, very ambitious co-anchor.
The h is a good little wife and does as he asks. She gets a makeover, starts a business that he doesn't approve of, ices out her evil MIL, gets a handsome lover, and "expands her horizons".
After a year, the husband wants to come back just as it was.
Retribution falls under the category if Be very careful what you ask for as the h ends up very nicely settling scores with her smug bastard of a husband, her MIL and her awful, awful daughter (the h's daughter not the MIL).
One thing I noted is it had a very dated vibe in terms of how she evolved, how she dressed etc. Not a big deal, but worth mentioning.
May 9, 2017
So this one is a woman who gets dumped for a year's 'sabbatical'- which in terms of the husband in this book means he is going off to London to be a newscaster and shack up with his co-anchor. The h is the typical frumpy devoted mum, but that changes in BIG way over the course of the story.
It was inspiring, it was moving and I was totally cheering her on. She falls in love with a much nicer man and gets herself a great life, then the cheatin' slime slurper slither's back and there are choices to be made.
The only thing I did not like was how long at the end she dithered over what to do, but once she made that choice, she carried her wishes out with EPIC excellence.
I really liked this one, it is full on woman's fiction and there is an HEA that is 100% satisfying - tho I wouldn't mind seeing more of these characters, they were great to spend time with.
It was inspiring, it was moving and I was totally cheering her on. She falls in love with a much nicer man and gets herself a great life, then the cheatin' slime slurper slither's back and there are choices to be made.
The only thing I did not like was how long at the end she dithered over what to do, but once she made that choice, she carried her wishes out with EPIC excellence.
I really liked this one, it is full on woman's fiction and there is an HEA that is 100% satisfying - tho I wouldn't mind seeing more of these characters, they were great to spend time with.
January 26, 2020
4 ⭐⭐⭐⭐ - Liked it!
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I cheered for our heroine from the beginning and got hooked on reading from start to finish. What a horrible husband, what a toxic mother-in-law and what worthless children. I loved the ending! Dump the cheater and run away with the new guy.
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I cheered for our heroine from the beginning and got hooked on reading from start to finish. What a horrible husband, what a toxic mother-in-law and what worthless children. I loved the ending! Dump the cheater and run away with the new guy.
"I think we should take a sabbatical."
Keith shook his head. "Not a sabbatical from work, Kate. From our marriage."
"A year!" Kate exclaimed. “A whole year? That’s as good as leaving me.” She was near to tears. This couldn't be happening, she thought.
"What you really mean is that you find me dull. Not glamorous enough to share your new life, to play hostess to your new colleagues." Keith
As he drove away from Pack Bridge House Keith Graham felt guilt and excitement in equal proportions. Guilt because Kate had taken the sabbatical so hard; excitement because he was starting out on what could prove to be the most interesting year of his life so far.
He had been flattered when Rosanne had `come on` to him, and whichever way he looked at it, that is exactly what she had done, and suggested that she would like to be his co-newsreader.
Marrying Kate had been the right thing to do; he had no doubts on that score. His sudden urge to leave behind all his responsibilities and give himself just one year of freedom to enjoy his new responsibilities to the full had surprised even him.
"Keith phoned last night."
"He asked me if I would wash his shirts."
There was something in the look Keith exchanged with Rosanne towards the end of the newscast that disturbed her, as did the easy camaraderie between the two of them as they wished the viewers Goodnight.
"I'm talking about your husband and my wife
“- living together," he concluded.
"You didn't know!" he said. "No!" Kate's voice was scarcely more than a whisper.
"I think deep down I suspected something was going on," Kate admitted dully.
Even so, it never crossed my mind that they might be living together. I can't take it in, Sally. That Keith - Keith of all people - would do such a thing."
Fighting back her tears, she said bitterly, "I understand that he is living with his mistress, Rosanne Carlisle. The woman newsreader."
"He left for the same reason most men do," Kate replied. "For another woman. In Keith's case, it was – and still is I imagine - Rosanne Carlisle. I suppose Emma told you they are living together?"
In the bar of the Castle hotel, Keith Graham ordered a glass of wine while he waited for Rosanne.
He had been flattered when Rosanne had made it plain that she wouldn’t say no to their having an affair.
For if he hadn't insisted on their taking a sabbatical, if he hadn't been unfaithful to her, she would never have experienced the joy she had experienced last night, and would almost certainly experience again. And again.
