Your Roots Are Showing

by: Elise Chidley

Published by: 5 Spot

Reviewed by Maria Elmvang

Every married woman has experienced it at some point in life. No matter how much we love our husbands, there will be situations where we are just plain tired of him and would like nothing better than to get some time off. Not for real, mind you. Not by a long shot. It’s just one of those things we vent about to our girlfriends or sisters–and then forget all about again.

Unfortunately that wasn’t the case for Lizzie Buckley. As her sister lives in Australia, she had to do her venting by e-mail, and accidentally–and because the two of them shared initials and the e-mail program’s autofill couldn’t read her mind–the e-mail got sent off to Lizzie’s husband James, instead. Being a proud man and not understanding how women work, James figured there was nothing left for him to do but pack his bags and move out.

So now Lizzie’s in a pickle. Saddled with divorce papers she does not want, but can’t convince her husband she doesn’t want, she has to pick up the scraps of her life, and fit them back together again…moving to a new neighborhood with inquisitive neighbours, trying to find a job, coping with her 3-year-old twins and generally pulling herself back together. And all the time, James is constantly lurking in the background.

Elise Chidley presents us here with an amusing yet poignant tale of a woman who’s suddenly had the rug pulled from underneath her and needs to reinvent herself. Her characters are vibrant and colorful, and her writing passionate and personal. I kept getting confused by the third-person narrative, because I got so sucked into the story that it felt like Lizzie was telling it directly to me.

Your Roots Are Showing clearly shows the dangers of not communicating, and how easily things can go awry when both parties are too proud, stubborn or just plain blind to share their issues with each other.

At times heart wrenching, the reader knows from the start that there’s a happy ending in sight, ensuring that the book at no time becomes too bleak to fulfil its job of being the perfect comfort read.

Armchair Interviews says: Good reminder about the need to keep a good line of communications.