Julie's Review: Woman Last Seen in Her Thirties

Author: Camille Pagan
Series: None
Publication Date: February 27, 2018
Publisher: Lake Union Press
Pages: 254
Obtained: Great Thoughts, Great Readers Book Salon
Genre:  Contemporary Fiction
Rating: 4/5
Bottom Line: How to come back after a divorce
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Summary: At fifty-three, Maggie Harris has a good marriage and two mostly happy children. Perpetually anxious, she’s also accumulated a list of semi-reasonable fears: falling air conditioners, the IRS, identity theft, skydiving, and airbag recalls. But never once did Maggie worry that her husband of nearly thirty years would leave her. On the day Adam walks out the door, everything that makes Maggie secure goes with him. Only then does she realize that while she’s been busy caring for everyone else, she’s become invisible to the world—and to herself. Maggie cautiously begins to rebuild her life with a trip to Rome, a new career, and even a rebound romance. But when a fresh crisis strikes and an uncertain future looms, she must decide: How much will she risk to remain the woman she’s just become? ~amazon.com  

Review: Woman Last Seen in Her Thirties deals with the issues of getting older, getting a divorce, dealing with loneliness and figuring out your new direction.

Maggie is a worrier. It’s who she is. When her husband tells her that he’s in love with someone else, 30 years of marriage passes before her eyes. She doesn’t know how to function without being married. She’s been a mom and a wife for most of her adult life. She spirals into a wine induced haze for the first few months after Adam leaves. She is reeling and she's not sure how to pull herself out of it. She thinks that there is hope when Adam agrees to come for a family Thanksgiving dinner. Her kids don't want her to get her hopes up but she's determined to make it a nice "family" dinner even if it's their last. Good intentions fly out the window when yet Adam throws another bomb on her that throws her in another direction.


As Maggie tries to figure out life without being a wife, she also tries to reconnect with who she was in her 30s, when she was in her prime and happy. I think what she learns is that while you might want to go back in time, you can never recreate that happiness again because you change and grow overtime. So happiness in her 50s will look different than it did in her 30s.

While I did like at the end that she stepped out of her comfort zone, it almost felt like she stepped too far out of it. I'm not sure anyone would ever stretch themselves completely out of who they were. Yes we need to do that to continue to grow but you can't change who you are at the core. 

 Woman Last Seen in Her Thirties is a book for those who might have lost their way but can have hope to find it again. It’s about learning to let go and have a leap of faith that things will be alright.



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