"Quite frankly, Kate, I'm not surprised my son has left you for that delightful young woman. "Oh yes!" she went on in response to Kate's startled glance. "I have met her. They gave me dinner last night, and I found her quite charming!
“No!” Kate repeated. “I will not do it, Keith. You’ll have to ask Rosanne to be your partner. In that, as in everything else at present.”
“He’s a skunk-faced rat!” Sally exclaimed. "But that's your husband for you, Kate. Are you sure you want him back at the end of the year?"
"It doesn't matter how far apart we may be, if you are in my heart, and I am in yours, we shall always be together."
More than anything else he had missed Kate’s cooking. Cooking and homemaking hadn’t been Rosanne’s forte. She had had other talents …
Only what she hadn't expected, which was for Keith to walk in, briefcase in hand, mackintosh over his arm, drop a perfunctory kiss on her cheek, and ask: "What's for dinner? I'm starving." Exactly as he had every evening for as long as she could remember. Exactly as if he had never been away!
January 25, 2023
Hmmm, at the end I can say that I quite liked this take on the midlife crisis/ marriage in trouble set in Britain, even though it's a slow drone for most parts.
The couple takes a year's sabbatical - or the husband imposes it on the wife, happily anticipating to have his cake and eat it too.
Only it didn't entirely taste as he had hoped - a year on.
The couple takes a year's sabbatical - or the husband imposes it on the wife, happily anticipating to have his cake and eat it too.
Only it didn't entirely taste as he had hoped - a year on.
April 30, 2020
4 stars
I waffled throughout on if I should rate 3.5 -4 stars. I decided on 4 because of the growth of h and how she stood up for herself at the end and didn't succumb to emotional blackmail. I wish there had been an epilogue.
I waffled throughout on if I should rate 3.5 -4 stars. I decided on 4 because of the growth of h and how she stood up for herself at the end and didn't succumb to emotional blackmail. I wish there had been an epilogue.
April 14, 2022
So this book isn’t really GREAT great. But I read some reviews and people seemed to be shocked by this book and felt it hurt their sensitivity with all the “cheating”, so I decided to give this a go, and I kinda enjoyed it.
Would i read it again? Probs not. But it was a good short read.
The fact that taking a sabbatical is frowned upon is concerning. Yes the husband went about it the wrong way. There’s the fact the terms of the “break” wasn’t discussed explicitly. But people need to understand that there are more to relationships than the conventional ones we are used to.
The husband may have been the only one cheating here, as he hasn’t explicitly explained the terms with the h. The h in term just acted very rationally on an attraction she felt AFTER confirming that her husband is in fact living with OW.
This could have been a healthy grow. They both tried something new and realised that their love for each other is what they need and reconciled after a year. However the husband had no growth. He was rather like a petulant child claiming it’s not the same for women.
Not sure what made the h stay with him after that remark. That is where either the counseling comes in or you walk out.
Anyway, I liked the ending. I liked h’s choice of man. I liked her new approach to life.
All in all an entertaining read.
Would i read it again? Probs not. But it was a good short read.
The fact that taking a sabbatical is frowned upon is concerning. Yes the husband went about it the wrong way. There’s the fact the terms of the “break” wasn’t discussed explicitly. But people need to understand that there are more to relationships than the conventional ones we are used to.
The husband may have been the only one cheating here, as he hasn’t explicitly explained the terms with the h. The h in term just acted very rationally on an attraction she felt AFTER confirming that her husband is in fact living with OW.
This could have been a healthy grow. They both tried something new and realised that their love for each other is what they need and reconciled after a year. However the husband had no growth. He was rather like a petulant child claiming it’s not the same for women.
Not sure what made the h stay with him after that remark. That is where either the counseling comes in or you walk out.
Anyway, I liked the ending. I liked h’s choice of man. I liked her new approach to life.
All in all an entertaining read.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
August 4, 2017
I don’t know who wrote a synopsis of the story on GR but they should really put it under spoilers. It’s pretty much a retelling of the plot. So, beware, if you plan to read the book.
