I was really looking forward to reading this book because I had heard so many good things about it and I usually enjoy Camille Pagan's work. Unfortunately, I was not my cup of tea. It took me a long time to finish the book. The premise of a fifty-something woman being dumped because she is "invisible" is very common these days and I didn't find the plot remarkably unique. That being said, I am sure many other people will enjoy the novel.

I think this is categorized as Women's Fiction, and I guess that is not my genre. I was really not enamored of the heroine in Woman Last Seen in Her Thirties. I started out liking her, and I was impressed by her relationship with her mother and her own children. I was not impressed by the level of whining and self pity Ms Pagan had her character display as the book progressed. I would have liked it better if the main character has progressed rather than regressed through the process. It wasn't a bad read, just not the book for me.

What could be worse than finding out that your husband of 27 years is leaving you for a younger woman? Maggie Harris, 53, will learn that there IS something worse, and it will be difficult to accept. Being blindsided by her husband’s affair and subsequent departure leaves Maggie in a state of uncertainty and instability. How does a woman go about starting anew when she’s been relatively comfortable and secure in her life for nearly the past three decades?

When I began reading Woman Last Seen In Her Thirties, I thought it was about why women of a certain age feel invisible in this world because of society’s obsession with youth and beauty; and how difficult it is attempting to navigate life amongst those who hardly acknowledge a middle-aged woman’s existence. But really, it was less about that and more about how a mature woman struggles to regain her confidence, redefine herself and reshape her life after her husband leaves her.

I enjoyed this book. I was interested to know what direction Maggie would go in her life. I loved seeing her character develop throughout the course of the book, and I feel that the author portrayed Maggie’s challenges and the choices she ultimately makes in a realistic way. The ending brought tears to my eyes. Nicely done.

Thank you, Netgalley, for a complimentary, e-ARC of Woman Last Seen In Her Thirties. In exchange I have provided an honest review.

Thanks to NetGalley for the ARC for my Kindle.
The name and description of the book seemed interesting, and I'm glad I read it.
So many women who become mothers and put everything into raising their children whilesome at the same time try to be a good wife. In doing so, they tend to forget about themselves. Sometimes, things blindside them like in this book, and other times, they see it coming but either don't want to believe it or deny it. Whatever the case, their life becomes completely changed and either they deal well with it or they don't.
It's a good book for all women who are wives, mothers, or both.

Woman Last Seen in Her 30s by Camille Pagan

Brief Summary: One day Maggie’s husband Adam abruptly announces he’s leaving her and she is left to pick up the pieces and rebuild her life. A stay-at-home mom, she spent her whole life taking care of everyone else and lost sight
of who she is as a person and what she wants out of life.

Highlights: this book is a great guide for anyone who finds himself in a similar situation or needs to accept the end of a relationship before you’re ready. I also like the closure Maggie and readers get at the end of the book.

Explanation of Rating: 3/5 I did enjoy this book but I found it lacking in the humor promised in its endorsements. I found the book held my interest but was not compelling enough to suck me in like a page turner.

Psychology Factors: Maggie’s grieving process is in accurate portrayal of the ups and downs of divorce and starting over. I love that she experienced the benefits of a support group for divorcees. I also love when it came out that Adam was experiencing mental health issues which may have played a role in his decision to end of their marriage.

Favorite Quotes: I thought he left because of me or because of a shortcoming in our marriage. His decision to leave had been a byproduct of his own internal crisis. This quote will hit home with anyone who’s ever been left hanging in a relationship.

This book is perfect for anyone who has to rebuild their life and start over after divorce. The book leaves you feeling positive about going through this process.

Thank you to Net Galley and Lake Union Publishing for an ARC of this novel in exchange for an honest review

Woman Last Seen in Her Thirties is the story of Maggie and how she copes when her husband of almost thirty years suddenly wants a divorce.

The main premise is all so familiar. And unfortunately others have done it better.

I did read to the end but once there, I had the feeling that I’d read a book where nothing really happened. Or the things that did happen were a series of boring and cliched tropes.

For starters, there was the ‘seachange’ type of move to another town, the new job, the adventurous holiday, the hot sex with a new man, the being assertive to boss/husband/younger patronising characters, and the coming to terms with addiction plotlines. I felt like Pagan had a list of scenes she thinks one must tick off to write a ‘women of a certain age rediscovering themselves after divorce’ novel.

The fact Maggie is 53 is completely wasted. Other than this enabling her to have grown up children, Maggie could have been any age.

I took a bit of offence to the title actually. It suggests that the last time Maggie really lived was when she was in her thirties. Obviously quiet hobbies, part time jobs, and successfully raising two children are completely discounted when it comes to living. To live, one must travel overseas, drink champagne, and dance on table tops! Sure.

