Marriage Vacation by Pauline Turner Brooks (aka Jo Piazza)

Hey Everyone!

I finished another book!  I bought this one along with Shrill, when I found an Amazon Books store in NYC last week!

I cannot believe I already finished both in less than a week, when I hadn't finished a single book since last July!

From Goodreads:

In season four of Darren Star's hit TV Land series Younger, the editors of Empirical Press are shocked and deeply moved when they read Marriage Vacation, an autobiographical novel by the publisher's estranged wife, Pauline Turner Brooks.  Knowing the book will cause a sensation, they decide they must publish it.  Now you can read what the hype is about.

To find herself...she might lose everything.

By all appearances, Kate Carmichael had the perfect life: two adorable daughters, a pre-war town house on the Upper East Side, and a husband who ran one of the most successful publishing companies in New York.  But when Kate attends the wedding of two of her oldest friends, and reconnects with successful classmates from graduate school, she suddenly see her life in a different light: the career she din't pursue, the dreams she's locked away, the empty veneer of her privilege.

When the wedding weekend ends, instead of heading home to her husband and family, Kate gets on a plane and flies halfway around the world.  She claims it's just going to be for a week -- two max-- so she can clear her head, make headway with her writing, and shake free of the feeling that time is passing her by.

But just like Kate's life, the adventure doesn't go quite as planned.  When it's time to return, she finds herself trapped between wanting to be a good mother and partner and needing to herself again.

This provocative and gripping novel asks: is a wife and mother allowed to have a midlife crisis?  And, if she does, can she ever be forgiven?  Marriage Vacation is for anything who has ever fantasized about what it would be like to run away from it all.

My Thoughts:

So I have a love-hate relationship with this book.  But first a little more background on why I picked it up.

So as mentioned above in the synopsis, this book is a fictional piece based on the book that is published in the TV show Younger.  Last week, while I was in New York, Younger at one point was literally being filmed two blocks over from the hotel we stayed at.  And I had this fantasy about running into Hilary Duff, who was my biggest idol growing up!  Obviously, New York City has millions of people, and the chances of running into Hilary Duff is like 1 in 8,000,000 (according to Google anyway).  But I have been watching Younger since it first aired in 2015, because anything Hilary Duff I have to watch!  I have become a fan of the show, and not only because Hilary is in it, but because it is a good fun show!

Well, with the show on my mind as I'm strolling through the streets of New York City, my husband and I ran into an Amazon Books Store.  Yes, an actual physical book store run by Amazon!  Apparently, they don't only exist online...who knew?

But in the store I thought of two books I wanted immediately, for the long plane ride back.  Obviously I was going to finish two books, but who can leave a book store, without backups!

Those two books were Marriage Vacation and Shrill!

So now to the review...

Like I said above, I have a love-hate relationship with this book.  I liked it in that it was a fun easy read, that I finished in two days.  So obviously, I must have enjoyed it.

But I have a hate relationship because of the main character and her decisions in life.

I don't know if I can accept someone leaving not only their husband of ten years out of nowhere, but also her two young children behind.  While I ended up enjoying Kate's journey, I just couldn't help thinking until the end that she was a self-centered person!

The synopsis asks the question:  "Is a wife and mother allowed to have midlife crisis?".  Um, no one should be allowed to have a midlife crisis, especially at 40, where they drop everything because they are bored with their life, leaving behind a four and six year old little girls, and a husband to raise them on their own.  I'm sorry, but no excuse can be given for her actions.  If it was the man doing it...same answer!  No excuse!

There were a few parts that bothered me.

-One was, when she said at the beginning on pg. 13 (in the paperback), "I still wanted to be with my daughters as much as humanly possible even when they exhausted me or bored me to tears, which was more often than I cared-- or dared-- to admit."

Look, I know I am not a mother yet, therefore I don't know what it is like to be a parent yet.  But how devastating would it be to hear those words come out of your mother's mouth?  I think that would stick with me for quite some time.

-On pg. 128 Kate had a phone interaction with Karl (her husband) from Thailand, where he said he couldn't speak to her anymore, and that she could continue talking to the girls, but he just didn't want to anymore.  Her response was, "I was shocked.  Was he saying and doing this to punish me, or was I just being that cruel to my husband that he had to cut off communication with me?"

Um...she was SHOCKED????  Why??!!  Because her husband should continue to beg and grovel at her feet, after she left him and their two little girls to go away to Thailand for MONTHS, and then telling everyone she was coming home for Christmas, only to say Never mind, I am still finding myself.  

Really???  Cue the most massive eye roll!

-I hated how cocky Kate was at times.  Self-righteous and cocky.  But then she would act all innocent and fragile when it suited her.  From pgs. 139-140, "...I knew without a shadow of a doubt I could fuck him if I gave the right signals.  I knew it the same way I'd known I could sleep with Karl the second he bumped into me at that bookstore."

I don't know why that sentence bothered me so much?  Maybe because she used the word "fuck" to describe her husband?  Maybe because she was so certain of herself, but couldn't be certain that it was more important for her to be at home raising her children that she chose to have, versus being across the world??




And then lastly, lets discuss Page 58.

So in the show Younger, Hilary Duff works for a publishing company in NYC.  Her boss is the character that Karl is based on; and his wife Pauline, ran off, abandoned him and his two girls.  Well in Season four she comes back, has written a book (that she claims is a work of fiction at first), and expects Charles (her husband) to come running back into her arms.  That book was Marriage Vacation, and it soon became obvious that it was a VERY thinly veiled autobiography where the names had been changed (sort of...Karl=Charles, Kasey=Kelsey (Hilary Duff's character)).  Well while the book is being passed around in the office, pg. 58 causes a lot of stir, because it shows their boss (who is very guarded) doing some "naughty" things.

With how much that scene was hyped up in the show and on the back of the book, and online...I have to say, I was...disappointed.

I was expecting something way juicier!

I'm not going to give it away, but man, I was expecting some Fifty Shades of Grey shit at the very least.

This was married Christian and Anastasia at best.


So that being said, I still liked it.  I liked the writing style, which reminded me for some reason of Emily Giffin's (but that could also be because the actual ghost writer of this book, Jo Piazza, looks a lot like her).  It is a contemporary adult novel, similar to the style that Emily writes in.  It kept me very engaged, and while I wasn't a huge fan of Kate, I just kept wanting to know what was going to happen next!

Overall rating:

Would I reread it?

Probably not.  But it got me to read, after an almost year long (heck three year almost!) reading rut!  And a book that keeps me engaged...has to be a good book!  Three stars because while I thought the author (Jo Piazza) did a good job with the writing and keeping her readers wanting more, I just had a hard time with sympathizing with the main character.  Honestly the ending that actually happened (as far as I know so far, because still waiting on the new season! June!!) was deserved.

I highly recommend the show Younger though!  It's on Hulu!  If you're fan of Sex and the City, Gossip Girl, New York City, reading, and girl problems then you will like it, I think! :)

Have a great rest of your week!

The Romance Bookie :)