The Ex-wife's Survival Guide - Debby Holt

Sarah Stagg has the perfect life, she lives in her precious cottage in Ambercross with her husband Andrew and two sons. She is enjoying painting and earning a nice living from selling them and she has some wonderful friends. Her world is about to be turned upside down though.

Her husband Andrew who is a keen amateur dramatic performer tells her that he is leaving her for Hyacinth, who he worked with on his last play. Sarah’s boys are ...
...is needed to audition for the latest play as it was her husband who left them in the lurch so she decides to go along and finds herself with the lead role. Sarah cannot believe this and is terrified at the prospect. She soon makes friends with Martin and they become close and Sarah is relieved to have someone to share her fears about the play with.

Soon Sarah finds herself getting over Andrew leaving and she finds herself leaving ... more

Sarah Stagg has the perfect life, she lives in her precious cottage in Ambercross with her husband Andrew and two sons. She is enjoying painting and earning a nice living from selling them and she has some wonderful friends. Her world is about to be turned upside down though.

Her husband Andrew who is a keen amateur dramatic performer tells her that he is leaving her for Hyacinth, who he worked with on his last play. Sarah’s boys are also leaving home as they are planning to travel around India. Sarah soon finds herself alone in her home with none of her friends wanting to invite her to their parties as she is single and nothing to do. She believes that she is destined to be alone. Sarah soon gets a message that she is needed to audition for the latest play as it was her husband who left them in the lurch so she decides to go along and finds herself with the lead role. Sarah cannot believe this and is terrified at the prospect. She soon makes friends with Martin and they become close and Sarah is relieved to have someone to share her fears about the play with.

Soon Sarah finds herself getting over Andrew leaving and she finds herself leaving her village for a holiday with her close frond in Majorca where she ends up falling for an old flame. Will Sarah be destined to be alone or is the old flame going to whisk her away to a new life and just how will Sarah fare in the lead role of the play Rebecca?

I really don’t know why I picked this book, I think the deciding factor was it was in a set of 3 which were being sold at my sons pre-school so I decided to pick them up for some light reading during the school holidays. I was quite impressed with the book but found there was just something missing in it.

The characters were good and I did feel sorry for Sarah when her life changed so dramatically but I just did not connect with her as I have done with characters in previous books. Don’t get me wrong she was a good character and came across in a great way but there was nothing amazing about her. The book features a lot of others characters but mainly we have Andrew, the husband and Martin, the close friend. I did ha6te Andrew right from the start and formed a nasty hatred for him for what he did to Sarah but this is what the author wanted us to feel so it was a good thing. I found Martin to be a nice a pleasant person and know not long after meeting him the way he was feeling and found him to be a bit predictable.

The storyline was good and for the first quarter of the book I thought I knew where the story was going and how it was going to end but I have to say there were a few twists and turns in the story which did throw me at the time but I am pleased with the way it was ended and found it enjoyable.

The way this book has been written meant that it was very easy to read and follow the story. I did not find the addition of any characters off putting or that they made the story confusing, as there were only a few extra characters they were all easy to get to know and follow their lives as well as Sarah’s.

The cover of the book claims that this is ‘A Wickedly funny novel of the life after marriage’ but I have to say that I did not find this. There were some good funny moments but nothing to sit and laugh out loud at and at times I was having the opposite effect and was feeling quite sad and sorry for Sarah. The way some of the incidents and things were put across at times did make for fun reading but nothing like the cover claimed.

I think Debby Holt gave a good take on this story and it is one which I hope I never go through but after reading this I would be able to see there was a light at the end of the tunnel and not sit moping around. The book was published by Pocket Books and has a retail price on the back cover of £6.99. I did not pay this price and got this and two other titles by Debby Holt for just £4 which I felt was a great price. This is the paperback version which I am quoting prices on.

I am going to recommend this book as it was very readable but nothing spectacular. I think this may suit someone for holiday reading or a little light chick lit.

 

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