READING FOR MAY: Lots of Candles, Plenty of Cake by Anna Quindlen
I picked this up quite by chance one day in the local public library, filling in time as one does. It had a look of promise about it - successful novelist, self help book writer, and respected New York based journalist who has won the Pulitzer Prize - lots going for it. Without being earth shattering or extraordinarily brilliant as one would expect from a writer with such credentials, this is a most comfortable read. Sort of curl up on the couch with your slippers and bowl of hot soup type of read.
As it states on the cover this is a memoir. Not an autobiography, or stand-on-the-soapbox-aging-baby-boomer rave. Ms Quindlen is a commentator, using elements of her personal and public lives, to reflect on matters which have been particularly relevant for women of her generation - she is now 60 years old. With themes ranging from being a mum, being a working mum, being a wife, being a daughter, a friend, body image, getting older, this is a book full of reflections and a fair amount of wisdom. The author nursed and lost her mother at a young age. There is a certain sadness in much of the book because of this, and it may well have been the defining event in her life. As a result there is a certain 'take time to smell the roses' thread running through. And there is nothing wrong with that in a book either.
It has had mixed reviews in book circles, but I actually found it just a really nice book to read. Here is a woman who was at the vanguard of women 'having it all', who helped lay the foundations for those of us who followed along in her footsteps. Some things went well, some didn't, and she is quite open in her musings. A nice read.
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