I have a renewed respect for Philippa Gregory. To be completely honest, I kind of lost it five or six years ago when she became ridiculously famous. (She was famous before, but then she basically blew up into this crazily drooled-over international sensation sometime around 2007-8.)
But this book, which she wrote in the early 90s, is badass! This is like an ode to women everywhere. Don't be fooled by the cover, which makes it look like some soppy romance. This is definitely not a soppy romance. Whoever picked this cover design was not doing their job.
Alice feels trapped in a boring, dead marriage with her husband, a university professor. He's having an affair with a young tart from one of his classes and basically snaps, finally asking her for a divorce. And that snaps Alice, who doesn't care much anymore for him or the marriage.
But in snapping, she reclaims her inner power. She finds her own young university student to have an affair with, and she does things…crazy, crazy things. Freeing things! She takes her life in her hands and transforms it. And she transforms the lives of so many others while she's at it. Of course--naturally--rigid society fights back--they don't understand and they fear all of this…freedom.
"It was only later that night, after everyone, including Aunty Sarah had taken their clothes off and danced about the flowery garden in the white unjudging moonlight, and then collapsed in a heap of communal affection and exhausted sexuality, did Michael remember to ask Alice which herb when smoked in enormous quantities makes people take their clothes off and giggle about their husbands."Seriously, this is an ode to repressed females everywhere. And even though I don't approve of a quarter of the things Alice does, they're either admirable or funny as hell. The ending is predictable, but it gives you hope that you, too, can take charge of your life and be free one day.
~8/10~
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