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The Interruption of Everything

      

 

Why we chose this book
It is so easy to draw strength and courage from Terry McMillan's characters. I am also always amazed at her ability to make me laugh in the middle of tears. Her books make it impossible to feel alone. What more can you ask for? ~Beth

From Booklist
Forty-four-year-old Marilyn feels as if her life is spiraling out of control. She has a husband who is adrift in his career and is showing all the signs of having an affair. Marilyn is also juggling a troublesome live-in mother-in-law, a mother who may be developing Alzheimer's, and a foster sister who is battling drug addiction and neglecting her two children. Meanwhile, she must struggle with her own personal decisions: should she continue working part time at the craft store or heed her long-neglected dreams of a career in art? Should she stay married to boring Leon, the engineer, or take up again with her first husband, who is suddenly back on the scene and available? A pregnancy scare intensifies her need to separate her roles as a caregiver and as a woman with her own identity. She finds solace and help from her girlfriends and an unlikely source--her mother-in-law. McMillan's inimitable style is on display in this novel about a woman facing midlife crises on every front. Vanessa Bush
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From the Publisher
Since Terry McMillan’s breakout novel, Waiting to Exhale, surged onto the bestseller lists, her irreverent, hilarious, and pitch-perfect tales of women’s lives and contemporary issues have captivated critics and readers alike. With The Interruption of Everything, McMillan takes on the fault lines of midlife and family life and reminds us once again of the redeeming power of friendship.

Marilyn Grimes, wife and mother of three, has made a career of deferring her dreams to build a suburban California home and lifestyle with her workaholic husband, Leon. She also troubleshoots for her grown kids, cares for her live-in mother-in-law (and elderly poodle, Snuffy), keeps tabs on her girlfriends Paulette and Bunny and her own aging mother and foster sister— and holds down a part- time job. But at forty-four, Marilyn’s got too much on her plate and nothing to feed her passion. She feels like she’s about ready to jump. She’s just not sure where.

Highly entertaining, deeply human, a page-turner full of heart and soul, this time McMillan turns her eye to the question of how one woman can start putting her own needs higher on the to-do list while not shortchanging those she loves. The Interruption of Everything is a triumphant testament to the fact that the detour is the path, and living life "by the numbers" never quite adds up.

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