2 out of 4 stars
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When women (or men, for that matter) get to a certain age, they need to adjust to the changes that often go along with aging. Lifestyle changes can result from any number of things - retirement, empty nest syndrome, the loss of a spouse, etc. Act Two for Three by Barbara Fox is a novel that explores the lives of three supportive friends around the age of seventy who are in the “second act” of their lives.
I enjoyed this light and breezy novella about friendship and finding that there can be a few surprises in your life at any age. The main characters are well drawn with detailed backstories. Jenna is a widow who finds it difficult to shake her anger toward her husband for dying and leaving her alone. She reluctantly dips her toes into online dating, but no one seems to measure up to her late husband. Natalie chose a singing career over marriage without regrets. Happily married Liz is one of those dynamos with a whirlwind schedule of volunteer jobs, and is an actively involved mother and grandmother.
It took me a while to become absorbed in this story. The first third consists of alternating chapters about each of the women. Although this method gave me a clear idea of the characters, everything felt too compartmentalized. Eventually, there are chapters that include all three women, although there are still alternating chapters with separate plotlines. The women’s close friendship is the true highlight of the book and I would have liked to see more scenes showcasing this. Of the three main characters, Jenna’s storyline is the most realistic and relatable. Her accounts of a string of first dates are well written and often hilarious.
The main gripe I have is the extremely high number of errors throughout the story. There are over fifty errors, such as spelling errors, missing/incorrect/extra punctuation, incorrect indenting and line breaks, spaces in the middle of words, and incorrect word usage. I often felt like I was reading a draft rather than a published book.
The writing inexplicably switches back and forth between the first person and third person. Natalie would first be referred to as “she” and there would be an abrupt switch to Natalie in the first person, only to switch back again to “she.” The first person passages appear to be each character’s inner thoughts. However, these sections should be formatted correctly, using either quotation marks or italics. By Chapter Eight, these inner thoughts appear to be written correctly; however, the switches are still not consistently written in the rest of the book.
I rate this book 2 out of 4 stars. After a slow start, I enjoyed the adventures of these likeable characters. Still, I cannot give a higher rating due to the numerous errors I mentioned. It’s difficult to recommend this book in its current form, but readers who like chick lit might enjoy this short read.
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Act Two For Three
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Not only are the women over fifty years old, they are around seventy. It was nice to see a book featuring characters that age leading active lives.
