Sweet Surrender: Love, Life And The Whole Damn Thing
The trilogy of books by Mary Moody describes her escape from mid-life crises - Au Revoir, Last Tango in Toulouse and The Long Hot Summer - has reached a generation of Australian women.
In her new book Sweet Surrender, after all of her escapades and adventures, Mary has come full circle and has embraced surrendering to the inevitable. Surrendering to ageing, to the pull of family, to the happiness derived from a life that is centred on others as well as herself, and to the undeniable influence of her parents and her family on the person she is.
It's been a journey that has taught her a lot, but in the end the needs of her family - her four children and her grandchildren - turned out to be a lot more important than her French affairs.
At the heart of Sweet Surrender, Mary challenges the illusion of eternal youth that's attributed to the baby boomer generation and the idea that she can obtain complete happiness by living life putting her own needs first. Yet like in her other books, she does so in a very personal way, describing how she herself was drawn in by the notion of denying the ageing process and by living life without the burden of obligation to the needs of others.
That was until events in her life conspired to make her realise that you can't just run away from the essence of who you are, and that the most deeply satisfying moment in life can be experienced when fulfilling the needs of those who you love.
I enjoyed reading this book as it was very Australian and was an easy read.
ReplyDeleteI felt this woman is extremely self-centred. I guess if you're writing about yourself, there has to be some self-centredness (is that a word?) involved. But, she very rarely seemed to consider other people's feelings and views in her story.
Everything revolved around her and how she felt - her poor husband has endured having her infidelities available for the world to read.
I found it interesting that she talked about how much wine she drank - I could quite relate to that and have cut down my consumption somewhat!
Although it has been awhile since I read this book I really enjoyed it and would like to read her other novels. Yes, I believe she has been quite self-centred but I also believe to reach the pinnacle of any career it takes a fair bit of 'self-centredness' and its possible consequences. I identified readily with her reaction to her daughters marriage breakup and her eventual realisation.
ReplyDeleteI felt quite cranky with her negative comments and guilt trip she took her readers on after SHE had HER face/jaw reconstructive surgery!
I think she is incredibly brave and I admire her boldness, frankness and honesty and would love to go on one of her French countryside tours!
Yes, she certainly was brave. And, her husband obviously agreed to her writing about how she was unfaithful to him.
ReplyDeleteLooking at her story another way I can see that she is writing with honesty and showing that, although she didn't do the right thing by her husband, they overcame it and their marriage survived. Perhaps a lesson to others who go through such an experience.
I thought the book was easy to read... Didnt like Mary much though-thought she was very self centred.
ReplyDeleteI was not convinced that she is still married for the right reasons... I felt sorry for her husband.
It will be an interesting book club in a couple of weeks!
I cann't say I really enjoyed the book. Didn't dislike it either,I didn't like Mary and her attitude to her family including her mother.
ReplyDeleteFeel she is only concerned for herself and how things relate to her feelings and expectations.
Maybe Sheryle is right and to be a successful career person you have to have that oneness(!!)
Think I'd rather look at a bigger picture of life not just a career and money as I feel that is what a lot of it is heading towards.
Money.
I guess some people are driven, and what drives them is power and success. As I said at our Bookclub meeting last night, she was definitely going through a serious mid-life crisis when she took off to France.
ReplyDeleteThanks Sheryle for a delicious meal and for a wonderful night! We didn't plan it well, all of us should have provided the food since it was your birthday!
I also found the book well written and very easy to read, however did not enjoy it at all. I did not like Mary and felt very sorry for her husband and the rest of her family. Wish I could off made it to Sheryle's place, would of been interesting to hear all the discussions on what everyone thought!
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