Lexi, twice-married, the second time to a man 15 years her senior, with two grown-up children, Brandon and Tasha, is recently widowed —after a long illness— from the love of her life and finds it difficult to adjust to life alone. Her tendency towards kindness, generosity, and her attempts at being on friendly terms with her daughter, make her accept as a non-paying lodger one of her daughter’s school friends, Danielle. And later, the marriage of her Francophile best friend Amy goes into crisis, and she ends up moving in as well. The novel explores Lexi’s day-to-day life, her adoption of a new ersatz family, and how her existence enters a new and inspiring stage. This is an adult coming-of-older-age story, one that celebrates women’s sisterhood, and the power and endurance of creativity.

This is one of those rare novels whose protagonists are not all young, attractive, and fit, and even rarer, most readers would be quite happy to meet them in real life, as they are ‘good people’. It beautifully portrays the inner life, thoughts, reflections, and adventures, of a sixty-year-old widow whose life has changed beyond all recognition with the death of her husband. She had a career (there is hardly any work coming in now) and also volunteered to tutor students, but her main role was that of wife and mother. Although her financial situation is reasonably stable, there is a big hole in her inner life. She has accepted her children’s independent lives (this is not a standard case of empty-nest syndrome), and she is keeping herself busy but something is lacking. As a result of her difficulty in saying ‘no’ to her daughter, she ends up being surrounded by small (or big, depending on how one looks at them) dramas, and those end up teaching her a lot about life, especially hers.

The beauty of this novel, narrated in the first-person by Lexi, is the way the story flows organically, and readers are witnesses to Lexi’s thoughts, reflections, doubts, and hesitations. She is always trying to second guess the desires and motives of others and is used to always putting others’ interests before her own. She has a great sense of humour, is a deep thinker who does not easily share her opinions with others, and describes herself as an observer. Readers see the rest of the characters through her perspective, and that, in turn, makes her easier to understand. The contrast between Lexi and her best friend, Amy, lively, opinionated, direct, and who loves to experiment and try everything (she’s a fabulous character), works well; and Lexi’s relationship with Danielle, her temporary daughter, and the contrast between her and Tasha also help create a deeper picture of the life and the experiences of an older woman in today’s society.

Readers who are looking for stories with older protagonists, are fond of insightful and realistic characters articulate and witty, and are not only looking for a conventional plot full of ‘thrilling’ adventures will enjoy this book. If that wasn’t enough of a recommendation, the ending is an ode to creativity, new beginnings, and the ‘never-too-late’ philosophy of life, (and yes, the title is explained too), and the book is full of quotable sentences and memorable comments and reflections. A couple of examples:

“I don’t know what happens. We get old and something starts flapping around in there,” she explained, gesturing toward her throat. “That`'s pretty much true of our whole body, the flapping part,” I said. (This is from a dialogue between Amy and Lexi)

I had an old car, which was perfectly fine with me. I actually had a certain affinity with my car. It was old and dented, and it had lost its luster. That was a pretty fair description of me.