I liked the premise of the story- a woman trying to find herself after a breakdown of her marriage. But execution left much to be desired, especially in terms of characterization. There was no gray area, no ambiguity, so one dimensional that it felt cartoonish. The husband is so terrible that you think how the heroine could put up with him for so many years. The new man is epitome of perfection- so understanding, so compassionate. When he speaks, he can’t help himself but pepper his speech with the Buddhist quotes. The secondary characters predictably fall into two categories: good and bad and nothing in between. As for the heroine herself, it was gratifying that she found her backbone after all. Although, for a life of me, I couldn’t understand why she wavered with what to do for so long. An extra star for the last two chapters.
I liked the premise of the story- a woman trying to find herself after a breakdown of her marriage. But execution left much to be desired, especially in terms of characterization. There was no gray area, no ambiguity, so one dimensional that it felt cartoonish. The husband is so terrible that you think how the heroine could put up with him for so many years. The new man is epitome of perfection- so understanding, so compassionate. When he speaks, he can’t help himself but pepper his speech with the Buddhist quotes. The secondary characters predictably fall into two categories: good and bad and nothing in between. As for the heroine herself, it was gratifying that she found her backbone after all. Although, for a life of me, I couldn’t understand why she wavered with what to do for so long. An extra star for the last two chapters.
April 12, 2022
I can't believe I never rated this!
This is a fun story about a woman whose husband pressures her into taking a year-long sabbatical from the marriage. He does this so that he can have an affair with a new coworker, although he doesn't actually say that.
The h has been putting up with him and her MIL for a long time. She uses this sabbatical to explore things that she's interested in and builds her own life. She ends up in a much better place and she's able to show all of the people who have manipulated her and taken her for granted that he will not be trifled with again.
I've read this occasionally because it's just so neatly resolved.
This is a fun story about a woman whose husband pressures her into taking a year-long sabbatical from the marriage. He does this so that he can have an affair with a new coworker, although he doesn't actually say that.
The h has been putting up with him and her MIL for a long time. She uses this sabbatical to explore things that she's interested in and builds her own life. She ends up in a much better place and she's able to show all of the people who have manipulated her and taken her for granted that he will not be trifled with again.
I've read this occasionally because it's just so neatly resolved.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
January 27, 2020
In the beginning I had a hard time relating to Kate. She was so submissive to her husband. I can't imagine taking care of your husband and kids' every need like a maid. They took advantage of her and treated her like crap. No one stuck up for her when her husband said he wanted to take a year long break. They blamed anything and everything on her and she never complained.
It was nice watching her blossom and start speaking up for herself. The ending was satisfying, but I would have liked to see her actually make it to France and to Gianni.
It was nice watching her blossom and start speaking up for herself. The ending was satisfying, but I would have liked to see her actually make it to France and to Gianni.
August 23, 2022
My god, what a condescending d!ck.
She deserves her HEA elsewhere.
She deserves her HEA elsewhere.
November 23, 2018
Really like this. My only issues are that she took too long to stand up for herself and, more importantly, her relationship with her AWFUL daughter. Why wasn't that ever dealt with? The ending left their relationship even more unraveled.
August 23, 2022
Really dated but a good story.
HEA.
No epilogue.
HEA.
No epilogue.
January 26, 2020
Not bad, I found the working quite basic and the characters quite predictable and stereotypical, but the story was easy to read and was great seeing a cheating scumbag get dumped for a change. Kate the leading lady was a downtrodden wife who was taken for granted by her family, none more so then her shallow and boring husband! He suggests a years sabbatical! Which basically translates a year for him to fuck of and cheat with his colleague, while he tries to become a famous presenter! I was in equal parts sympathetic and frustrated with Kate. I could understand to an extend her low self esteem and like of self knowledge as she married young to a controlling man 8 years older than her. Sometimes though I wanted to shake her. Like when she let her daughter blatantly ignore or disrespect her, or when she thought about taking back the husband after him cheating and belittling her catering business! I also felt we never really found out why her daughter disliked her so much? Also, there seemed to be more to Emma’s pregnancy (I smell an affair with a married lecturer), then we are told. I also did not appreciate the heave anti abortion theme being displayed. On the other hand Kate was rather sweet as was her relationship with Gianni, and her best friend was pretty loyal! The scene where she puts her family in place and dumps the leeches was pretty rewarding as well! Overall a pretty good read!
