Laura Jensen Walker's Turning the Paige ~ Reviewed

Turning the Paige
by Laura Jensen Walker
Paperback: 320 pages
Publisher: Zondervan (March 1, 2009)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0310276985

Back Cover:

Welcome to the in-between world of Paige Kelley.

At thirty-five, she’s put her dreams on hold to care for her ailing, high-maintenance mother.

Three years after her divorce she’s still not dating, still working at her temp job, and still longing for motherhood even though, as her own mother often points out, “You’re not getting any younger, you know!”

When her Getaway Girls book club friends urge Paige to break free and get on with her life, she desperately wants to try. But how? What about her mom? The unexpected answers come from a surprising source. A trip to Scotland and a potential new love interest help launch an exciting new chapter in her life, and lead Paige to discover that God’s plan for her life promises to be more than she ever imagined. This latest release in the Getaway Girls collection delivers a smart, funny, and warm account of one woman’s challenge to reconcile who she is—a dutiful Christian daughter—with the fulfilled woman she longs to be.

It will appeal to any woman whose ever forgotten, even momentarily, that God’s timing is perfect. Read the first chapter, here.

My Review:

A divorced, controlled and borderline bitter female enters the zone wherein she will encounter stress upon stress and choose to either become more bitter or better. Laura Jensen Walker tortures poor Paige (Turner) Kelley via an extremely manipulative and uber-suffocating mother, an estranged sister, a happily remarried and expecting ex-husband, a job and a few other tossed in stressors just for the fun of it.

Paige's only life-enhancing activity is her book club, and the friends she has there keep her sane. A new florist in her neighborhood also begins to add color and beauty to her life, too.

A fictional trip that could be too overwhelming if you just need a few hours of light escape or have divorce, mother issues or infertility that haunt you. Book fans and lovers of adventures tied into some classic and fun reads may find much to like in Turning the Paige. Walker writes well and made the settings and characters multi-dimensional.

Reviewed by: Kelly Klepfer