I’m delighted today to be joining the blog tour for The Fecking Fabulous Forties Club by Freya Kennedy, and sharing my review: published on August 20th by Boldwood Books, the first in a new series, it’s now available for kindle (free via Kindle Unlimited), in paperback, and as an audiobook. Thanks, as always, to Rachel at Rachel’s Random Resources for the invitation to join the tour, and to the publishers for my advance reading copy (provided via netgalley).
I’ve so enjoyed Freya’s Ivy Lane books – quite unaccountably I missed reading The Hopes and Dreams of Libby Quinn, but totally adored In Pursuit of Happiness. It had so much that I always enjoy – community, friendship, romance, hopes and dreams, taking chances, finding out what makes you happy (you’ll find my review again here). And I think I might just have loved Don’t Stop Believing even more – Erin’s story, one of second chances and following your dreams, beautifully written, filled with warmth and love and heart, moving and romantic, with the loveliest touches of humour and the most wonderful community filled with individuals who’ll soon feel like your closest of friends. Her latest might not be part of that series, but I so love her writing – second chances aplenty in this one I think, and I was really looking forward to meeting forty-something Becca…
Becca Burnside isn’t sure where it all went wrong. How did she end up single in her forties, with the highlight of her weekend being a trip to Big Asda with her mum and the only chance of cuddles coming from her dog?
It’s fair to say that Becca’s life isn’t quite where she’d hoped it would be. She already knew that, deep down, but when she finds the time capsule she and her friends made as teenagers and remembers the hopes and dreams sixteen-year-old Becki (with an i) had for the future, she knows she has to do something, and fast.
Refusing to be controlled by her hot flushes and Unexplained Waves of Sadness, Becca is determined to turn things around – for Becki’s sake. But what will it take to prove there’s life in the old girl yet?
I’m considerably older than Becca and her friends, but this wonderfully written book took me straight back to the trials and tribulations of being in my forties – that awareness that life perhaps hasn’t worked out the way you wanted it to, the changes that suddenly make you realise you’re actually on the verge of being past it, and all those preoccupations with family that keep you awake at night.
But this is Becca’s story, told in her own clear and consistent voice – laced with lots of humour, but with so much depth to the emotional content that it really touched me to the heart. Having suddenly lost her beloved father, her mother’s wellbeing is often foremost in her thoughts – and that’s when she’s not worrying about her twin sons, away in England at university, one giving her little cause for concern, the other lurching from one crisis to the next (and depleting her savings along the way). Thank goodness for best friend Niamh – she might be prone to her own crises at times, but she’s always there, watching her back.
But there was a time when there was a trio of friends – and, their relationship severed around the time of Becca’s divorce, Laura comes back into their lives after they hear about the death of her mother, very fondly remembered from their teenage years. And that makes Becca remember the time capsule they put together thirty years before – including letters written by their younger selves, setting out their hopes and expectations for the future. In her case, there’s a considerable gulf between her plans and what she’s actually achieved in her life – and it becomes a major catalyst for trying to recover her spark and change her future.
The way female friendship is captured in this book is just wonderful – although I could really feel the deep hurt caused by the betrayal that brought about the rift between Becca and Laura, and the struggle to find forgiveness when the elephant was always lurking in the corner of the room. While I was often in tears of laughter, there’s so much (very real…) poignancy to the whole story that there were moments when I had a lump in my throat at the same time – those times when I really wanted to give Becca a hug, reassure her that life won’t always be this difficult and that her best years aren’t necessarily behind her.
Of course, there are also the very real issues of being perimenopausal, not just the hot flushes, and whether HRT might be the way to make everything in life feel better – there was so much there that rang true, and took me right back to those really difficult years. And I must mention her relationship with her mother, which was something I really loved – that trip to the big Asda with the trolley dash to buy all the Christmas bits and pieces brought back so many personal memories, but so did Becca’s occasional frustration at the many demands that made her life even more difficult.
Filled with warmth and love, tackling the issues of the sandwich generation with humour and honesty – essential reading for anyone in or approaching their forties and feeling life might have passed them by, but with so much that can’t fail to ring true whatever your age. This was a book I really loved, with the most delightful characters that it was a joy to spend time with – one for every woman’s reading list, very highly recommended, and I’m really looking forward to seeing how the series develops.
About the author
Freya Kennedy is the alter ego for bestselling thriller author Claire Allan. A former journalist from Derry, Northern Ireland, Claire has published eleven novels. Now, as Freya, she is writing warm, funny women’s fiction for Boldwood.
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