The One That Got Away

April 4, 2016
Himes’s debut novel begins with harried working wife and mother Abbey, who hits her heads and loses consciousness while wishing for a different life. The fall happens as Abbey returns a too-expensive red Marc Jacobs bag to a Nordstroms in Philadelphia, and she imagines herself on the road not taken, the wife of a wealthy, handsome man who once asked her out. This dream husband is Alex, a Philadelphia blue blood running for Congress, whereas her real husband is Jimmy, whose business failures she resents. In the dream, Abbey, sans “droopy skin or love handles” and now with breast implants, tries to get up to speed and help her husband’s campaign and wonders what happened to her ambition and depth, and why she would have ceded control of her family to her mother-in-law. Himes’s portrait of an outsider trying to fit into a narrow new role works well; Abbey is reminiscent of the snarky Jill Weber character on Bravo’s Odd Mom Out. Less successful is the novel’s deliberate pacing and the ease with which Abbey betrays her original marriage vows. Agent: Theresa Park, Park Literary Group.

March 15, 2016
A stressed-out wife and mother finds that appreciating her life will require a fresh perspective. Abbey Lahey is an overworked mother of two who feels her identity slipping away. Her relationship with her husband, Jimmy, a landscaper, isn't as strong as it once was, and being on the "mommy track" at her PR firm means she no longer represents the most coveted clients. Now relegated to managing an exterminator's account, she longs for a life just a little more glamorous. While flipping through a copy of Town & Country, she finds a photo of Alexander Collier van Holt, a man who asked her out on a date many years earlier. Discovering that he's now both rich and gorgeous, she begins to fantasize about the turn her life could have taken if she had only said yes to that date. Abbey often longs for a taste of the high life, and a few weeks earlier she had spent almost $600 on a Marc Jacobs purse she couldn't afford. Unfortunately for Abbey, when Jimmy finds the bill, he demands that she return the bag. Under duress, she complies, though her frustration leads to clumsiness, and she takes a tumble over the escalator railing at Nordstrom. When she wakes up, she is no longer Abbey Lahey, but Abbey van Holt, thrown smack in the middle of the dream life she had imagined. Despite the money, designer goods, and handsome husband, Abbey soon sees fractures in the facade of this new alternate reality. While Mrs. Lahey packed a few extra pounds, Mrs. van Holt is fit, pampered, and nothing like Abbey. Could a different choice all those years ago really have changed her that much? Throughout the novel, Abbey longs to find herself in the midst of this glittering new life. Himes explores what could have been in this charming debut novel.

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April 1, 2016

Himes's debut novel examines if the grass is greener on the other side. Abbey Lahey is an exhausted working mother of two young children. Her husband, Jimmy, owns a landscaping business, which is struggling. As Abbey is riding the escalator in Nordstrom's, she falls and hits her head, landing in the hospital. When she regains consciousness, she is Abigail Van Holt, still a married mother of two but now to wealthy blueblood Alexander Van Holt--the man whom she met in college and whose proposal she turned down, setting her on a path to the middle class and Jimmy. Abbey sees how her life would be if she'd accepted Alex's offer. She has a designer wardrobe, servants, a swanky apartment, and a hot husband running for Congress, but still, she struggles to adjust to her new situation. VERDICT Himes takes an intriguing look at how a simple yes could change a person's entire life. Ample time is spent with the protagonist trying to decipher her unfamiliar surroundings; although one wonders how Abbey, who works in PR and is currently the wife of a Congressional candidate, cannot seem to find the slightest information on her persona by simply Googling herself. All in all, the effort is a rewarding investigation of how all that glitters may not be gold.--Brooke Bolton, Boonville-Warrick Cty. P.L., IN

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