After Charlotte's husband of a mere few months walks out, only to change to his mind and return home, Charlotte makes a decision of her own. She leaves him. Charlotte finds a place to live and goes about her life, continuing in her job, making new friends, and joining a roller derby group. Up until he walked out, Matthew felt Charlotte waited for life to happen to her. Now, Matthew must wait while Charlotte makes up her mind about their future.
Pamela Ribon's GOING IN CIRCLES is at times a funny and at times a searing, introspective novel about love and loss, separation and self-discovery. Charlotte introduces physical pain to her life by way of the roller derby, upon invitation from her co-worker and friend Francesca, as a means of moving herself beyond the initial malaise resulting from the breakup of her marriage. I'm not sure I buy this as a solution, but that may mean I'm more inclined to something less injurious, like water aerobics.
GOING IN CIRCLES left me with mixed feelings. About two-thirds of the way through, I felt as though I'd changed places with Charlotte, and I was now the one waiting for something to happen, for the story to move forward to a conclusion. Then, the ending I was looking for didn't happen, although I found Charlotte's path to personal discovery interesting.
The most interesting character in all of this was Francesca, the co-worker that Charlotte had written off and all but ignored prior to Francesca reaching out to Charlotte in her time of emotional turmoil. Francesca should have her story told.
Charlotte Goodman has had enough surprises.
In fact, she reached her lifeโs quotient when her husband of
five months walked out on her, only to abruptly change his
mind a few weeks later and move back in. Stung by a whiplash
of grief, resentment, and confusion, Charlotte calls a
time-out, taking a small apartment where she can figure out
what she wants. Instead, the thought of making even
the simplest choices triggers an anxiety attack. In order to
get out of bed in the morning, she must concoct a to-do list
for each day, The Plan, one with absolutely no
surprises.
โWithout The Plan, horrible things
can happen. Iโm likely to end up sitting on a curb beside a
taco truck on Sunset Boulevard, crying over a carne asada
burrito, wondering where my marriage went. I canโt handle
being the Weeping Burrito Girl.โ
Charlotte knows
all this self-absorbed introspection isnโt good for her, but
sheโs running out of people to turn to, as seemingly
everyone in her life is pressuring her to make an immediate
decision about her future. Then her new friend Francescaโan
impulsive, smartass co-workerโoffers Charlotte salvation in
the unlikeliest of places: the fast-paced, super-tough,
bump-and-bruise-filled world of roller derby.
Sure,
itโs dangerous. Yeah, she could get hurt. But whatโs a
little physical pain when healing your soul is at stake? The
question is: whether sheโs on or off the track, will
Charlotte be strong enough to stand on her own two feet?
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