Monday, February 13, 2017

Plausible Adventures

February 7, 2017

Have you ever noticed when you’re reading a book that, no matter how much of a “Shucks, I’m just an ordinary gal” vibe the author tries to give the protagonist, there’s always something that would never happen in real life that’s essential to make the story work?

Stephanie Plum just happens to have a cousin in the bail-bond business, who happens to know Ranger, who can teach her things he learned in the Special Forces that will help her as a bounty-hunter. Abby Knight’s grandfather leaves her a trust fund, which she uses to buy a flower shop, etc. Bless their hearts, even Jane and Elizabeth Bennett just happened to meet guys who were loaded!

That’s why I liked The Secret Life of Book Club. It’s about women who live low-key lives who have adventures that are actually plausible. (Maybe not the entire story line, but the adventures, yes.) No character perpetually finds dead bodies, and nobody ends up being an inadvertent CIA asset. The women just have imaginations and do things that could (mostly) happen to real people. (And, Lord love them, they don’t all have some artsy-craftsy talent which they suddenly discover they can make a living at doing. Those women make me feel TERRIBLY inadequate.)

Anyway, if you want a book that doesn’t make you feel like having adventures is impossible, read that one. It makes real life seem as though it has way more potential than you thought.


The author is Heather Woodhaven.

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