In MOMMIES BEHAVING BADLY, Roz Bailey has written a wicked
tale perfectly encapsulating the life of today's working
mother. Ruby Dixon is a thirty-something married author
and mother of three children living in Queens, New York.
She's been languishing in the category romance industry,
hoping to breakout in mainstream fiction, but her current
contract is with an influential publisher who is somewhat
unsupportive of her aspirations. Her husband Jack is a
manager with a Dallas-based television network. Ruby and
her agent decide to go for it, to finish and sell that
breakout novel. It turns out to be just the ticket for
catapulting Ruby's career on to the bestsellers' lists.
At the same time, her husband Jack receives the
opportunity of a lifetime, one which will immediately
improve their fortunes but requires them to relocate to
the Pacific Northwest, a move Ruby is all too ready for
after her car is stolen.
Now that she's a success, Ruby finds herself in for the
ride of a lifetime, from talk show appearances to a
whirlwind book tour, but also unsure as to whether all
these demands on her time—including the need to write more
books—are worth the toll they have on her family. Jack
discovers that the old saying, "all that glitters is not
gold" may be true and faced with important decisions about
who he is and what he wants from his marriage to Ruby.
With a little more writing experience under my belt, I
could have written this book (no offense, Ms. Bailey!)
Except for an unexpected blow that leaves Ruby reeling, in
many ways, my life mirror hers. I get what it feels like
to relocate from the NY metropolitan area to another part
of the country with its own—and completely different—pace
and culture. I know what it's like to have three small
children with different personalities all tugging on my
time—and heartstrings—simultaneously. Everyday I juggle
my career vs. my husband's, attempt to balance both
against our family's needs, and struggle to maintain some
semblance of a romantic relationship. If you don't live
or haven't lived this life, after reading MOMMIES BEHAVING
BADLY, you'll get it too but in a delicious and comic sort
of way.
Roz Bailey does a great job of setting the scene, whether
of the daily grind of living in NY, NYC nightlife, or the
seeming monotony of suburbia. She poignantly captures the
angst of a harried working wife and mother. Given that
she herself is a romance writer, I suspect some of the
aspects of Ruby's writing ordeal are a bit tongue-in-
cheek, like when she gives one of Ruby's books the same
title as one of her own. Overall, MOMMIES BEHAVING BADLY
is one of the best "motherhood and marriage" novels I've
read, certainly in quite some time.
In her witty, wry, insightful new novel, Roz Bailey follows the
adventures of one woman who's discovering a new state-and a
whole new
state of mind.
Some signs are hard to ignore. When Ruby
Dixon's
car is stolen-again-on the day her husband is offered a job in
Portland, Oregon, the message seems clear. It's time to give up
stressful New York living in favor of bucolic bliss in the Great
Northwest.
Others you don't see until it's too
late. Now Ruby,
Jack, and their three children have a palatial house in a
peaceful
burb, and everything's perfect. Except that Ruby can't get a
decent
haircut, can't seem to crack her neighbors' shells.and Jack is
constantly away on business. If it wasn't for her new friend
Ariel,
another transplanted New Yorker who's earned the ire of the
local PTA,
Ruby would be about ready to cry uncle.
And some
guide you right where you need to be But
if life is dependable for one thing, it's unexpected turns,
leaving
Ruby and her children in a far from familiar place. Their
new situation
is beyond terrifying.But it's also somehow exhilarating.
Because Ruby
is about to find out just what can happen when there are no
compromises, no safety nets, and no rules to follow but your
own.
© 2003-2024 off-the-edge.net
all rights reserved Privacy Policy