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
August 22, 2022
This was a very odd book to rate. On the one hand, it was clearly written in the last few decades since there are discussions of email and text messages. On the other, the writing was incredibly old-fashioned and until I looked at the copyright, I honestly thought it had been written in the 70s and updated to use more modern terms. It begins when Kate's husband, Keith (a name I particularly dislike these days so it suited him) announces that he will be taking a sabbatical from their marriage for one year. Anyone with a brain in their head would know what that means: affair time! As the title of this book suggests, eventually, Kate starts to grow a spine and realizes what happens next.
I wouldn't classify this as a romance, really, although that is certainly involved. It was much more interesting reading it as chicklit or "women's fiction" since the romance took a backseat to Kate's developing spine. There was a sex scene, of sorts, but it's very fade-to-black, took up maybe two paragraphs, and the remainder of them happen off-page. And as for the romance, it is very sweet, but not very realistic. I did wish some sort of discussion would have happened around Kate and Gianni having children together, or not -- I mean, she's 45 when the book ends and has two grown adult children, one of whom ends the book pregnant with Kate's grandchild. Biological children might not have even been an option for her. Gianni is only 29. I wish the book had established at some point that maybe adoption was an option for him (especially given how preachy the book is about abortions) if he and Kate wanted children, or that he didn't want kids at all. Gianni himself is very much a non-character. He is a stock fantasy younger man, who is all about Kate and has this wise-beyond-his-years vibe only found in fiction. Then there's the fact that she's ending a 25 year marriage and is clearly on the rebound.
If you look at Kate and Gianni outside of the bounds of fiction-land, it doesn't feel like an HEA. Their relationship is done, probably even amicably, in five years or less. I think I actually would have preferred it if Kate's affection for him had ended over the course of the book as a fond memory of a younger man who helped her get over her cheating husband, and just left it at that, so she could "get her groove back" by riding into the sunset on her own, maybe taking her friend Sally with her. Being single can and should be an HEA for some women.
Also, I don't love how preachy this book got about anti-choice (they called it "anti-abortion" instead of "pro-life" which was at least a start) while also being totally fine with adultery. Kate is certainly judged, but it's always by people we aren't meant to like. I mean, I wasn't inclined to judge Kate for her actions, given what was going on with her husband, but the religious double-standard was real.
And then there were Kate's children. I mean at first the only one of her family members I had any use for was her daughter-in-law, but her daughter, Emma, was absolutely odious. She was an unmitigated wretch who never really got any kind of on-page comeuppance. The entire book she never had a kind word to say to Kate and although characters implied at the end of the book that Emma was going to appreciate her mother when she had her own baby, the idea of Kate continuing to have any kind of relationship with her ungrateful, entitled, bitch of a daughter honestly made no sense to me. She spent the entire book being fine when her horrible father did something, but as soon as her mother did the same thing, it was the end of the world. The entire book, Emma ignored Kate on any important holiday, including Mother's Day and her birthday (she shows up, but it's clear she didn't want to be there and she spends the entire time being horrible), and then at the end because she's preggers, we're supposed to assume that someone that spoiled and entitled is going to magically appreciate her mother? Nope, sorry, I know people like that and they never learn or change. The best way the book could have ended was for Emma to abort the baby as she was threatening to do out of spite, so she would never raise a person like herself and she could have taken down her bitchy paternal grandmother's career in the process.
There. Between Emma having an abortion and Kate riding off into the sunset with her gal pal Sally, I made this a much better book.
All that said, I actually had fun reading this and had a hard time putting it down at certain points. I like books where the main character changes and grows and this was one of those. I did wish it hadn't taken Kate almost the entire book to realize that she didn't want her cheating husband back, but I liked the friendships she formed along the way and the process of trying new things. I can't remember in detail the rules about the Bechdel Test, but I'm pretty sure this book passed, which is a nice change from a lot of the books I read.
I wouldn't classify this as a romance, really, although that is certainly involved. It was much more interesting reading it as chicklit or "women's fiction" since the romance took a backseat to Kate's developing spine. There was a sex scene, of sorts, but it's very fade-to-black, took up maybe two paragraphs, and the remainder of them happen off-page. And as for the romance, it is very sweet, but not very realistic. I did wish some sort of discussion would have happened around Kate and Gianni having children together, or not -- I mean, she's 45 when the book ends and has two grown adult children, one of whom ends the book pregnant with Kate's grandchild. Biological children might not have even been an option for her. Gianni is only 29. I wish the book had established at some point that maybe adoption was an option for him (especially given how preachy the book is about abortions) if he and Kate wanted children, or that he didn't want kids at all. Gianni himself is very much a non-character. He is a stock fantasy younger man, who is all about Kate and has this wise-beyond-his-years vibe only found in fiction. Then there's the fact that she's ending a 25 year marriage and is clearly on the rebound.
