Blog Tour ~ Invisible Women by Sarah Long

Zaffre
5 October 2017

Sharp, irreverent and very funny women's fiction for grown-ups. For fans of Dawn French, Sue Townsend and Veronica Henry.

Tessa, Sandra and Harriet have been best friends through first crushes, careers, marriage and the trials of motherhood. After twenty years of taking care of everyone else's every need, they've found themselves hitting the big 5-0 and suddenly asking themselves: 'what about me?!'

Sandra has a sordid secret, and Harriet is landed with her ailing mother-in-law. Tessa is looking for something to fill the gaping hole left by her youngest daughter's departure for uni, where it seems she's now engaged in all sorts of unsavoury activities, if Tessa's obsessive late-night Facebook stalking is anything to go by.

When Tessa impulsively responds to an online message from an old flame, she soon finds herself waiting at Heathrow Airport for The One That Got Away. 

But what will the plane from New York bring her? The man of her dreams, or a whole heap of trouble? 

And could this be the long-awaited moment for Tessa to seize her life, for herself, with both hands?

My thoughts...

Tessa, Sandra and Harriet have been friends forever, they've shared every event you can think of and now, as they all turn fifty, it's time to take stock of their lives and do things to suit themselves. However, as they find out to their cost, living the life they think they've earned often comes at a price.

I'm always interested in reading stories about the vagaries of female friendships and it's refreshing to have a group of women of a certain age who are facing a very different time in their lives. The empty nest syndrome as children leave home for university, the heartbreak and dilemma of looking after aged parents, and that last ditch attempt at trying to find happiness with an old flame. All manner of life is experienced and the author does a good job of showing the twists and turns of female relationships.

I think that the author writes well and even though it covers some serious issues there is a lovely light feel to the story. I enjoyed getting to know the women as individuals, and understanding their lives, marriages, and relationship issues goes a long way to discovering just what has made them into the people they are now.

Invisible Women is an engaging read with a set of likeable characters whose stories capture their personalities in an appealing way. I especially loved the little snippets from the book, Don'ts for Wives, Blanche Ebbutt 1913 which head each chapter.

About the Author

Sarah Long is a London-based author of two previously published commercial fiction novels and one hilarious memoir about her ten years living in Paris. She is a married mother of three.

Follow the blog tour on Twitter #InvisibleWomen

My thanks to Imogen at Bonnier Zaffre for the invitation to be part of this blog tour and also for my review copy of Invisible Women.

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