I Almost Forgot About You

The only thing better than reading a Terry McMillan novel is hearing her deliver one of her own works. Successful 50-something optometrist Georgia Young, twice divorced, with two daughters, sometimes feels restless and slightly unfulfilled. McMillan believably inhabits Georgia when she decides to look up the men in her past and tell them exactly what they meant to her--both good and bad. Equally exhilarating are McMillan's renderings of Georgia's best friend, Wanda, who encourages her in this latest venture, and Georgia's feisty, newly engaged 82-year-old mother. The most fun is hearing the banter of her classmates at their 40th class reunion and Georgia's own snarky retorts. Listeners will feel sad, joyful, and amused--and may be tempted to replicate Georgia's quest in their own lives. S.G.B. Winner of AudioFile Earphones Award © AudioFile 2016, Portland, Maine

April 4, 2016
McMillan (Who Asked You?) revs up middle age in a rambunctious showcase of the bestselling author’s keen ear for language, clear eye for the give-and-take of sex, love, and commitment, and heartfelt faith in happy endings. Here, 54-year-old optometrist Georgia Young, bored with her work and romantically adrift after two failed marriages, sets out to reinvent herself by examining the loves she left behind—providing a nifty three-step guide for finding “the Right One,” and then moving on when it turns out wrong—taking a train trip to Vancouver and turning a knack for design into a career. Meanwhile, the real work of Georgia’s life bustles all around her: her crazy-in-love 81-year-old mother, two best and brutally honest friends, and two daughters tentatively embarking on their own complicated lives—an expertly drawn cast of characters that includes the perfect foils for the alternately quixotic and practical Georgia. “Love doesn’t have an age limit, and it can find you at any time in your life,” she tells her 22-year-old daughter. “It can also just as soon leave you in a ditch... You can be a woman and be happy without a man and without love.” There’s no better guide than McMillan for this excursion through early-, middle-, and old-age crises, and no better creator of female characters who refuse to give up on dreaming, or looking back to find the way forward in their noisy, messy, joyous lives. Agent: Molly Friedrich, Friedrich Literary Agency.