Sometimes all you can do is fly away home . . .
Written with an irresistible blend of heartbreak and hilarity, Fly Away Home is an unforgettable story of a mother and two daughters who after a lifetime of distance finally learn to find refuge in one another.
When Sylvie Serfer met Richard Woodruff in law school, she had wild curls, wide hips, and lots of opinions. Decades later, Sylvie has remade herself as the ideal politician’s wife—her hair dyed and straightened, her hippie-chick wardrobe replaced by tailored knit suits. At fifty-seven, she ruefully acknowledges that her job is staying twenty pounds thinner than she was in her twenties and tending to her husband, the senator.
Lizzie, the Woodruffs’ younger daughter, is at twenty-four a recovering addict, whose mantra HALT (Hungry? Angry? Lonely? Tired?) helps her keep her life under control. Still, trouble always seems to find her. Her older sister, Diana, an emergency room physician, has everything Lizzie failed to achieve—a husband, a young son, the perfect home—and yet she’s trapped in a loveless marriage. With temptation waiting in one of the ER’s exam rooms, she finds herself craving more.
After Richard’s extramarital affair makes headlines, the three women are drawn into the painful glare of the national spotlight. Once the press conference is over, each is forced to reconsider her life, who she is and who she is meant to be.
Jennifer Weiner shines in her latest novel, FLY AWAY HOME. Touching on current events and what happens when famous men cheat (Tiger? John Edwards?) and what the repercussions are to the family left in the wake of the storm, Weiner explores three women and how their lives are changed. Sylvie Woodruff learns that her husband, Senator Richard Woodruff, has had an affair with one of his aides. While Sylvie tries to pick up the pieces of her life, her daughters, Diana and Lizzie both struggle with the ramifications of their father’s indiscretion. What is most enjoyable about this story are the differences that lie between these three women. Sylvie has done everything to be the perfect wife and partner to her husband. She has sacrificed her own goals in the name of her husband’s career. Meanwhile, Diana has done nothing but focus on perfecting her own life. She is as structured about her medical career as she is about her fitness and diet. She is trying to build a perfect life but in the meantime she is in a loveless marriage and cheating on her husband. And then there is Lizzie, a recovering addict trying to build her own life from the ground up. The tragic circumstances surrounding Richard’s affair bring these women together as they try to understand where they are in their own lives and where they are going.
Elle ran an in-depth interview with Jennifer Weiner where she discusses her latest novel, what inspired the plot, celebrity infidelity and body-image issues in our society.
A perfect, perfect read…great for the beach, vacation or just about anywhere! I loved this book and was immediately reminded why Ms. Weiner is so successful, because she explores women’s complicated lives beautifully and honestly with a perfect blend of humor, sadness and joy…just like life.
