Thursday, September 13, 2012
[Book Review ] FLY AWAY HOME by Jennifer Weiner
Andrea reviews FLY AWAY HOME by Jennifer Weiner (Atria, 2010)
What do you do when your husband, who is in the public spotlight, commits an act that shakes your private life to the core?
Richard Woodruff and Sylvie Serfer met while they were in law school at Yale. Career-driven Richard has known since he was eight years old that he wanted to be president someday, whereas hippie idealist Sylvie went to law school only because it was expected of a judge’s daughter. Although Sylvie was intelligent enough to graduate with honors from law school, she realized being an attorney was not for her. This was realized after she and Richard had been married and had two small children to take care of.
Focusing all her energies on Richard’s public political life, Sylvie groomed herself into being the perfect wife of a senator. Unfortunately, her daughters were left in her wake. When Richard has an affair with one of his aides after being married to “dutiful, helpful Sylvie” for 32 years, she is devastated and feels totally void of her identity.
This is not a “woe is me” story of divorce. It is actually a story of forgiveness and reconciliation even if the person you’re trying to forgive is yourself.
Andrea King, Poplar-White Station Library
Labels: Fiction, Reviews by Andrea King
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