If you look at Kate and Gianni outside of the bounds of fiction-land, it doesn't feel like an HEA. Their relationship is done, probably even amicably, in five years or less. I think I actually would have preferred it if Kate's affection for him had ended over the course of the book as a fond memory of a younger man who helped her get over her cheating husband, and just left it at that, so she could "get her groove back" by riding into the sunset on her own, maybe taking her friend Sally with her. Being single can and should be an HEA for some women.
Also, I don't love how preachy this book got about anti-choice (they called it "anti-abortion" instead of "pro-life" which was at least a start) while also being totally fine with adultery. Kate is certainly judged, but it's always by people we aren't meant to like. I mean, I wasn't inclined to judge Kate for her actions, given what was going on with her husband, but the religious double-standard was real.
And then there were Kate's children. I mean at first the only one of her family members I had any use for was her daughter-in-law, but her daughter, Emma, was absolutely odious. She was an unmitigated wretch who never really got any kind of on-page comeuppance. The entire book she never had a kind word to say to Kate and although characters implied at the end of the book that Emma was going to appreciate her mother when she had her own baby, the idea of Kate continuing to have any kind of relationship with her ungrateful, entitled, bitch of a daughter honestly made no sense to me. She spent the entire book being fine when her horrible father did something, but as soon as her mother did the same thing, it was the end of the world. The entire book, Emma ignored Kate on any important holiday, including Mother's Day and her birthday (she shows up, but it's clear she didn't want to be there and she spends the entire time being horrible), and then at the end because she's preggers, we're supposed to assume that someone that spoiled and entitled is going to magically appreciate her mother? Nope, sorry, I know people like that and they never learn or change. The best way the book could have ended was for Emma to abort the baby as she was threatening to do out of spite, so she would never raise a person like herself and she could have taken down her bitchy paternal grandmother's career in the process.
There. Between Emma having an abortion and Kate riding off into the sunset with her gal pal Sally, I made this a much better book.
All that said, I actually had fun reading this and had a hard time putting it down at certain points. I like books where the main character changes and grows and this was one of those. I did wish it hadn't taken Kate almost the entire book to realize that she didn't want her cheating husband back, but I liked the friendships she formed along the way and the process of trying new things. I can't remember in detail the rules about the Bechdel Test, but I'm pretty sure this book passed, which is a nice change from a lot of the books I read.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
January 27, 2020
I wanted to like this one, due in large to the fact that several of my GR friends rated it highly. However, I couldn't manage to get behind this story. I know that the author was purposely painting the h as a shadow of her former self, but I think she was too successful in that portrayal as I had a hard time understanding her. After finding out about her husband's affair, her answer is to have an affair of her own and then at the end of the sabbatical end her own affair and take her husband back ? Uh, what?
I liked everything else that she did for herself: taking up exercising, revamping her wardrobe, planting gobs of flowers that made her happy, starting her own business, etc. However, I couldn't understand why she'd want her husband back after all that time, especially after knowing what adult love was like and knowing that he'd been unfaithful to her. I also would've preferred that she asked for a divorce before embarking on her own affair. Also, the fact that she had an affair with such a younger man (16 years) sort of squicked me out. That would be like me going out with someone a couple of years older than my oldest child. I just can't even fathom it.
The h's family (daughter, especially) were awful. Her MIL was evil and the son was just ok. I couldn't imagine having a family like that. I guess if I were the heroine, I'd be a little sad about life, too. Overall, I didn't really like this one. The cheating on both sides, the cardboard cutouts of villainy, and the idea of taking back a cheating spouse (who never once apologizes) just boggle the mind too much for me to enjoy.
