Everything She Thought She Wanted [Paperback]

Elizabeth Buchan (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: April 25, 2006

The latest irresistible tale from the bestselling author of Revenge of the Middle-Aged Woman

Elizabeth Buchan’s beloved bestsellers, Revenge of the Middle-Aged Woman and The Good Wife Strikes Back, have made her an icon of upmarket women’s fiction. Taking her characteristic wit and emotional resonance to a new level, her latest novel focuses on two lives separated by forty years of history. In 1959, a forty-something married mother finds herself immersed in a surprisingly passionate affair with a younger man, while in the present, a professional woman faces a daunting choice between her blossoming career and her husband’s desire for children. Mirroring each other in surprising ways, these twin stories offer a deliciously readable funny and moving look at the battle of the sexes across time—and deliver another smart, nuanced novel for Elizabeth Buchan’s growing fans. BACKCOVER: Honestly explores the difficulties of marriage . . . while at the same time depicting the difficult moments of motherhood along with the quiet joys.” —The Washington Post

“Elizabeth Buchan spells delight . . . For well-done domestic drama, there’s only one writer for this reader.” —USA Today

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

The separate stories of two women--one a career-driven late-20th-century professional and the other a 1950s housewife--are awkwardly juxtaposed in this third novel by British author Buchan (Revenge of the Middle-Aged Woman; The Good Wife Strikes Back). Thirty-five-year-old Siena Grant enjoys a life that many women only dream of. A highly successful fashion consultant with her own business, a magazine column, a book deal and an American television show, Siena is also married to a loving, sensitive man. She and Charlie live in a trendy flat and enjoy intimate little suppers. What more could anybody want? For starters, Charlie is dreaming of a country home and children--not a life that appeals to the oh-so-chic Siena. Meanwhile, in 1959, 42-year-old Barbara Beeching, a married mother of two grown children, lives with her pilot husband, Ryder, in a charming country home and hosts the most delightful little parties. Perfect partners, Barbara and Ryder survived the atrocities of war over England and now face the rest of their lives as Ryder thinks of retirement and Barbara thinks of... Alexander Liberty, a hunky psychiatry student whose passion for her takes her by surprise. The ungainly setup--the two stories only glancingly connect at the novel's conclusion--is partly mitigated by Buchan's warm writing and her realistic portrayal of the choices women continue to face, but this isn't quite up to the standard of her previous two outings.
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Booklist

With just the right blend of heartfelt feminism and humor, British author Buchan (Revenge of the Middle-Aged Woman, 2003) crafts another women's-crisis story that accurately captures the doubts and fears about personal fulfillment experienced and rarely resolved by two generations of women. The drama begins with Sienna, a young, successful British fashion consultant in the present, whose "psycho-situation" with her husband, Charlie, centers on his desire for children and hers to pursue a television opportunity in the U.S. Then the camera pans to Barbara, who, in 1959, meets an attractive younger man and suddenly finds her life as a well-groomed farmwife constricting. In alternating chapters, Buchan uses these two women's experiences to portray women's changing values in the twentieth century, from home and family to career and family, and the difficulties real women have in balancing their suddenly disparate priorities. Without falling into trite stereotypes, Buchan affectionately reveals Sienna and Barbara in a thoughtful melange of scenes that most women will find compelling. Jennifer Baker
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

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Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 18 and up
  
• Paperback: 384 pages
• Publisher: Penguin (Non-Classics) (April 25, 2006)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0143037005
• ISBN-13: 978-0143037002
• Product Dimensions: 7.8 x 5.2 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 9.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (16 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,296,107 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Very Disappointing, September 12, 2005

By 

Wendy Kaplan (Houston) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Everything She Thought She Wanted: A Novel (Hardcover)

Before I begin this review, once again I must rant about Elizabeth Buchan's American publishers, who keep coming up with the silliest, most insulting titles for her books. On the cover, the word "Thought" is underlined, lest we lose the point. Oh please! Argh!

Anyway, this is a highly disjointed very slow story of two women in different eras: Barbara, quintessential 50s housewife who is so boring (although we are meant to know that she has Deep Thoughts) and inconsequential that it is impossible to engage; and Siena, a spoiled, self-centered fashion writer who lives in a perfect apartment with her lawyer husband.

Each woman's story is told in competing chapters, with no foreseeable link between them, and nothing to draw the reader. Siena's issue is that she doesn't want children and her husband does. Barbara's issue is that she sometimes feels stifled in her perfect life, and is drawn to a young man (yawn). By the way, she is only 42, and thinks of herself as at least 60, so it's very hard to sympathise.

ANYWAY, the link between the two women is revealed on the very last page, and my reaction was, "So?"

This is NOT Buchan's best; and nothing near "Revenge of the Middle-Aged Woman." Be forewarned.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Melancholy Buchan, September 23, 2005

By 

E. Northrop (MI) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Everything She Thought She Wanted: A Novel (Hardcover)

I had a harder time relating to the two main characters - Barbara and Siena - than I did in Buchan's two other novels I've read and loved. ESTSW didn't truly engage me like The Good Wife Strikes Back and Revenge Of The Middle-Aged Woman did.

Barbara's story of wanting more after catching the eye of a younger man seemed at times cliche and common. But as cloistered as she was, I can imagine how it must have turned her life upside down. Her distress was palpable, and ultimately heartbreaking.

Siena's quandary over whether or not to have children with her second husband did not grab me at all. I didn't feel for her situation, didn't feel sorry for the fact that she might have to make a choice, and didn't really see her as a mothering type. I wondered why Siena and Charlie never had the baby discussion before they were married.

As an aside, the decision to underline the word Thought in the title was ridiculous and unnecessary.

The ending, with its linking up of Siena and Barbara, was poignant. Overall, I look forward to Buchan's next novel.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A New Type of Chick Lit, April 6, 2005

By 

Anna Billstrom "banane71" (San Francisco, CA United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Everything She Thought She Wanted: A Novel (Hardcover)

I enjoyed this book. I have to say I really felt for both of the characters featured. First, you have a woman approaching her twilight years in the fifties in a small town outside of London. She partially reminisces about her marriage, raising her children, and she also gets into a new 'friendship' with a young boarder in town. The other narrative is in the voice of a young woman who is deciding whether she should have children with her husband. These are unique storylines to me-- albeit for a quick read-- about women who are working on issues that aren't just about fashion and being single (though I do love Bridget Jones and Sophie Kinsella's books). So it had a nice combination of thought provoking issues along with the delicious thrill of decisions and new romances and fashion (the modern-day narrative character is a fashion consultant). I was impressed with this author, and am eagerly awaiting my next read of hers! She has a good eye for details (the older character maintaining her house, the apple shed, the nuances of her marriage). While I was a little confused at some of the conflict in the younger character, I ahve to say that the author approached her character's problem with a sensitivity and gentleness that I really admired.