Ever want to punch out someone's lights? I'm pretty sure that's the correct saying. Well just wait till you meet Brad or Bradley, as he now wants to be called. Brad is looking for his joy. So Brad meets a younger woman, has relations with that woman, and decides this is where his joy is now. So Brad is divorcing his wife of nineteen years to follow his quest for joy. Now, do you understand my wish for punching?
Lillie is the current wife and mother of their son Dylan who is heading off to college. Lillie was facing life without her son at home. Lillie had planned a wondrous trip for her and Brad. Lillie's life has just been crushed in so many ways. And yet Brad thinks she needs to be more understanding of his need for joy.
Lillie is a midwife and well respected by her peers and loved by her patients. Brad is a therapist who can't understand why his one attempt at publishing a book isn't a success. There is candidly a huge disconnect between reality and wishes for Brad.
This marriage has been fine until it wasn't. So Lillie had no warning that her world was going to stop turning, at least soon. What does a woman do when her world is on tilt? Spit into his wine. Done that. Now what?
Lillie does suggest seeing a marriage therapist. Brad says he doesn't need that after all, he is one himself. Kind of like being your lawyer.
So in OUT OF THE CLEAR BLUE SKY Kristan Higgins gives us a frankly visceral vision of the breakdown of a marriage and family. And as I said before wants you to punch out someone's lights right through the page, if that were indeed possible.
On top of trying to picture life as a divorced woman, Lillie was facing another loss of sorts. As son Dylan approached going away to college, Lillie was revisiting their relationship. Dylan was her only child. They had a very close, loving mom and son's life as he grew into this adult person. Lillie was missing those days. The realization that her entire life was going to be different. In some ways as expected. But in other ways, Lillie was unprepared for what came next.
I know it's probably cruel to admit that I laughed out loud while Lillie was getting some sort of meager revenge. But I did. I couldn't seem to wipe off the smile from my face. Kristan Higgins had a ball. Even if you are in a good healthy marriage, this is good stuff, and most women would be able to identify with it. A woman scorned. Practically deadly, but in Lillie's case funny as heck.
There is one problem with OUT OF THE CLEAR BLUE SKY, it's addictive - much like anything written by the amazing Kristan Higgins. Be prepared to be immersed in this story that starts with a bang and stays at that level throughout.
Lillie came from a rather dysfunctional family. Brads new person Melissa AKA Missy-Jo likewise. Brad is an egotistical insufferable man. Lillie is the most normal character in the book. Brad deserves Melissa and vice versa. Lillie deserves a happy ending. Be prepared to be entertained and keep in mind, that it's okay to take sides.
OUT OF THE CLEAR BLUE SKY by Kristan Higgins has a huge cast of characters, too numerous to mention in a review, and candidly you deserve to meet these folk at your own pace. Lillie's story is supported with style. Kristan Higgins created some of the best dialog and scenarios in OUT OF THE CLEAR BLUE SKY.
Lillie Silva knew life as an empty nester would be hard after her only child left for college, but when her husband abruptly dumps her for another woman just as her son leaves, her world comes crashing down. Besides the fact that this announcement is a complete surprise (to say the least), what shocks Lillie most is that she isn’t . . . heartbroken. She’s furious.
Lillie has loved her life on Cape Cod, but as a mother, wife, and nurse-midwife, she’s used to caring for other people . . . not taking care of herself. Now, alone for the first time in her life, she finds herself going a little rogue. Is it over the top to crash her ex-husband’s wedding dressed like the angel of death? Sure! Should she release a skunk into his perfect new home? Probably not! But it beats staying home and moping.
She finds an unexpected ally in her glamorous sister, with whom she’s had a tense relationship all these years. And an unexpected babysitter in, of all people, Ben Hallowell, the driver in a car accident that nearly killed Lillie twenty years ago. And then there’s Ophelia, her ex-husband’s oddly lost niece, who could really use a friend.
It’s the end of Lillie’s life as she knew it. But sometimes the perfect next chapter surprises you . . . out of the clear blue sky.
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