Wives Behaving Badly

May 1, 2006
Rose, the protagonist in the bestselling Revenge of the Middle-Aged Woman
, stood tall when Minty Lloyd stole both her husband and her job. Buchan now gives Minty the spotlight as she discovers the dangers of getting what you want. Picking up seven years later, Minty and Nathan are married and have twin boys, but Minty's life as a second wife is more difficult than she'd anticipated: Nathan's friends shun her, she's deemed a threat by other married women, Nathan's adult children despise her and full-time motherhood isn't her cuppa tea. So Minty goes back to work at a London television production company, only to find young, unattached and ambitious colleagues nipping at her heels. Things go from manic to molten after Rose reenters the picture and a tragedy sends what's left of the family into a tailspin. Buchan keeps a lot of balls in the air, but readers may wish she'd written for depth and not breadth, as the narrative can feel like a series of vignettes hemmed together. Still, readers who appreciate Buchan's blend of humor and poignancy will find a trove of it.

July 1, 2006
When we last saw Minty (" Revenge of the Middle-Aged Woman" , 2003" )" , she had successfully lured Nathan Lloyd away from Rose, his wife of 25 years, and established herself in his comfortable life and in his house. Now the mother of twins, Minty has little time for Nathan or the boys as she tries to restart her career. She knows Nathan is unhappy and maybe unwell, but she's too busy to worry too much about it until she discovers that he has been seeing Rose again. Suddenly Nathan is gone, leaving Minty alone with children she didn't know she wanted, a career she's not sure she can handle, and money problems she thought she was done with. But worst of all is the guilt on so many fronts. Told through the befuddled but honest voice of Minty, the book moves carefully and realistically through the stages of grief and growing self-awareness to a satisfying and realistic conclusion. Not as heartwarming as the first installment, but no less involving. (Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2006, American Library Association.)