Thursday, June 24, 2010

Heart of the Matter by Emily Giffin

Tessa Russo recently gave up her career as a professor to become a stay-at-home mom, leaving her husband Nick, a highly-regarded pediatric surgeon, as the sole breadwinner for the family. They lead a so-called perfect life with a perfect marriage and children in a perfect house. Meanwhile, Valerie Anderson is a single mother to her son Charlie. She worked hard to graduate from Harvard Law, and she continues to work hard to give her son the life he deserves, despite his lack of a father figure in his life.

While Tessa and Valerie have little in common aside from living in the same town, all it takes is one accident to throw both their lives in turmoil, facing things neither woman ever thought possible.

This book was okay. I certainly liked it better than Baby Proof and Love the One You're With, but it wasn't as good as SoBo/SoBlue. I found myself really liking the character Tessa, but I just couldn't understand or relate to Valerie. I think the reason I liked Tessa though was that I found myself being able to relate to her incredibly well: She was uptight about things I often find myself uptight about, and often I found myself cringing at the way she handled certain situations, knowing full-well that I would handle them in the exact same way. It's always awkward to see yourself in a flawed character, and this was no exception. Valerie was equally flawed, if not more so. However, her choices were so off-base with anything I would ever consider normal, or even moral in some instances, that I had a hard time connecting with her.

I really think Giffin is a very gifted writer, so it bothers me that I don't love her books the way I should. I would love to see something completely different from her next time around--something a bit more shocking and fun. The constant rehashing of crappy relationships just isn't keeping my interest anymore.

1 comment:

  1. I'm go glad that you posted this review, I have been meaning to pick up a book of hers but I wasn't sure which one to start with. I haven't read any of hers so I might start with the Something Borrowed/Something Blue since you liked it best. Hope you have a great week! ~Andrea

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