Out of the Clear Blue Sky

This was my first book by this author, and I am glad I decided to give her books a try. The writing is smooth and engaging, and the characters are richly developed and relatable. The book is heartbreaking and upsetting at times, but also quite funny and entertaining throughout.

Lillie Silva's world is turned on its head when her husband of 20 years, Brad Fairchild, leaves her to be with another woman, Melissa. Lillie struggles to figure out what her life will be now that she is no longer a wife and her son has left for college. Most of the chapters are told from Lillie's perspective, but several are told from the point of view of Melissa, who has use lies and manipulation to rise from poverty to wealth through advantageous marriages. Both are compelling characters with complex backgrounds and distinct voices. Readers will find themselves invested in their storylines.

Most of my thoughts on this book are positive. For instance, I enjoyed the myriad of emotions it invokes. Anger becomes laughter and then swiftly leads to sadness and heartbreak. I actually found myself laughing out loud a couple of times. My main complaint about the book is that it is too long for my liking. Some of the secondary plotlines seem unnecessary and draw the story out to almost 500 pages. They also distract from the main storyline.

Overall, this is an enjoyable book with strong character development and an emotional plot. I would definitely recommend it.

CW: flashback to heroine's sexual assault by a high school classmate

2.5 stars, rounded up. I've skipped several of Kristan Higgins' recent releases, and reading Out of the Clear Blue Sky did not make me regret those choices. Higgins takes the classic “heroine's husband leaves her for a younger woman” plot, but adds some ill-advised wacky hijinks, starting with the scorned ex-wife Lillie letting a skunk loose in the new couple's house. But that's okay, no consequences necessary because Lillie is a saint - a midwife whose patients all love her, a great cook, and a loving mother to a college-bound son. Sure she's completely judgmental about her patients who don't choose to have a drug-free birth experience (crowing over “a normal vaginal delivery without need for intervention or medication” as if anything else is abnormal) but unlike her sister, a wedding planner who feeds on her clients' greed, Lillie is on the side of the angels.

Approximately a third of the chapters are told through POV of The Other Woman, i.e. Melissa, who has risen above her humble beginnings in rural Ohio by using her beauty to snag a rich doctor and then investing her inheritance when he dies. Melissa is raising her niece while her sister Kaitlyn is serving time for drug dealing. Melissa's parents are so broadly characterized as white trash that they might as well be Cletus the slack-jawed yokel and his wife from The Simpsons. Kaitlyn's portrayal is extremely problematic; she's basically written off as “once an addict, always an addict” (she eventually accepts major bank from Melissa to buy more drugs, in return for relinquishing custody of her daughter) . Ms. Wiggins, there are millions of real people who previously used drugs but have fought hard to maintain their sobriety for years; you contribute to the stigma by making Kaylin such a hopeless case.

In addition to the First Wife vs. the Trophy Wife plot, Lillie addresses complex family dynamics with her sister and divorced parents. There is the start of romance and a face-to-face reckoning with the source of an old trauma. Meanwhile, Melissa shows there is a bit more to her than “the whore” who stole Lillie's husband. And, of course, the cheating ex-husband gets his comeuppance (in addition to the skunk episode).

Higgins has moved beyond her man-hungry heroines of earlier work, but her books still have a supercilious view of right and wrong. I think I'll go back to ignoring her.