Noreen Kelly loves her job at the top of the corporate ladder. From fancy suits to power lunches, she takes command of the boardroom while advancing her career to the next level. Yet despite all her accolades, something is quite not right. Her once picture-perfect life no longer feels so complete. Something needs to change.
When the offer of a buyout falls in her lap, Noreen takes it as a sign that good things lie ahead. With the encouragement of her new boyfriend at work, she jumps at the chance to escape the corporate treadmill in hopes for starting anew. What she doesn't expect is to get dumped by her conniving Casanova and wind up alone, unemployed, and drowning in the freedom into which she so eagerly leapt.
With time on her hands and a hole in her heart, Noreen starts to question the person she has become. She realizes that in her race up the corporate ladder, the only person she left behind was herself. It's now time to slow down and allow the woman she wants to be to finally catch up.
In a heart-warming story of self-discovery, Noreen is joined by her two neighbors on the path to personal redemption. Through a daily ritual of walking and talking, these women search for the wit and wisdom needed to make them whole again. As they share their heartaches and discover their joys, this unlikely trio combines fitness with friendship as they eagerly head towards the next season of their lives.
THE WILDWATER WALKING CLUB is the latest feel-good novel by the gifted bestselling author Claire Cook. Through her quirky humor and unforgettable characters, she poignantly reminds the reader that life is a wondrous journey that needs to be shared with friends.
Just put one foot in front of the other. Sounds simple,
doesn't it? But when Noreen Kelly takes a buyout from her
job of eighteen years and gets dumped by her boyfriend in
one fell swoop, she finds it hard to know what that next
step is--never mind take it. At first Noreen thinks maybe
her redundancy package could be an opportunity, a chance to
figure out what to do with the rest of her life while her
company foots the bill. Sure, she may have gotten high to
"Witchy Woman" and grooved to "Sweet Baby James" back when
James Taylor had hair, but she isn't ready for her AARP
card. Not yet.
But it's the first time in a great many years that Noreen
has time to herself--and she has no idea what to do with it.
When she realizes that she's mistaken her resume for her
personality, Noreen knows that she has to get moving, so she
puts on a new pair of sneakers and a seriously outdated pair
of exercise pants, and walks. She doesn't get very far at
first--just to the end of her street, Wildwater Way--but she
perseveres, and when she's joined by her neighbors Tess and
Rosie, Noreen realizes that walking is not an extreme sport.
It can actually be fun.
As the Wildwater women walk and talk, and talk and walk,
they tally their steps, share their secrets, and learn what
women everywhere are finding out--that time flies and
getting fit is actually fun when you're walking with
friends. Throw in a road trip to Seattle for a lavender
festival, a career-coaching group that looks like a bad
sequel to The Breakfast Club, a clothesline controversy that
could only happen in the 'burbs, plenty of romantic twists
and turns, and a quirky multigenerational cast of supporting
characters, and the result is an experience that's
heartfelt, exuberant, and above all, real.
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