Book Review: Alice Alone

This was a hastily chosen selection. I had completed my previous audio book and knew I needed something new to start while exercising the next morning. But, when I arrived at the library, it was about twenty minutes to closing time. Thus, I didn't have much time. I merely perused the shelves, starting with the A's and this was the first selection which sounded mildly interesting.

Alice Alone is about a woman who finds herself facing an empty nest. The last of her three children has just departed for Birmingham and Alice recognizes a deep lack within her life. She no longer has the focus of her children to divert her attentions. She no longer loves her husband (cannot even fathom what the attraction was to begin with) and the thought of facing another several decades alone with him scares her. Thus, she embarks upon a journey to discover what she really wants out of life and where she belongs.

The narration was quite well done. Amanda Brookfield has produced an excellent character study. The reader is really able to get inside the mind of Alice and face the obstacles and setbacks she encounters. Moreover, I never found myself bored with the tale. It is absorbing and engaging. Still, I squirmed at the bits of infidelity and had to be careful about allowing my boys to overhear much of it if they entered the room while I walked.

Overall, I did enjoy the tale. Even though I am a full decade away from facing any sort of empty nest, it is a prospect I can imagine is fairly daunting. The road Alice selected was believable and her introspection quite genuine. It only has 2 widely-mixed reviews on Amazon (despite being published in the early 90's). If I were to rank it, I would give it 3 out of 5 stars.