This is a recent Oprah's Book Club selection. I saw it on the list and thought it looked interesting for two reasons: 1, The description talks about a married women with kids and a family reevaluating her life and since I have recently turned 50, I have been thinking about what I want to do with the remaining time I have left in my life. Granted, my marriage isn't in trouble, but who couldn't use a bit of attitude readjustment now and again. Plus, it seems like there are so few books about a woman who is a mother AND also a real person (or maybe I just don't know about them.) And 2, I read that the author uses yoga in her self discovery and that also rang true to me since I have recently started practicing yoga and are currently obsessed with it.
After I started reading, I almost immediately felt a bit like I had gotten the bait and switch. A good third of the book was about the author's childhood/young adult hood and her struggles and while interesting and well written, it was not what I was interested in reading about. (I had just finished Wild after all and this seemed a lot like that.) Once we got to the story of her marriage, it got better and I truly enjoyed reading about the author's struggles and how she overcame them. I did, at times, wish the author had gone into more detail about their lives, I found myself wondering and wanting to know more--how often did she practice yoga? What did the husband do for work that allowed him so much time at home? How were they able to afford for the author to stay at home all the while taking expensive yoga classes, attending expensive therapy sessions, etc.? Money is a real issue in a lot of people's lives and often lack of money accounts for people not getting the help they need.
Once I finished the book, I was left with more questions, so I went on the internet and **WARNING SPOILERS AHEAD!!!*** was again left feeling like I was on the wrong end of a book bait and switch. The author ended up divorced from her husband and recently remarried a woman. Wait, what?! I'm not sure I would have wanted to read a book about a marriage that, in the end, failed anyway.
