Funny and touching, these recollections of a California mom speak to women of all marital statuses, sexual persuasions, and those with or without children. It is about being a woman who has left childhood behind her but still attempts to capture youthful moments. It is about the special brand of friendship that only women have. It is about doubts, insecurities, and mistakes. It is about love, trust, holding on, and letting go.
Paesel addresses all these topics through a look at her own life, which has some laugh-out-loud moments. Imagine a preschool fundraiser where you can bid on a boob job, or getting stoned with your husband and demolishing the contents of your kid’s Christmas stocking.
The book is not without its poignant moments, either. The chapter “Heroics” offers resounding lines on life itself- “I will enter my own Dead Man’s Cove- and return with the exhilaration of having survived. And I know that I will do thousands more things that quite literally scare me shitless. This I inherited from my mother as well, the choosing to do it- the thing that terrifies you- anyway. Because choosing not to do it is like dying. And I’m not ready yet”.
Fresh and irreverent, Paesel says what I only wish I could (sometimes). My next trip to the library will definitely include a search for more of her writing, and yours should, too.
Next Review: Playing James by Sarah Mason
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