A Window Opens

I have been waiting for a few months to blog on this book. I was lucky enough to receive an ARC through Net Galley and devoured it.  Although it's late in the summer, it would make the perfect beach book, but isn't a title that can be enjoyed only from the side of the pool, either.

Alice Pearse's professional life is looking promising.  She has just been hired by Scroll, a start-up that plans to revolutionize reading.  (Seriously, I never quite got how they were going to do that and I'm pretty sure Alice didn't know, either).  Her husband is making a career change, so they could really use her income. 

Although she has a life that most people would be envious of, there are a few struggles that Alice has: a marriage that has been neglected, a career choice that isn't turning out to be nearly as promising as she thought, and her father's health crisis.

Alice has too many irons in the fire and the stress is getting to her.  And add to that, she and her best friend who owns a bookstore have had a falling out since Alice's new career is essentially putting bookstores out of business.

As a reader I was nervous for Alice. The stress just kept piling up and Alice was barely keeping her head above water.  I knew where I wanted this story to go, and Egan delivered, tying up the ending nicely without making it seem too predictable or trite.

A Window Opens reminds me of I Don't Know How She Does It by Allison Pearson, one of my favorite mommy-lit reads.  This should be popular with women's fiction readers and book clubs.  I'm excited it's finally out and I can talk to other readers about it.  I'm already waiting to see what Egan writes next.