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cher_n_books 's review for:
Autopsy of a Boring Wife
by Marie-Renée Lavoie
funny
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
3 stars = Good and worthwhile.
“All women are crazy, Marie. Every last one of us. We’re all someone’s crazy.”
I was in the mood for a translated contemporary novel when I selected this one about a woman unexpectedly finding out that she is living the mother of all cliches. Her husband of 25 years has been having an affair and is leaving her for a much younger woman. It is heavy on sarcastic humor which helps to keep the tone light, as does the camaraderie she has with her best friend who has recently suffered the same betrayal. Other than the two philandering husbands, all of the male characters are supportive, kind and positively portrayed, so it is not a man bashing book.
“I’m forty-eight - almost forty-nine - and after twenty-five years my marriage just blew up in my face. On a good day, I take a sledgehammer to my house between swigs of white wine. I’m a total mess.”
The publisher markets this as a Quebec version of Bridget Jones's Diary. I did not really get those vibes, but I far preferred this story to reading about a baby journey. I wasn’t blown away, but it held my interest for the entire length and scratched the current mood reading itch. I do lament not getting to see what was in the private investigator’s files. Recommended to readers that appreciate karma retribution through well played pettiness, office work settings in fiction, and stories about loved ones getting the MC through rough times with a smile on their face.
“I used to believe that if we say them often enough, words become worn and faded, little slivers of soap that slip between your fingers - but I was wrong.”
-----
First Sentence: I’ve always thought it terribly pretentious to gather all your loved ones in one place in order to say: the two of us, right here right now and in spite of the overwhelming statistics, declare that we, temporarily bonded by the illusion of eternity, we are FOREVER.
Favorite Quote: We were prisoners of the centrifugal force of our relationship pushing us inexorably apart.
“All women are crazy, Marie. Every last one of us. We’re all someone’s crazy.”
I was in the mood for a translated contemporary novel when I selected this one about a woman unexpectedly finding out that she is living the mother of all cliches. Her husband of 25 years has been having an affair and is leaving her for a much younger woman. It is heavy on sarcastic humor which helps to keep the tone light, as does the camaraderie she has with her best friend who has recently suffered the same betrayal. Other than the two philandering husbands, all of the male characters are supportive, kind and positively portrayed, so it is not a man bashing book.
“I’m forty-eight - almost forty-nine - and after twenty-five years my marriage just blew up in my face. On a good day, I take a sledgehammer to my house between swigs of white wine. I’m a total mess.”
The publisher markets this as a Quebec version of Bridget Jones's Diary. I did not really get those vibes, but I far preferred this story to reading about a baby journey. I wasn’t blown away, but it held my interest for the entire length and scratched the current mood reading itch. I do lament not getting to see what was in the private investigator’s files. Recommended to readers that appreciate karma retribution through well played pettiness, office work settings in fiction, and stories about loved ones getting the MC through rough times with a smile on their face.
“I used to believe that if we say them often enough, words become worn and faded, little slivers of soap that slip between your fingers - but I was wrong.”
-----
First Sentence: I’ve always thought it terribly pretentious to gather all your loved ones in one place in order to say: the two of us, right here right now and in spite of the overwhelming statistics, declare that we, temporarily bonded by the illusion of eternity, we are FOREVER.
Favorite Quote: We were prisoners of the centrifugal force of our relationship pushing us inexorably apart.