Relatable story of an unlikely friendship between two mature women on a road trip.
St Albans might sound like a relatively inauspicious starting point for a British road trip novel that has shades of Thelma and Louise about it, but it does no disservice to this compelling journey of self-discovery and tale of an unlikely friendship between two mature females. Thea and Denise are two very different women, both facing their own personal crossroads and looking for a way to escape. Pretty much polar opposites the pair aren’t an obvious friendship match, yet when their paths cross several times in one week, they each see something in the other that draws them together..
On the surface Thea appears supremely confident with vocal opinions and an unapologetic attitude, all things which unassuming Denise wishes she were, yet there is a caginess to Thea that belies far more serious complications. Denise is taken for granted by her husband and three teenage sons, her marriage is crumbling and in between her commitments to the family business and visits to her obnoxious father-in-law, her life feels like a treadmill of routine. Meanwhile Thea is staring into the abyss and when she makes the decision to take off for a few days and seek out some excitement, an initially reluctant Denise seizes on the opportunity and asks to go with her. Thea and Denise share the narrative and despite the first forty percent of the book providing a glimpse into their current lives before they even take flight, the final sixty percent packs in a number of cathartic events that gradually peel back the layers and get closer to the core issues both are battling. As the road trip rolls on it is a joy to see the growing trust between the two women, and their support and encouragement as they spur each other on to make the difficult decisions they both face.
I was sceptical that Caroline Bond would do justice to the stories of two women, each dealing with their own problems, and portray both their own internal struggles and burgeoning friendship convincingly. Kudos to the author, however, as she does just that and writes perceptively and sensitively about everything from the menopause to marital disillusionment and fractious family relations. As someone around the same age as Thea and Denise, I found this book both relevant and life-affirming and Bond excels at creating believable characters with depth. Although Thea is the impetus behind the road trip, and the character dealing with the most critical concerns as the novel opens, I felt the actual story afforded more of a focus to Denise, perhaps because she is the more open of the two. Thea’s reluctance to offload however definitely made her the slightly more intriguing of the duo. My only reservation regards the final chapter, which gives a sense of closure to both women’s journeys and offers a snapshot of their futures, whereas I felt an open-ended resolution for readers to muse on might well have been more fitting.
On the surface Thea appears supremely confident with vocal opinions and an unapologetic attitude, all things which unassuming Denise wishes she were, yet there is a caginess to Thea that belies far more serious complications. Denise is taken for granted by her husband and three teenage sons, her marriage is crumbling and in between her commitments to the family business and visits to her obnoxious father-in-law, her life feels like a treadmill of routine. Meanwhile Thea is staring into the abyss and when she makes the decision to take off for a few days and seek out some excitement, an initially reluctant Denise seizes on the opportunity and asks to go with her. Thea and Denise share the narrative and despite the first forty percent of the book providing a glimpse into their current lives before they even take flight, the final sixty percent packs in a number of cathartic events that gradually peel back the layers and get closer to the core issues both are battling. As the road trip rolls on it is a joy to see the growing trust between the two women, and their support and encouragement as they spur each other on to make the difficult decisions they both face.
I was sceptical that Caroline Bond would do justice to the stories of two women, each dealing with their own problems, and portray both their own internal struggles and burgeoning friendship convincingly. Kudos to the author, however, as she does just that and writes perceptively and sensitively about everything from the menopause to marital disillusionment and fractious family relations. As someone around the same age as Thea and Denise, I found this book both relevant and life-affirming and Bond excels at creating believable characters with depth. Although Thea is the impetus behind the road trip, and the character dealing with the most critical concerns as the novel opens, I felt the actual story afforded more of a focus to Denise, perhaps because she is the more open of the two. Thea’s reluctance to offload however definitely made her the slightly more intriguing of the duo. My only reservation regards the final chapter, which gives a sense of closure to both women’s journeys and offers a snapshot of their futures, whereas I felt an open-ended resolution for readers to muse on might well have been more fitting.