About Face - Softcover

Howard, Carole

Softcover

ISBN 10: 098529485X ISBN 13: 9780985294854

Publisher: Glenmere Press, 2013

Synopsis

From the outside, Ruth seems to have it all: a high-powered career, happy marriage and family. But her inner Peace-Corps-Volunteer is hollering to be let out.

When she bumps into Vivian, her long-lost friend and former hut-mate, she realizes how different she is from the person she used to be and wonders if she's lost part of herself--the best part--in her quest for "the perfect life." Her internal tug of war gathers steam and knocks her seemingly perfect urban life out of kilter.

As they struggle with their differences and try to resurrect their friendship, the two women realize--with humor and a growing respect--that they each have strengths to contribute to a venture neither would have discovered on her own, one that melds past and present to shape an exciting and surprising future.

This contemporary literary novel toggles between flashback scenes in West Africa and present ones in Manhattan, as it chronicles the power of the women's friendship. The characters are simultaneously memorable and down-to-earth, and readers begin to feel they have known them for a long time. They're treated with affection, nuanced understanding, and a healthy dose of wit. This fast-paced, funny, and honest coming-of-middle age classic playfully walks the line between humor and wisdom as it deals with serious issues of mid-life and aging.

About this title

From the Back Cover:

Ruth Talbot is battling so many demons, she doesn't know where to not-look first. As the 50-something marketing director of a New York City cosmetics firm, she's engaged in a fiery power struggle with her new boss. Meanwhile, the successful corporate executive she is on the outside is feuding with the idealistic Peace Corps volunteer she used to be, still there inside. As if that weren't enough, her body is betraying her with hot flashes and her husband clobbers her with a plea that they both retire. Retire? She's not that old. Is she?

She has a stroke-of-genius idea for a product that could generate huge profits for her company, vanquish her boss, and position her to retire on a high note of success. She soon realizes that the new project may win her a victory in the office showdown, but won't provide the inner-outer handshake she craves. Winning the wrong game isn't going to be enough; she'll have to turn her life upside down so she no longer feels like she's living it inside out.

About the Author:

Carole Howard is a world traveler and a former corporate consultant. Writing is her third career, so she knows full well the difficulties of change and its resulting need for reinvention. On the page she draws from both the urban and village lives she's experienced; in particular, it is her deep friendships and family relationships that lend spice and humor to novels that women relate to, no matter which stage of life they face.

She lives with her husband in New York State's Hudson Valley, with her daughter, son-in-law, and grandchildren right down the road. When not writing and reading, she's playing the violin, gardening, knitting, or practicing yoga.

About this edition

• Publisher: Glenmere Press
• Publication date: 2013
• ISBN 10: 098529485X
• ISBN 13: 9780985294854
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 328