The Last Original Wife, by Dorothea Benton Frank
Intelligent, loving Lesley Carter is reassessing her life, and doesn’t like what she sees.
At the age of fifty-eight, she has two grown children who are less than successful in life. Her daughter, Charlotte, a single mother, “has a real estate license but rarely closes a deal”. Her son, Bertie, is traveling the world and taking pictures. And Lesley has a permanent babysitting job with her beloved three-year-old granddaughter Holly–every time Charlotte decides she’d rather be drinking than mothering.
But the real problem is Leslie’s husband Wes–who’s self-centered, miserly, homophobic and tends to look with envy and admiration at his best friends’ sleek new second wives. Lesley, as the only first wife still standing in their social circle, has nothing in common with the trophy spouses she dubs “the Barbies”. As Wesley makes his golf game his number-one priority, Lesley is desperately lonely–both for the first wives who were her close friends, and her adored, gay older brother Harlan, whom Wesley detests.
Then, an unexpected discovery shakes Lesley’s world–galvanizing her into action and pointing her life in some new directions…
Skillfully shifting perspectives, Dorothea Benton Frank tells the story from the viewpoints of both Lesley and Wes. Devoting alternate chapters to each, she manages to get inside their heads with both authenticity and compassion. You can easily imagine Wes practicing his golf swing or Lesley timing his breakfast eggs as each assesses the status of their relationship.
Multidimensional characters make this a very enjoyable ride, adding elements of both suspense and humor. Even Wes, whom Lesley calls a “Neanderthal” (given his attitude, she’s being kind!), isn’t predictable–except in one hilarious scene, where he’s called on as a last-minute babysitter for granddaughter Holly. The denouement of the story may just surprise you, as might some of the twists and turns along the way.
And I wish I had a big brother like Harlan! He’s kind, imaginative and down-to-earth, and enjoys his interactions with his home’s resident poltergeist. “I mean my dog, not you!” he says, without missing a beat, after some paranormal events follow an admonition to his pampered poodle, Miss J.P.
Admittedly,Dorothea Benton Frank’s books are highly addictive anyway–and among her past selections, she’s created one of my all-time favorite Christmas stories, The Christmas Pearl.
Even so, she’s outdone herself this time.