キャミー・タング著「戌年」連載小説 プロのドッグトレーナーであるマリ・ムトウは、厄年を迎えている。 犬小屋と訓練所の改築をしながら、いつも不服そうにしている家族と同居することになった。母と姉に言わせれば、犬の毛とよだれかけにまみれる仕事は、家族にとって恥ずべきものだという。彼女は元カレを説得し、数ヶ月間犬を預かってもらうことにした。しかし、彼の兄は、数週間前に彼女が誤って車に追突した、怒り狂ったセキュリティ専門家であることが判明する。 アシュウィン・ケイトウは十分な問題を抱えている。叔母が玄関先に現れ、同居を希望している。彼は彼女にすべてを借りているので、断ることができません。母親が家を出て行った後、ネルおばさんはアシュウィンと弟を引き取り、愛のあるキリスト教の家庭で育てた。しかも、弟のダスティもアパートを追い出され、居場所を求めている。しかし、彼は犬を飼っている。そして、その犬の飼い主は誰だと思いますか? しかし、旧友でオアフ島のノースショアでデイスパを経営する私立探偵のエディサ・ゲレロから依頼を受ける。マリの施設で奇妙な破壊行為があり、3年前に失踪したエディサの妹の財布を発見する。エディサはマリが危険な目に遭っているのではと心配する。警備の専門家であるアシュウィンがすでにマリを知っていることを知ったエディサは、忙しい若い女性を密かに監視することを彼に依頼する。 アシュウィンは、活発でのんびりとしたドッグトレーナーに不本意ながら惹かれていく。彼女は、幸せそうな母親を思い出させる。その母親の裏切りによって、彼は人と距離を置くようになったのだ。マリは、アシュウィンの冷たい外見を見抜き、彼が家族に忠実な男であることを認める。彼は、彼女のキャリア選択を批判するだけの母親や姉とは違う。 マリのバラバラな家庭とアシュウィンのバラバラな家庭の中で、過去を隠そうとする人たちから、彼らの周りに危険が迫ってくるようになる。彼らは、影で動く秘密に光を当てることができるのか? 過去に発表されたパートへのリンクはこちら。 *** 第8章 - 恐ろしくも真っ白な不動産書類 『みんな仲良くできないのかな?』 マリは無用に力を込めて箱に本を投げ入れた。最近、なぜ彼女は人生の中で全員と言い争いをしているのだろう?もしかすると、これは本当に悪いアイデア
HOT FLASHES AND COLD CREAM by Diann Hunt
From the back cover:
An eccentric best friend, a leaky Chihuahua, a teenager in trouble, and a workaholic husband with a gorgeous new colleague. Those are the ingredients for Diann Hunt's wise and funny story about growing...well, older...with grace.
Midlife isn't a crisis for Maggie Hayden until the day a former classmate fails to recognize her--and her world starts to spin out of control. With an empty nest, a body that's heading south (generating heat waves all the way), and a marital spark that seems to be sputtering, she knows she has to do something. But what? Exercise? Romantic dinners? Herbal supplements? A job? She tries them all, with mixed success-but nothing seems to squelch that underlying worry that her best days are behind her.
Can Maggie come to terms with her new life and learn to trust what she cannot see? Can she reclaim her marriage and find a new sense of purpose? Can she discover a miracle cure for the aging process?
Well, two out of three ain't bad!
And the fun of this particular journey is just the whipped cream on the double-shot mocha.
Excerpt of chapter one on Amazon.com.
Camy here:
What a fun book! Maggie is wacky and loveable at the same time.
In this book, all the minor characters added color to the storyline. Even her incontinent Chihuahua had a role. The players spun and weaved in and out like an English country dance. While whacked out on hormones.
Since I’m not going through menopause yet, and don’t know anyone going through it, AND because I don’t have children right now, I didn’t quite relate to absolutely everything Maggie did and thought. However, I’ve been told by other friends going through that lovely stage of womanhood that Maggie’s moods and paranoia are COMPLETELY true, which scares me a bit. I might ask my husband to restrain me when I get to a certain age. Like in a straitjacket. Whew! Those hormones are brutal on the mind.
This was still a fun read, even though I’m not quite in the author’s reader demographic, which just goes to show that crazy characters—whether made that way by their changing bodies or naturally that way like me—er, people I know—are always entertaining fiction.
Okay, that sounds really wrong. I truly don’t mean anything bad by that. On the contrary, this screwball cast is nothing but good, clean fun.
I think that 20- and 30-somethings with moms going through this “certain stage” of life will actually find a lot to laugh about in this story. And any woman over 40 will commiserate with and smile at Maggie’s antics.
From the back cover:
An eccentric best friend, a leaky Chihuahua, a teenager in trouble, and a workaholic husband with a gorgeous new colleague. Those are the ingredients for Diann Hunt's wise and funny story about growing...well, older...with grace.
Midlife isn't a crisis for Maggie Hayden until the day a former classmate fails to recognize her--and her world starts to spin out of control. With an empty nest, a body that's heading south (generating heat waves all the way), and a marital spark that seems to be sputtering, she knows she has to do something. But what? Exercise? Romantic dinners? Herbal supplements? A job? She tries them all, with mixed success-but nothing seems to squelch that underlying worry that her best days are behind her.
Can Maggie come to terms with her new life and learn to trust what she cannot see? Can she reclaim her marriage and find a new sense of purpose? Can she discover a miracle cure for the aging process?
Well, two out of three ain't bad!
And the fun of this particular journey is just the whipped cream on the double-shot mocha.
Excerpt of chapter one on Amazon.com.
Camy here:
What a fun book! Maggie is wacky and loveable at the same time.
In this book, all the minor characters added color to the storyline. Even her incontinent Chihuahua had a role. The players spun and weaved in and out like an English country dance. While whacked out on hormones.
Since I’m not going through menopause yet, and don’t know anyone going through it, AND because I don’t have children right now, I didn’t quite relate to absolutely everything Maggie did and thought. However, I’ve been told by other friends going through that lovely stage of womanhood that Maggie’s moods and paranoia are COMPLETELY true, which scares me a bit. I might ask my husband to restrain me when I get to a certain age. Like in a straitjacket. Whew! Those hormones are brutal on the mind.
This was still a fun read, even though I’m not quite in the author’s reader demographic, which just goes to show that crazy characters—whether made that way by their changing bodies or naturally that way like me—er, people I know—are always entertaining fiction.
Okay, that sounds really wrong. I truly don’t mean anything bad by that. On the contrary, this screwball cast is nothing but good, clean fun.
I think that 20- and 30-somethings with moms going through this “certain stage” of life will actually find a lot to laugh about in this story. And any woman over 40 will commiserate with and smile at Maggie’s antics.
Comments