"Great storytelling"
A quarter of a century ago, when she was eighteen and doing
Europe with her grandma, Lee Emery met and fell in love
with Englishman Simon. Later Lee married Ben, a nice but
somewhat boring professor, who still cherishes her as if
they are newlyweds though they have had three children.
Both seem contented together in a serene safe life. However, Lee reads the book she helped bring to press, her
grandmother's memoirs, Mainely Marguerite, which includes a
passage describing Lee's first love. Suddenly, Lee acts
out of character and questions her present lifestyle with a
melancholy is that all there is? After sending a copy of
the book to Simon, Lee scrambles to Europe trying to decide
whether to take a second chance on a first teenage love or
chicken out to return to the safety of her brood? Title pun aside, this is an intriguing look at middle age
with empty nest beckoning and the past feeling more like a
positive nostalgia trip. Lee is a fabulous protagonist
struggling between what she feels is an awakening that her
lackluster sheltered life cannot be why she is breathing
vs. the excitement of what she first felt as a teen. Will
the reality equal the memory or will she conclude that you
can never go home and the bird in hand is best? Harriet Klausner
Reviewed by PNR Group Member
Posted June 19, 2003
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