After Happily Ever After by Leslie A. Rasmussen
Welcome to After Happily Ever After (She Writes Press), the debut novel by the multitalented TV screenwriter Leslie A. Rasmussen. This highly entertaining and thought-provoking book portrays the struggles that millions of women in the “sandwiched generation” face.
In the story, Maggie Dolin is 45 and she isn’t dealing with getting older very well. Seventeen years ago, she gave up her job in publishing to raise her daughter, Gia. Now her only child is about to leave for college, and Maggie isn’t sure what her new purpose will be.
WHAT NOW, EMPTY-NESTER?
She’s been the caretaker and nurturer for so long that she can’t even begin to remember the last time someone took care of her. She wishes Jim, her husband of 19 years, would take that role on. He, unfortunately, has been distracted and disconnected, and she’s convinced that it’s because he’s hiding something from her.
Her self-involved, judgmental mother and resentful brother are certainly no help, and her father — the only person in her life who’s always been there for her and asked nothing in return — is dealing with increasingly serious health issues, leaving Maggie without her rock.
As all these stressors pile on, a chance meeting with a younger man causes Maggie to act in a way that is completely, but maybe refreshingly, out of character. As she gets deeper involved, she’s forced to make some big decisions about what she wants and deserves. These are decisions that could change her life forever.
“About a soon-to-be empty nester learning to love herself, one blunder at a time, After Happily Ever After is a delightful and probing novel” reports Foreword/Clarion. Happily, we’re in accord.
