Review of Wife Goes On by Leslie Lehr
Empowering Fiction for Women Who Can Still Smile After Divorce
Oct 2, 2008
Novelist, essayist and screenwriter, Leslie Lehr, has written a novel which defies the typical, clichéd chick lit conventions, in that it begins with the relationships of the main characters all in place. However, Wife Goes On (Kensington 2008, ISBN 978-0758222411), instead of sending the main protagonists on a journey towards love and marital bliss, splits this happy façade wide open.
Leslie Lehr begins with divorce and from thereon produces a novel revealing the realism and truth behind the heartbreak and determination of four women who want to regain their lives and not just exist, but find relevancy in their lifestyle – and happiness.
The Female Protagonists – Friendships in the Making
As with all chick lit, the characters are drawn from contemporary life and, in this case, from that of modern-day Los Angeles. The four main protagonists represent a large cross-section of female divorcees and are an unlikely collection of acquaintances, let alone friends. But interesting characters make for entertaining stories, and we have that here in abundance.
Diane has finally lost her marriage – and her house – through the reckless gambling of her husband. But for a woman, who initially strikes the reader as an embittered character, armed with her two children and her own resilience, she is sure life waits for her somewhere. She just has to find it.
Another, almost sickeningly happy homemaker with children, Bonnie, has found that her fairytale, clichéd romantic lifestyle has come crashing around her when her husband walks out on the marriage and their two tiny children. She is left, like a dithering sidekick, unsure of how to make a move forward alone.
The professional divorcee is represented in Annette, the icy cold divorce lawyer. Little did she know (or maybe she did, really) that she would be on the receiving end of attorney’s skills when her husband leaves her for another man and she loses custody of her daughter.
At the other end of the spectrum is Lana, whose extremely public split from her Hollywood superstar husband has turned her into a laughing stock. But Lana is ready to exact revenge, and to rise above disaster. It is she who creates the setting for the friendship to blossom between these four unlikely friends, when she goes to work in a furniture store.
They seem far-fetched, you may cry, but this is a novel, after all. And are they really so far from reality? Chance encounters between these women in the store lead to a trail of emotion, humour and honest, witty writing about the lives of these women, poles apart on the surface, but who are all searching for the same thing – happiness.
Writing About Divorce, Writing About Life
The subject of divorce is fraught with emotional tension, but here it is used as a springboard for the author to tackle the realities of living through heartbreak, emotional mistakes and the turmoil of finding a path through the chaos to come out contented on the other side. Nowhere is this better displayed than at the end of this novel in the photograph of the four leading ladies, all smiling at their new found friendship and own sense of happiness, captured for posterity.
The book celebrates women’s lives – romance, motherhood and friendship – with wittiness, grittiness and an earthy realism which would make any female reader identify with the thoughts and feelings of these amazing and amusing characters and with their ups and downs in life.
Wife Goes On is a highly recommended read. While the book could be described as comic escapism, it is also imbedded deeply in realism. It is an entertaining, maybe even cautionary, read for any person who appreciates the importance of second chances, and a heartening book for those who have ever experienced the trials and tribulations of divorce. The writing is open and touching and shows that there can be more important relationships to women than those which revolve around sexuality – that of the power of friendship.
Reference:
Leslie Lehr, Wife Goes On, Kensington 2008.
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