Review: The Menopause Support Group

It's been a couple of years since I've read one of Heather Wardell's novels which is so unreal to me as I had been devouring her novels ever since I came across her books way back in 2011. Her first book, Life, Love, and a Polar Bear Tattoo (review here), set me on a path that has now seen me read eleven of her novels. Plus, I've met Heather a number of times now and she is a wonderful human. Her latest novel is The Menopause Support Group and it's reminded me why I love Wardell's novels and why I've pushed her titles on almost everyone I know.

Here's the synopsis:

Three women, one menopause support group, and a whole lot of hot flashes.

Emily's perfect plan for becoming a mommy in her twenties has just been shattered by a cancer-removing hysterectomy, and her anger is all-consuming.

Michelle's been laser-focused on getting a promotion... until early menopause (at thirty-nine??) hit her hard last year. Now that she can't have a baby, she's obsessed with them. And also with getting that promotion.

Sixty-four-years-young Brenda takes care of everyone, whether they want her to or not. She's actually finished with menopause, but she's faking symptoms so she won't lose the group and the opportunities for "helping" others it provides.

The three of them and their fellow group members work through career crises, marriage disasters, and the world's worst birthday celebration as they learn together what it means to be a woman in menopause and beyond.

When a novel is told in multiple perspectives, it's inevitable you're going to feel more drawn to one character over the other(s). For me, I was more into Michelle's story. It doesn't mean Emily and Brenda's stories were any less interesting, it was just Michelle that I wanted to get back to every time the perspective switched.

Speaking of perspective, each chapter changes character and each is told in first person. It was a bit jarring at first because you're essentially bopping from brain to brain and the three women were so different. But after awhile, I didn't even notice because I was so into the story. 

The whole menopause storyline was interesting to me. I'm in my early 30s and no longer live at home or near family so no one's around to really give me any insight into what's to come in a couple of decades. It's not something I've been researching (I'm still very fixed on the whole not having a baby thing) so to read a novel with three very different women experiencing menopause? I really liked it. It's also an example of how reading can make you much more empathetic and allow you to "experience" different things.

This is very much a story where the characters are going on an emotional journey. Michelle, Emily, and Brenda are dealing with a lot of serious issues - and not just the menopause. Michelle is in a very sexist work environment and fighting like hell for a promotion she deserves. Emily has wanted children her entire life and now she has to completely reevaluate her life. And Brenda has become stuck in her life and hasn't realized how she's changed and how overbearing she's become. This means that none of them are at a good spot when we first meet them and their personalities and decisions may grate on the reader ever so slightly. But I think that's just because you know there's a good person under there and you already know you want to be rooting for them to figure out a better path forward out of this hellish spot they find themselves in. It's a really uplifting story as you read as the women grow and, seemingly against all odds, become friends.

While The Menopause Support Group is technically part of Heather Wardell's Toronto series, you can read it as a standalone. They all exist in the same universe so you'll find Easter Eggs that relate back to other stories - I especially liked that Steel restaurant popped up. Wardell tells the most interesting and wonderful stories that are full of heart and I definitely think you should read this one - and all of her others.

*A copy of this novel was provided by the author in exchange for review consideration. All opinions are honest and my own.*