About Face
3.5/5
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About this ebook
When Ruth bumps into Vivian, her long-lost friend and former hut-mate, she realizes how different she is from the person she used to be and wonders if she’s lost part of herself—the best part—in her quest for “the perfect life.” Her internal tug of war gathers steam and knocks her seemingly perfect urban life out of kilter. As they struggle with their differences and try to resurrect their friendship, the two women realize—with humor and a growing respect—that they each have strengths to contribute to a venture neither would have discovered on her own, one that melds past and present to shape an exciting and surprising future.
This contemporary literary novel toggles between flashback scenes in West Africa and present day Manhattan as it chronicles the power of the women’s friendship. The characters are simultaneously memorable and down-to-earth, and readers begin to feel they’ve known them for a long time. They’re treated with affection, nuanced understanding, and a healthy dose of wit. This fast-paced, funny, and honest coming-of-middle age novel playfully walks the line between humor and wisdom as it deals with the serious issues of mid-life and aging.
Carole Howard
Carole Howard is a world traveler and a former corporate consultant. Writing is her third career, so she knows full well the difficulties of change and its resulting need for reinvention. On the page, she draws from both the urban and village lives she’s experienced; in particular, it is her deep friendships and family relationships that lend spice and humor to novels that women relate to, no matter which stage of life they face. She lives with her husband in New York State’s Hudson Valley, with her daughter, son-in-law, and grandchildren right down the road. When not writing and reading, she’s playing the violin, gardening, knitting, or practicing yoga.
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Reviews for About Face
2 ratings1 review
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Ruth is at a crossroads in her career and her life. Well into her fifties, she is a successful business woman and a former Peace Corp volunteer and these two parts of herself start to come into conflict as her husband tries to convince her to retire early and she begins to reevaluate her life. What follows is a meditation on what it means to age and how the direction our lives take may not be what we imagined when younger. Even though I am not yet to Ruth’s age, I definitely empathized with her situation. I thought the sections of the book that explore her Peace Corp time in Africa were interesting and I would have like to see more of them. At times this book slowed down and Ruth’s musings on her own life could be monotonous. Overall though, I enjoyed the honest and refreshing look at aging and thought that this was a book worth reading for that alone. I received this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.