A loving wife and a mother of three accomplished children, forty-six-year-old Trudy Marino has an uncomplicated life—until she’s blindsided by her husband’s affair. But in Trudy’s close-knit neighborhood, she’s not alone in navigating the sudden surprises in a woman’s life.
Her neighbor Roberta has just lost her husband of sixty-two years and struggles with bittersweet memories and grief. Roberta’s granddaughter Jade is a divorcée who has taken up a cathartic new hobby to get over her cheating ex. And there’s Shannelle, whose creative aspirations are fracturing her marriage.
Then Trudy meets Angel, a sensual young man with the vulnerable heart of a poet who awakens her to invigorating new sensations. With a bracing confidence and three dear friends coming together in confusion, anger, and hope, Trudy is encouraged to take control of her life, to reflect on the choices she didn’t make, and to fulfill the youthful dreams she abandoned. As a new world opens up, Trudy can only marvel at where to go from here.
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This story follows four women and the men they love. Roberta, the oldest, is grieving her husband’s death, and her granddaughter Jade has come to support her. Jade, recently divorced from a man now in prison, finds her strength and more through boxing. Trudy is facing divorce from her unfaithful husband and realizes she needs to rediscover herself and stand up for what she wants. Across the road, aspiring writer Shanelle struggles with her husband’s disapproval of her dreams of being published.
This character-driven novel explores real-life situations of four women and their support system. The story focuses on their enduring friendships and mutual support. The narrator particularly struggles with Trudy’s storyline. Trudy deals with an unfaithful husband who feels neglected despite their long marriage and three children. The narrator finds it hard to sympathize with him, questioning how Trudy can forgive and move on so quickly. This resonates personally, as the narrator reflects on their own inability to tolerate infidelity.
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