I liked everything else that she did for herself: taking up exercising, revamping her wardrobe, planting gobs of flowers that made her happy, starting her own business, etc. However, I couldn't understand why she'd want her husband back after all that time, especially after knowing what adult love was like and knowing that he'd been unfaithful to her. I also would've preferred that she asked for a divorce before embarking on her own affair. Also, the fact that she had an affair with such a younger man (16 years) sort of squicked me out. That would be like me going out with someone a couple of years older than my oldest child. I just can't even fathom it.
The h's family (daughter, especially) were awful. Her MIL was evil and the son was just ok. I couldn't imagine having a family like that. I guess if I were the heroine, I'd be a little sad about life, too. Overall, I didn't really like this one. The cheating on both sides, the cardboard cutouts of villainy, and the idea of taking back a cheating spouse (who never once apologizes) just boggle the mind too much for me to enjoy.
May 16, 2025
Ok so Im convinced that this book was written in the 1990s although published in 2013. There's almost no recent technology or social media mentioned until the last page where an email address is mentioned. Also it is very quaint and cozy British style writing. I picture myself in a small cottage in a quaint town where everyone knows eachother sipping tea.
Ok moving beyond that, this was an engaging book with a great storyline about a marroed woman in her 40s with grown children who is essentially abandoned by her husband for s year while he goes off to boink his much younger, also married coworker in the city to " further his career as a newscaster". Him, their daughter in University and her cold hearted mother in law don't care how she's inconvienced by his decision. He expects her to just welcome his back after a year no questions asked.
Meanwhile she gets a makeover, starts a business and meets a handsome, younger man who helps her to explore her passions and takes her on a trip to France.
Her husband learns pretty early on in their sabbatical that she knows about his affair and he learns if hers. He expects everything to go back to the way they were once he gets back. Her husband becomes a stranger To her that she watches on tv.
I do recommend reading this book, the angst isn't deep but the fmc finds herself again and decides to stand up for herself rather then continue to lay down and be a doormat for everyone in her life.
Ok moving beyond that, this was an engaging book with a great storyline about a marroed woman in her 40s with grown children who is essentially abandoned by her husband for s year while he goes off to boink his much younger, also married coworker in the city to " further his career as a newscaster". Him, their daughter in University and her cold hearted mother in law don't care how she's inconvienced by his decision. He expects her to just welcome his back after a year no questions asked.
Meanwhile she gets a makeover, starts a business and meets a handsome, younger man who helps her to explore her passions and takes her on a trip to France.
Her husband learns pretty early on in their sabbatical that she knows about his affair and he learns if hers. He expects everything to go back to the way they were once he gets back. Her husband becomes a stranger To her that she watches on tv.
I do recommend reading this book, the angst isn't deep but the fmc finds herself again and decides to stand up for herself rather then continue to lay down and be a doormat for everyone in her life.
January 1, 2024
Skimmed to the end…DNF the premise is good but it was slow and dated
skimmed
August 15, 2023DNF/skimmed ending. I do not like the stilted language; the characters are very robotic, and I'm not feeling the angst. Since the husband is not forgiven and the heroine separates from him at the end, the author makes the husband as ridiculously seflish as possible, with no grovel, and so there's no real stakes.
July 12, 2014
I enjoyed this book, especially the second half. To begin with I found it hard to empathize with Kate who seemed to have reached her 40's without any sense of her own identity.
July 23, 2023
I think this is the first book I’ve read recently where the wife doesn’t take the cheater back.
This one was a prize really.
He asks his wife of 25 years a sabbatical from their marriage because he has to work for a tv where of course he has a younger and sexier model waiting for him.
The wife is confused but doesn’t actually oppose and this is something I really hated.
I would have smashed his skull with a maze.
She is basically a woman who has always been dependent on her husband and is unable to be something else than his wife.
Now she has to be something else, forcibly.
She has a total new look.
She becomes a chef for catering and soon is successful.
She meets the hero, a younger and more charming man who falls in love with her, and she with him.
She learns to assert herself with the selfish and awful members of her family, mother in law, daughter and son, everyone is awful.
The husband comes back one year later, when his mistress has dumped him like yesterday garbage, as if nothing is changed and this was really hilarious.
Her daughter is pregnant and she wants her mother to raise her child because she’s not ready to become a mother. The selfishness and narcissism of those people is astounding.
Her answer made me stand up clapping, for once.
And she has her HEA with her charming new man, leaving everyone behind.
Thank good for this author.
This one was a prize really.
