CHLOE ZHIVAGO'S RECIPE FOR MARRIAGE AND MISCHIEF

Author: Olivia Lichtenstein ISBN: 0345495756 6/2007 FICTION Publisher: BALLANTINE

Chloe Zhivago has it all: a successful career, two teenage children who still speak to her, a faithful best buddy, a Famous Friend from hell (so decadently self-indulgent that one can’t help but admire her and hate her at the same time), and Greg, her husband of seventeen years, a family-practice doctor who has the annoying habit of hiding the teakettle (to keep his memory sharp) and who occupies his time writing letters to the parking commission. And then it suddenly hits her. Is this all there is? When did wild weekends of passion become nights of chaste kisses and snoring to wake the dead? Will she ever savor sweet whispers of desire, or knowing glances filled with longing? What happens when the kids leave the nest but the husband stays behind? Enter Ivan. Married but questing and quixotic, he proffers notes of seduction written in Russian (necessitating awkward pleas for translation from a nearby shopkeeper) and lures Chloe to the precipice of one glorious, fortuitous fling. Does she dare?

RRAH's THOUGHTS AND PONDERINGS:

CHLOE ZHIVAGO'S RECIPE FOR MARRIAGE AND MISCHIEF by Olivia Lichtenstein is an insightful, comical and heartwarming glimpse into the trials and tribulations of one modern marriage.

Chloe Zhivago seems to have everything. She's got great kids, a best friend who's always available, a wonderful career and a husband who loves her. But when she realizes her sex life is sorely neglected, she wonders if there might not be more to life. And when a handsome Russian enters the picture, Chloe is faced with some very tempting options.

This book is more than a mid-life crisis, have-a-fling book. It makes no attempt to mask the underlying issues in this relationship. Both husband and wife are fully developed characters, likeable for not only their assets but their flaws. I think that may be the strongest part of this wonderful book, the way Ms. Lichtenstein portrays her characters so vividly they feel like next-door neighbors. It's hard not to fall in love with Chloe and her topsy-turvy life. I know I did, and I enjoyed watching her deal with the temptations many women face.

CHLOE ZHIVAGO'S RECIPE FOR MARRIAGE AND MISCHIEF is refreshingly candid and heartwarming.

Kay James