Shirley J. Adult Fiction Girl's trip, Finding Oneself, Taken for granted, GONE
More to Life by ReShonda Tate Billingsley 409 pages
45 year old Aja James has a great husband who takes her for granted, who expects her to be there, who orders her meals when they go out, who tells her the way things will be without taking her opinion into account. Her children are raised well, grown up and on their way to their new chapters in life but ungrateful and expect her to do for them without so much as an acknowledgement of gratefulness. Their home is spectacular, but, it doesn't bring Aja pleasure. Her girlfriends know just what she needs. A girl's trip to get away from all that is homelife and kick up her heels and live a little on a tropical vacation. The trip is so good for Aja. Fun, free, she feels like she has escaped a prison. Her unlived dream of being an artist nags at her, her dead spirit she drug along from home has opened up and soared in the tropical climate. She has taken care of everyone from her siblings to her husband to her kids even to her mother-in-law. She has been the glue holding everything and everyone together for decades and in all that time she never asked to be the fixer, the chief cook and bottle washer, the dutiful wife, daughter-in-law though her mother-in-law clearly still rules her husband and he prefers to spend time with his mother when it comes to Aja and her. Aja feels she has lost herself along the way, just going through the motions while everyone else gets to live the good life. But clarity comes in the sun and sand and Aja knows she is not going home and continuing that used to be life or lack thereof. When she goes home changes come with her but so does an awful dose of fate. Excellent story with characters so good they step off the page. For all gals looking to get their groove back, find their groove or to be there to support she who might be in flux. Mature teens on up will understand the message here but adults will take it home.
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