He asks his wife of 25 years a sabbatical from their marriage because he has to work for a tv where of course he has a younger and sexier model waiting for him.
The wife is confused but doesn’t actually oppose and this is something I really hated.
I would have smashed his skull with a maze.
She is basically a woman who has always been dependent on her husband and is unable to be something else than his wife.
Now she has to be something else, forcibly.
She has a total new look.
She becomes a chef for catering and soon is successful.
She meets the hero, a younger and more charming man who falls in love with her, and she with him.
She learns to assert herself with the selfish and awful members of her family, mother in law, daughter and son, everyone is awful.
The husband comes back one year later, when his mistress has dumped him like yesterday garbage, as if nothing is changed and this was really hilarious.
Her daughter is pregnant and she wants her mother to raise her child because she’s not ready to become a mother. The selfishness and narcissism of those people is astounding.
Her answer made me stand up clapping, for once.
And she has her HEA with her charming new man, leaving everyone behind.
Thank good for this author.
April 14, 2022
This one was actually better than just okay..maybe 3.5 stars.
This is more women’s fiction than a romance and Despite it being a cheating book, surprisingly, low on angst.
I would say its more like a woman’s fantasy book… the poor middle aged downtrodden heroine is told by her slime husband that he is going on a year’s sabbatical from their marriage 🙄 when actually he is giving Himself license to have an affair with his young colleague. He pompously tells his wife to use the year to find herself.
Without any support from her other family members, she is suddenly left alone and floundering. Thankfully she has good friends who give her a make over and really do lead her into finding herself.
She embarks on a new career, falls in love with a mush younger man who is also smitten with her, and is ecstatically happy.
So yes its the supreme fantasy come true of every middle aged woman who has been left by her husband for a younger woman. And it ends spectacularly with pie on the face of the a-hole husband. Best revenge.
Except i kept remembering Ashton and poor Demi 😢
This is more women’s fiction than a romance and Despite it being a cheating book, surprisingly, low on angst.
I would say its more like a woman’s fantasy book… the poor middle aged downtrodden heroine is told by her slime husband that he is going on a year’s sabbatical from their marriage 🙄 when actually he is giving Himself license to have an affair with his young colleague. He pompously tells his wife to use the year to find herself.
Without any support from her other family members, she is suddenly left alone and floundering. Thankfully she has good friends who give her a make over and really do lead her into finding herself.
She embarks on a new career, falls in love with a mush younger man who is also smitten with her, and is ecstatically happy.
So yes its the supreme fantasy come true of every middle aged woman who has been left by her husband for a younger woman. And it ends spectacularly with pie on the face of the a-hole husband. Best revenge.
Except i kept remembering Ashton and poor Demi 😢
December 5, 2023
This has actually been a delightful read. This took place in England somewhere alluding to a small town atmosphere amidst a rather conservative lifestyle. So the separation of the husband and wife was a rather alarming thing to do. A marriage of 25 years, two grown children, a pompous husband deciding to take a year off from their marriage, a stay at home wife burdened with the realization of the bondage she had been living in under her oppressive husband was written in a way to capture your emotional heart. The daily life of a woman who begins a metamorphosis into a woman of worth. When she begins to take a stand for herself you find yourself rooting for her and rejoicing in all that she accomplishes. It is an awakening of self worth. And the ending is worth the entire read!
November 29, 2020
Lame. They both cheat and the heroine is a bore throughout even after her supposed transformation. I felt sorry for Gianni and, heck, even Emma had more character. The story ran like a cliche nightmare that got its cliche ending where everything ends in a boy toy elopement with partners their children's ages.
December 22, 2021
Confusing
I couldn't relate to the MC.. modern world historic speaking..🤷♀️🤷♀️🤷♀️..Husband OTT tosser..horriable ruddy adult kids...Seriously gross family..Gianni at least made it interesting ..
I couldn't relate to the MC.. modern world historic speaking..🤷♀️🤷♀️🤷♀️..Husband OTT tosser..horriable ruddy adult kids...Seriously gross family..Gianni at least made it interesting ..
March 11, 2021
A really good read
It flowed well and I really needed to know how it would end.
The suspense was there up to the last page.
It flowed well and I really needed to know how it would end.
The suspense was there up to the last page.
November 16, 2023
This end is so good
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