Woman Of A Certain Rage by Georgie Hall

 

Woman of a Certain Rage by Georgie Hall.

Published 8th July by Head of Zeus.

From the cover of the book:

Eliza is angry. Very angry, and very, very hot.

Late for work and dodging traffic, she's still reeling from the latest row with husband Paddy. Twenty-something years ago, their eyes met over the class divide in oh-so-cool Britpop London, but while Paddy now seems content filling his downtime with canal boats and cricket, Eliza craves the freedom and excitement of her youth. Fifty sounds dangerously close to pensionable: her woke children want to cancel her, a male motorist has just called her a 'mad old bat' and to cap it all her hormones are on the run. Who knew menopause was puberty's evil older sister?

But then a moment of heroism draws an unexpected admirer, and Eliza sets out to discover whether the second half of life can be a glass half full after all. She might suffer mental fog and night sweats – and have temporarily mislaid her waist - but this is her renaissance.

Woman of a Certain Rage is a smart and funny novel for all women who won't be told it's too late to shake things up.

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Meet Eliza, valiantly keeping all those plates spinning on the family and work fronts, but now she has hit the age of fifty her body seems to have betrayed her and consigned her to the 'invisible women' gang at the same time - the menopause has hit with a vengeance, and almost every aspect of her life seems out of her control.

The hot flushes, loss of libido, wildly swinging moods and brain fog are playing havoc with Eliza's relationship with her husband of twenty-something years Paddy; her children almost entirely view her as irrelevant; and to top it all her beloved dog Arty - the only one who seemed adept at reading Eliza's feelings and offering gentle support when needed - has just died.

Reeling from yet another row with Paddy and thoroughly fed up with her life, the universe and everything, Eliza desperately yearns for the heady freedom of her youth, but then an unexpected encounter with a sheep and an Italian in a sports car sets off a course of events that might just allow her to find a way to deal with the chaos - and regain something of the Eliza she used to know at the same time.

What a fabulous, funny and totally relatable book! This a book for those of us that have entered the surreal 'invisible' zone, and it is a delight. As a woman firmly in the 'of a certain rage' time of life there was so much in this book that resonated with the me - the hot flushes, sudden rages, insomnia, bouts of anxiety, and a whole other raft of weird and un-wonderful symptoms that suddenly become part of your life, and the feeling of loss for the person you used to be, are all laid out beautifully by Georgie Hall in this book. And she does it with style: combining humour, honesty, and authentic down to earth emotional content, with a cast of beautifully drawn characters that you feel are so real that they could step right off the page.

Eliza is marvellous as the fierce warrior of the piece, waving the banner for women the world over, allowing Hall to shoot straight from the hip by telling it like it is, and the way she does this as part of such an engaging and heart-warming tale is an absolute triumph. She covers so many themes here alongside highlighting the reality of the menopause - dealing with grief; family dynamics; taking the time to really talk, listen and understand amid the non-stop merry-go-round of modern life; having the courage to take life by the horns; and deftly examining sexual politics, discrimination and equality too.

I completely loved this timely novel, suffering, sweating, laughing and crying alongside Eliza, with frequent bathroom breaks naturally. Ladies, we have finally been seen, and it is the wise and fearsome women we really are - with a message of hope that promises 'this too shall pass' (thankfully). A must read if you have also reached the 'woman of a certain rage' years.

Woman of a Certain Rage is available to buy now in hardcover, ebook and audio formats, from your favourite book retailer.

Thank you to Head of Zeus for sending me a proof of this book in return for an honest review, and for inviting me to be part of this blog tour.

About the author:

Georgie Hall is the alter-ego of best-selling author and woman of a certain (r)age, Fiona Walker. Stepping aside from her usual big-cast comedies to write as Georgie, she has her sharp-eyed wit firmly fixed on midlife, marriage, motherhood and menopause. Woman of a Certain Rage is for women everywhere who refuse to be told it’s too late to shake things up.