Here, Home, Hope

April 1, 2011

Kelly Johnson is no longer fulfilled by her charmed suburban life with an exquisite home, two wonderful boys, and a perfect husband. All around her, families are falling apart: the next-door neighbors just got divorced, best friend Kathryn's teenage daughter, Melanie, is battling anorexia, and old friend Charlotte needs help with her burgeoning real estate business. While her boys are at summer camp, Kelly shifts her life into overdrive, taking in the sullen Melanie and preparing one of Charlotte's homes for showings. It turns out that Kelly has a gift for interior decorating, and she soon decides to launch her own business. Kelly helps her friends and neighbors get back on their feet while simultaneously finding a cure for her midlife blase. VERDICT This fiction debut often feels like a how-to book on starting a small business--not surprising, as the author is an entrepreneur and real estate expert, who here highlights women's entrepreneurial spirit. Entrepreneurs and women wishing to become small business owners may find this novel interesting.--Anika Fajardo, St. Catherine Univ., St. Paul

Copyright 2011 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

April 1, 2011
Kelly Johnson is having a midlife crisis. With her two young sons away at summer camp and time weighing heavily, she takes stock of her life and finds it wanting. Even with a successful, supportive husband and a beautiful house, she is envious of her friends Kathryn and Charlotte, successful businesswomen who seem to have it all. Kelly resolves to remake herself with the help of a list of things she wants to change and supported by an ever-growing trail of Post-it notes as reminders of her new outlook. As her interests and talents begin to blossom, she never forgets the support of her friends, taking on Kathryns young anorexic daughter and helping both friends as their own marriages begin to fail. Kelly eventually opens her own business, a home-staging service for realtors. Her journey from uncertain housewife to empowered businesswoman is told with honesty, insight, and humor. Roudas novel is the story of a woman who takes charge of her life while never forgetting the people who helped her make that change.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2011, American Library Association.)