Lift And Separate by Marilyn Simon Rothstein– 296 pages
Book Blurb:
Marcy Hammer’s life has been turned upside down. Her husband, the head of a global brassiere empire, didn’t think twice about leaving her after thirty-three years of marriage for a 32DD lingerie model. Now Harvey the Home-Wrecker is missing in action, but Marcy’s through thinking about what a cliché he is. What she needs now is a party-size bag of potato chips, a good support system, and a new dress.
Striking out on her own is difficult at first, but Marcy manages to find traces of humor in her heartbreak. Even while devastated by Harvey’s departure, she still has her indomitable spirit and her self-respect. She has no intention of falling apart, either, even when her adult children drop a few bombshells of their own and she discovers a secret about her new, once-in-a-lifetime friend. Life may be full of setbacks, but by lifting herself up by her own lacy straps, Marcy just may be able to handle them all.
My Review: 4 stars
Lift and Separate offers a humorous and lighthearted story, while tackling the topic of divorce. This book definitely falls into the Chick Lit genre however there’s not many in that space in which the protagonist is in her fifties. What a welcome change!
Marcy is a witty character, with that special kind of self-depravity we women of middle age specialize in, yet her vulnerability becomes apparent during the divorce. This is new terrain for her and she often handles it with grace and other times with pure painful jealousy. As she learns about herself through her actions, the reader has time to reflect on “What would I do?”
Of course there are a few other plot lines woven through the story about the caring and worrying of your kids as much as you do for your aging parents. Marcy falls into the sandwich generation, which is relatable to so many of us. I think Rothstein has a knack for conjuring women into likable and relatable characters and I look forward to seeing what’s next from her. This is not my go to genre, but I’m realizing that books like this are the perfect pick to have on hand to lighten the load of the heavier novels I also enjoy.
Quotes I liked:
I was too hurt to be hurt again.”
“…another devastating wound had opened: the realization that maybe I wanted my marriage back more than I wanted Harvey back.”
-“When she goes, she’ll take a piece of her children with her. Her children will never be the same.”
-“In my family, we act as thought nothing happened. Then we never discuss what happened, because it never happened.”
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