Monday 16 October 2017

Invisible Women - Sarah Long


About the book… 
Tessa, Sandra and Harriet have been best friends through first crushes, careers, marriage and the trials of motherhood. After twenty years of taking care of everyone else's every need, they've found themselves hitting the big 5-0 and suddenly asking themselves: 'what about me?!'

Sandra has a sordid secret, and Harriet is landed with her ailing mother-in-law. Tessa is looking for something to fill the gaping hole left by her youngest daughter's departure for uni, where it seems she's now engaged in all sorts of unsavoury activities, if Tessa's obsessive late-night Facebook stalking is anything to go by.

When Tessa impulsively responds to an online message from an old flame, she soon finds herself waiting at Heathrow Airport for The One That Got Away. 

But what will the plane from New York bring her? The man of her dreams, or a whole heap of trouble? 


And could this be the long-awaited moment for Tessa to seize her life, for herself, with both hands? 

Buy Links: 
Amazon UK
Amazon US

About the author… 

Sarah Long worked in publishing before giving it all up to move to Paris with her husband and three children. She is the author of And What Do You Do? and The Next Best Thing. Following several years of the Parisian experience, she now lives in London.

Contact Links: 
Publisher

My thoughts…
I was given a copy of this book by the author's publisher in exchange for an honest review, this is something I'm more than happy to do.

I was drawn to this book for several reasons.  Firstly the cover, wow, when everything around us is losing it's colour and the mornings and evenings are dark, grey and wet this book just shouts vibrancy, fun, happy, summer - it made me smile just looking at it. Secondly, it's a book about three friends approaching the unspeakable age - 5 0 - something I can relate to - in seven weeks, two days exactly I too will hit that unspeakable number - something I'm secretly dreading.

Three friends Tessa, Sandra and Harriet have been friends for years, sharing their lives as they found love, married and had children.  Somewhere along the line, twenty plus years have gone by and the girls have found themselves adrift.  The roles of devoted wives and mothers have taken their toll and with the approach of 50 comes introspection - what is their purpose in life, they are and feel to all intents and purposes invisible - somewhere along the line they've lost their identities and purpose, a sense of loss for a life spent devoting their time to creating loving, happy homes. They've reached their goals - then suddenly realise - actually, they had helped their family achieve their goals but they've lost themselves in the process.

Such a fab, insightful book - it was like being a fly on the wall getting to know the characters warts and all - reading about their relationships with each other and their families.  It was an easy read with some light undertones but a really serious heart. It's times like significant birthdays that make you question what you're doing with your life and make you realise you need to grab it with both hands and live.  I'm at the point where I question how much time I spend doing the things I think I should be doing or need to do as opposed to the things I want to do and getting the balance right is tricky.  Tessa, Sandra and Harriet are no different and each approach their lives in different ways.

Sometimes in life we can lose sight of who we are and what path we are treading - Sarah Long insightfully guides the three friends along a track allowing them to make mistakes, rely on each other and re-discover the correct route to a place where they feel valued and happy within themselves.

Thank you so much for such a lovely read that was more serious than I initially thought it would be but also more enlightening and thought provoking.  A book for women of all ages - a reminder that all women, friends, children, parents and wives are also individual people too who deserve to make and live their own dreams too.

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