Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakthrough by Ruth Pennebaker

January 4, 2011 by Berkley Trade

Paperback, 320 Pages

Review Copy

Joanie’s ex-husband is having a baby with his new girlfriend. Joanie won’t be having more babies, since she’s decided never to have sex again. But she still has her teenaged daughter Caroline to care for. And thanks to the recession, her elderly mother Ivy as well. Her daughter can’t seem to exist without texting, and her mother brags about “goggling,”-while Joanie, back in the workforce, is still trying to figure out her office computer. And how to fend off the advances of her coworker Bruce.

Joanie, Caroline, and Ivy are stuck under the same roof, and it isn’t easy. But sometimes they surprise each other-and themselves. And through their differences they learn that it is possible to undo the mistakes of the past.....(TLC Site)

Review

Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakthrough centers around three generations of women-Joanie, Ivy and Caroline, who all live together and are trying to deal with life and each other. Joanie a late forties divorcée who has sworn of men and sex is dealing with life without her husband and the fact that he left her for a twenty something girl who is in the process of having a baby. Caroline is Joanies teenage daughter, who is trying to move past her parents divorce and failing horribly. She hates her mother, she hates her father and basically just hates everything except for a few of her friends. Ivy is Joanies elderly mother who has moved in recently due to her age, finances and needing care. Though Ivy is moving towards eighty she still has plenty of spunk and independence along with a very opinionated mouth, which causes a lot of friction between the women.

My first reaction to WVNB was how well it was written, Ruth's writing was engaging and very funny in spots. Told through the women’s three shifting perspectives, they teeter on the edge of making the right choices for their life and when the actual “breakthrough” hits at the end while anti-climatic it felt that the women were finally able to see eye to eye or at least try to deal with each other. The character I thought I would relate to was Joanie, due to her struggles however the way she treated her mother was irksome and turned me off from her pretty quickly. Ivy wasn’t a saint but I could feel more emotion for her circumstances than any other character in the book.

Its no wonder Caroline was so disrespectful to her own mother she had a first hand account of how Joanie felt about Ivy, she witnessed how much her grandmother irritated her mom and the disrespect that flowed easily in the relationship. There were times when Joanie would try and talk to Caroline and she would be pretend texting. I don't understand that at all, if I'm paying your cell-phone bill and you wont even acknowledge when I speak to you, then easy solution...I the payer of bills shall take the teens cell phone from her hands and throw it out the window!!! Caroline and Joanie both had severe issues with their mouths and lacked some serious communication skills. Teen angst can only go so far before you just have blatant disrespect, both mom and daughter needed some vinegar squirted in their mouths. On the other hand Grandma lacked the sense of when to keep her opinions to herself, most of which came across as judgment even though in her own thoughts she’s wanting to help. Daily interactions for them were yelling, swearing at each other, accusing and pointing the finger. Ivy gets depressed, Joanie has some office sex and Caroline acts out like a rebellious teenager.

Despite the harsh attitudes at home, the women, especially Joanie really grow throughout the novel and actually make some very mature and surprising decisions. I was most excited to see Joanie finally break free of her divorce and take into account how special her mother was and how important it was to release Caroline. Over-the-top…a little... problems pretty trivial- mostly, overall though just a funny read about real life and conflicting personality’s in family.

Rating

This book is recommended to adult readers and contains: Sexuality, language, family dynamics, divorce, dialog on pregnancy, sex, birth control, miscarriages, abortion and odd google topics. Touches on the effects of stress, depression, anxiety and broken relationships.

3/5- Women's Fiction-Humor

Thanks to publisher via TLC for review copy