Review: Confessions of a Forty-Something

 

I'm not sure if I ever would have picked up Alexandra Potter's new book, Confessions of a Forty-Something, if I hadn't been offered it for review. And you know what? That would have been an absolute shame. I loved this book so much and it will probably end up being one of my top reads of 2020.

Here's the synopsis:

Nell Stevens' life is a mess.

When her business goes bust and her fiancé with it, Nell's happily-ever-after in California falls apart and she moves back to London to start over. But a lot has changed since she's been gone. All her single friends are happily married with children, sky-high rents force her to rent a room in a stranger's house, and in a world of perfect Instagram lives, she feels like a f**k up. Even worse, a forty-something f**k-up.

But when she lands a job writing obituaries, Nell meets the fabulous Cricket, an eighty-something widow with challenges of her own, and they strike up an unlikely friendship. Whereas Nell's friends are all busy with their families, all Cricket's friends are dying off. Together they begin to help each other heal their aching hearts, cope with the loss of the lives they had planned, and push each other into new adventures and unexpected joys.

And because Nell is determined, she's going to turn her life around. This time next year things are going to be very different. First though, she has a confession...

One of the reasons I was initially wary about the title, when I came across it for the very first time, was simply this: I'm not a forty-something (I'm a thirty-something). I wondered if it would be alienating to me and my generation or if there would be pockets of the story I would be able to identify with (not that you have to identify with every story). What drew me in was that I knew I could understand how it would feel to be a childless woman in a world where it seems like everyone I know is becoming a mother or has plans to become a mother in the next little while. That's not a world I understand, since my plan is to stay childless. So, I thought, why not give Nell's story a try? Thank goodness I did!

I loved Nell. I wanted to hang out with her and be whatever she needed - drinking buddy, sounding board, friend date. I especially wanted to tag along on her adventures with Cricket. I'm seeing more stories focus on a friendship between those in their seventies or eighties and someone two or three decades younger and I'm loving it. It's a subtle reminder that folks that age have a lot more going on than we may think and they definitely have way more stories to share than the friends who are your own age. I don't have any grandparents left so do me a favour and ask yours for some stories, ok? Especially right now.

I don't want to say much about the romance because spoilers but I will say I loved it. It was so real, all the way along, and so perfect.

I could also really identify with Nell's feeling of being a fuck-up. There are a whole lot of us who are going along and aren't really sure what we should be doing. Does anyone? I would say this book shows that no, most people are bumbling along with no idea what they would really like to be doing. You just do what you have to do to be able to live and pay bills and, you know, Adult. I can't imagine how hard it would be to have your dream little business and a great relationship and then *wham* everything blows up. So, all that said, I just loved reading as she sorted things out and started (re)building a life she could be proud of.

Finally, I liked how the story was told. It was divided into sections, one for each month of the year. It had a bit of a Bridget Jones feel but I think it's really just because it was a woman of similar age, it started at the same time of year and was a diary of sorts, and it's also set in England. Plus, it's clever and heart-warming. So there are similarities but Nell is her own character.

Confessions of a Forty-Something was such an enjoyable read and I didn't know what to do with myself when I finished Alexandra Potter's novel. It's actually taken me months to review it because I had such a book hangover when it was done and I just wasn't sure what I was going to say except: READ THIS BOOK. It had everything I was looking for in a novel and I hope others pick this up and love it as much as I did.

*An ARC of this novel was provided by the Canadian distributor, Publishers Group Canada, in exchange for review consideration. All opinions are honest and my own.*