Wednesday, September 6, 2017

Mrs. Fletcher by Tom Perrotta





What They Say.....Eve Fletcher is trying to figure out what comes next. A forty-six-year-old divorcee whose beloved only child has just left for college, Eve is struggling to adjust to her empty nest when one night her phone lights up with a text message. Sent from an anonymous number, the mysterious sender tells Eve, “U R my MILF!” Over the months that follow, that message comes to obsess Eve. While leading her all-too-placid life—serving as Executive Director of the local senior center by day and taking a community college course on Gender and Society at night—Eve can’t curtail her own interest in a porn website called MILFateria.com, which features the erotic exploits of ordinary, middle-aged women like herself. Before long, Eve’s online fixations begin to spill over into real life, revealing new romantic possibilities that threaten to upend her quiet suburban existence.

Meanwhile, miles away at the state college, Eve’s son Brendan—a jock and aspiring frat boy—discovers that his new campus isn’t nearly as welcoming to his hard-partying lifestyle as he had imagined. Only a few weeks into his freshman year, Brendan is floundering in a college environment that challenges his white-dude privilege and shames him for his outmoded, chauvinistic ideas of sex. As the New England autumn turns cold, both mother and son find themselves enmeshed in morally fraught situations that come to a head on one fateful November night.

Sharp, witty, and provocative, Mrs. Fletcher is a timeless examination of sexuality, identity, parenthood, and the big clarifying mistakes people can make when they’re no longer sure of who they are or where they belong.


What I Say.....Back to school is a busy time for moms who still have kids at home, but it's a life changing time for moms who are sending their youngest (or only) child off to school and returning home to their empty nest.  

Eve is sending her son, Brendan, off to university.  She's anxious and clinging, but to a kid who won't even look at her, much less speak to her.  

Brendan meanwhile is finding his acclimation to college to be a little more difficult than he thought.  His roommate is a party boy, almost too wild for Brendan.  Then he meets a girl who thinks he is someone that he isn't - a sensitive guy.

Meanwhile, Eve has enrolled in a Gender studies class and is making new friends - but also watching a lot of porn.  The problem is when she mistakes her online movies for real life situations, getting herself into weird and awkward situations.

It was an interesting read, but I didn't find Eve's story to feel very authentic.  It felt like a bit of a reach that an ordinary, suburban mom would go so wild in such a short amount of time.

But what happens when Brendan gets himself in trouble and Eve's empty nest is full again?  

Current Goodreads Rating 3.52








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