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Autopsy of a boring wife / Marie-Renée Lavoie ; translated by Arielle Aaronson.
"Marie-Renée Lavoie's Autopsy of a Boring Wife tells the hysterically funny and ultimately touching tale of forty-eight-year-old Diane, a woman whose husband leaves her and is having an affair because, he says, she bores him. Diane takes the charge to heart and undertakes an often ribald, highly entertaining journey to restoring trust in herself and others that is at the same time an astute commentary on women and girls, gender differences, and the curious institution of marriage in the twenty-first century. All the details are up for scrutiny in this tender, brisk story of the path to recovery. Autopsy of a Boring Wife is a wonderfully fresh and engaging novel of the pitfalls and missteps of an apparently "boring" life that could be any of ours."-- Provided by publisher.
Record details
- ISBN: 9781487004613 (pbk.) :
- ISBN: 1487004613 (pbk.) :
- Physical Description: 275 pages ; 21 cm
- Publisher: [Toronto] : Arachnide, [2019]
- Copyright: ©2019
Content descriptions
| General Note: | Translation of: Autopsie d'une femme plate. "First published as Autopsie d'une femme plate in 2017 by Les Éditions XYZ. First published in English in 2019 by House of Anansi Press Inc."--Title page verso. |
| Additional Physical Form available Note: | Issued also in electronic formats. |
Search for related items by subject
| Subject: | Adultery > Fiction. Interpersonal relations > Fiction. Middle-aged women > Fiction. Adultery. Interpersonal relations. Middle-aged women. |
| Genre: | Domestic fiction. Fiction. Humorous fiction. Domestic fiction. Humorous fiction. |
Other Formats and Editions
Show Only Available Copies
| Location | Call Number / Copy Notes | Barcode | Shelving Location | Holdable? | Status | Due Date |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Gibsons Public Library | FIC LAVO (Text) | 30886001063680 | Adult Fiction Hardcover | Volume hold | Checked out | 2024-05-14 |
- Booklist Reviews : Booklist Reviews 2019 September #1
Diane Delaunais, 48, living in suburban Quebec with the last of her three children out of the nest, learns her husband is leaving, tooâfor a 30-year-old bombshell. As her emotions swing between paralyzing loss, self-hate, and sledge-hammer anger, Diane confronts the meaning and reduced currency of a middle-aged woman's life. Lavoie (Mr. Roger and Me, 2014) has Diane conduct a painful postmortem of her marriage and an account of her failings. Among them are, inevitably, her looks and, emblematic of a boring life, her inability to dance. Diane shares tender and riotous moments with her children and best girlfriend. She encounters the generosity of strangers. But no one can save her from a last primal blow. Readers who themselves may have come to the end of their own "forever," can walk a vicarious mile in Diane's shoesâactually, an overpriced pair of stunning blue Italian boots, a rebound-purchase funded by selling her wedding ring. In scenes sometimes poignant, sometimes funny, Diane survives this searing journey to dance to her own beat. Copyright 2019 Booklist Reviews. - Kirkus Reviews : Kirkus Reviews 2019 July #1
A middle-aged woman's life comes undone with the revelation that her marriage is over. As boring wives go, Diane Delaunais is not so much. A woman with a taste for stylish boots, she is also not shy about confronting those who upset her, from a finicky neighbor to a busybody secretary spreading lies. Nevertheless, 48-year-old Diane is a familiar figure—the long-serving partner who, after 25 years of marriage and three children, suddenly finds herself replaced by a younger model. Now, with her husband Jacques' revelation that her solid life was in fact built on foolish assumptions, she's taking a more sardonic view of marriage vows. Maybe they should be rewritten: "I solemnly swear to love you, blah blah blah, until I stop loving you. Or until I fall for someone else." Quebec novelist Lavoie (Mister Roger and Me, 2010) brings a bracing, comic edge to this well-worn storyline but doesn't avoid the predictabilities of the genre. Propped up by a therapist, her children, and her BFF Claudine (another abandoned wife), Diane goes through a recognizable range of emotions—numbness, grief, anger, acceptance. She buys new running gear and gets drunk a few times. She has a flirtation with an attractive work colleague, takes a crowbar to the furniture, adopts a three-legged cat, and makes some surprising new acquaintances. Among the ups and downs and comic set pieces, Diane must mark the major milestones of a forsaken woman's life: reassessing the past and making the best of the future. Lavoie keeps her novel short, offering chaotic humor and snappy observation to balance the pain and loss. Diane will emerge from her crisis, spirited, open-hearted, and among friends. She will survive. A readable, recognizable, tragicomic account of coping with domestic disaster. Copyright Kirkus 2019 Kirkus/BPI Communications. All rights reserved.
