August 24, 2024 – London
I knew I'd read this, although I was not sure I'd read it so fast. Digested between Melbourne and Heathrow, I found it charming, rich and sweet, like a decadent croissant.
I have often felt like I'm old for my age, and that's not really a brag. I worry I will head into peri early, and that I have spent a lot of my life preoccupied with work, which feels increasingly grim. I have felt for a long time that my life has been on hold, from illness or work or lockdown or grief. I've not been interested in marriage or children because I've felt like I've not yet had my own life, and am not ready to give it to someone else. I too would like to have my cake and perhaps even eat it. After all, what's the point of having cake you can't eat?
July writes autofictionally here, a proxy narrative tightly aligned to her own, embellished and refracted through her prose which I have missed. I'm glad she's back.
This is a book about having a life you never knew you needed, and the joy and sorrow of the discovery of all that was available to you that you never knew was even there. A door you couldn't even see. It's a fun, exciting, engaging, sexy read and it's well worth it, perhaps especially if you don't think you're ready for non monogamy, peri menopause, neurotic silliness and the complexity of squishy people.
One minor note that I wish there was a little more self awareness of class. Lol, $20k randomly dropped on a whim. 😑