Wednesday, July 18, 2018

The Story After Us by Fiona Perrin






What They Say.....If she tries very hard, Ami can remember when she used to have a dynamic and exciting career and a husband who she loved more than life itself, and who was equally smitten with her...

Now she has two children, a terrifyingly large mortgage, and no idea who she has become - or why she and her husband can't even be in the same room anymore.

With life as she knew it in tatters around her, Ami is heartbroken, and in no way pulling off 'consciously uncoupling' like a celeb. But she's starting to wonder if she just might come out the other side and be... happier?


What I Say....I seem to be on a breakup/divorce kick in my reading right now.  But I'm always up for a debut novel, so I grabbed The Story After Us and went down the road of heartbreak again.

Ami has been unhappy for a while.  While she and Lars used to be madly in love, daily life, bills and small children seem to have robbed them of any of the magic they felt in their first years.  Lars is a workaholic, chasing financial security that seems to be more important to him than participating in his family.

Amelia has turned into the stereotypical shrewish wife, nagging when he's gone, then yelling when he's home.  The kids are nervous and unsure of their parents, and Ami's business is struggling.

But she's still shocked and devastated when Lars says he wants a divorce and walks out the door.  Having  a traveling husband is hard enough, having a traveling ex-husband is more than she was ready for.

The thing I liked about this book was that it didn't go for the fairy tale marriage ending.  It was pretty real and a little gritty in the early days of their separation, but then it did go for the fairy tale of work success and new romance.  This would be the dream of every newly divorced woman, but it seldom works that way.  

Ami didn't have a perfect divorce, but parts of it were pretty close.

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