Fifty Is Not a Four-Letter Word--My review

I'd like to thank Miriam Parker at Hatchette Books for sending this book to me for review. In it, Hope, a stereotypical "have it all" British career mom turns fifty. She is the editor of a fashion magazine, the mother of a son who is graduating from high school, the daughter of a distant mother and the wife of a physiotherapist, with whom she has not had sex in months. Right after her birthday she loses her job. She becomes aware of the problems in her marriage. Her mother announces she is dying and her son makes plans for his "gap" year. Her best friend announces that she is pregnant at 43. Hot flashes start. She becomes self-absorbed and depressed.

I've heard it is often easier to see other's sins than your own. Throughout this book I had the desire to take Hope by her shoulders and shake her and tell her to quit being such an idiot--if she could run a magazine surely she could run her life. Its funny though, even though I'm only a couple years younger than Hope, I felt like I was reading about an older woman, and yet at times she seemed so childish. Hope was a woman whose lack of self love caused her to be self-absorbed; it isn't until she focuses on others that her mid-life funk resolves.

I enjoyed the book. It contains non-marital sex and favorable treatment of a homosexual relationship. While there are a couple of sex scenes, there aren't long descriptions of who does what to whom. Hope is Jewish but her faith, or lack thereof, doesn't really play a part in the story.