A window opens

This reminded me of The Circle, by Dave Eggers, in that we spend way too much narrative time at the office. Who wants to read about office life when we live it 9 hours a day? Also lots of mommy work-life balance annoyance. Disappointing.

It wasn't until I was about a fourth of the way into the story that I got sucked into the tale; I'm not a thirty-something like the main character of this novel and my life didn't face the same trials. But just when I was thinking about setting the book down, I did get sucked in and from there to the end I never stopped turning pages.

Alice Pearse was happy with her life as a mom-wife-part-time-writer until her husband came home one day and said he'd quit his job. Alice quickly obtains what appears to be a dream job—she's helping launch a start-up innovative bookstore—but the view from closed doors of her job isn't quite what she'd hoped. A gentle look at what companies say vs. what companies do along with an inside look at women at work and home today. Very good story.

A Mom of 3 deals with going back to work when her husband quits his job at Big Law, and at the same time as she figures out that her new employer is sucking the soul out of the Mom and Pop bookstores she (and I) love she also has to deal with her Father's illness and her husband's drinking. It wasn't lyrical or magical but it was well-done and I could relate to much of what the main character goes through. A good beach read.