Her age never came up when she was mingling with any of her potential new boyfriends either. Not that I really could say I remember the age of any of Maggie’s men. Nor any other details of their personalities. They weren’t fleshed out enough for me to form an opinion on who I should be cheering on fanatically either. Maggie could have gone for any of them and I’d have still just shrugged.

The only time her age was really raised is to explain why she is working in a dead end job. This is very common issue when women leave their employment to spend a few years at home with their children and sacrifice their career in the process. However, this book offers no new insights into the issue, nor any sort of suggestion on how anyone can change it.

I must add it wasn’t only the men in Maggie’s life I found underdone. I don’t think any of the supporting characters were particularly impressive. Maggie’s ex, her kids, and her friends… I can’t say any of them stood out. I'd have preferred the quirky annoying character even to this lot.

The blurb says this book is hilarious and hopeful. I would suggest ho-hum and hackneyed.

Sorry. 3 out of 5 is probably generous

I thought I had read a Camille Pagan book before, but I've searched my Goodreads shelves and my Kindle and my real bookshelves and I can't find anything. Is it a sign of age when you can't remember the name of every book you've ever read??? This is more upsetting than my increased reliance on glasses.

Anyway, I guess this was my first, and I did enjoy it. Maggie is experiencing the phase of life that includes grown children. It's a weird thing when you've focused over 18 years raising a child, keeping them safe, helping to guide their life and hopefully, choices to some extent and you suddenly find yourself expendable and they grow their wings and fly. It really feels like your whole identity is suddenly at risk. If you aren't a full time mother anymore, who are you?

Maggie is experiencing that plus a disinterested husband, a husband who has suddenly found someone else that "makes him feel alive". This puts their plans for a long awaited trip to Rome at risk, but Maggie decides to go by herself, which changes her path dramatically.

From Rome to Ann Arbor, Maggie's life continues to move along a new path. She's growing her independence, she makes new friends who never knew her as a mom and a wife, but she still feels at odds with herself.

Who is she? Does she want her new life or to be the woman last seen in her 30's?

Thank you to the publishers and Netgalley for the ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

I must admit, it took me very long to get around to reading this one. It was not because I did not want to, think I just got overwhelmed as I had requested far too many books on NetGalley, but I am trying to get through the backlog.

This was a lovely book. I really enjoyed it. I started off not really liking the main character as she seemed too needy. I actually considered abandoning the book, but I am so glad I persevered. The character grew in leaps and bounds. This is such an important book for ladies to read. We tend to lose sight of who we are when we get married and have children and when we are left alone, we don't know ourselves anymore. This book was all about one woman's journey to learning to know and love herself again.

I highly recommend this one as I really enjoyed it!

Woman Last Seen in Her Thirties is an easy and fun, but not silly read with small threads of darkness running underneath. There’s salty humor and real talk about aging, marriage, divorce, finding your identity, and piecing your life back together after an upheaval. I absolutely related to Maggie’s realization that she had lost her identity after having children and her struggle to regain it again. Pagan reminds me of a lighter, more sarcastic version of Anna Quindlen and I recommend this one particularly to the mothers out there.

While I'm not a mother, I feel like this book is still super relatable. We're starting to hear more of these stories and seeing women claiming back a piece of themselves they let go of. I felt so sad for Maggie and how her world essentially collapsed but man was I happy when she got her ass out of that house and on that trip. I chuckled mainly because the husband paid for it but still, I was pleased she found the courage to pull herself up and go for it. From there, I was her cheerleader! While she took a bit of a stumble again nearing the close of the book, I'm happy she came to her senses and went after it (no spoilers, haha). Really enjoyed this book and look forward to reading more from Camille Pagan.

I think this book works for a lit of readers because it's familiar. It's also predictable. As we all go through similar experiences at the different stages of life, and a earth shattering experience like divorce is relatable. But this is very easy to see coming. I wasn't very invested in any of the characters and struggled to stay motivated to read it. I still think this will be a popular book and would recommend it to thoae who like books like Eat, Pray, Love and a familiar theme.

This book was not what I expected but I’m glad that I received an ARC from the publisher via Netgalley.

I picked this book to read largely based on its title. When I started the book, I quickly realized this was not about a woman in her 30’s but rather one in her 50’s going through a divorce. As I continued to read the book, I realized what an appropriate title this was. This book is about love and loss, and being able to pick yourself up and find out who you really are.
I felt like a was a tag along companion of Maggie’s life throughout the book. The descriptions of Rome and Ann Arbor are enough that I found myself wanting to go.
This book inspires hope in the resilience of the human spirit and that we can survive even what might seem like the greatest heartbreak. I really enjoyed it and would recommend.

I requested this ARC, because I found the title intriguing and that alone made me think and reflect on Things-In-Life. D
Despite the cover blurb revealing the gist of the story, I was somehow hoping for more... more depth, layers, insight, inner journey. So maybe it was a mistake on my part to start reading with these expectations in mind, but I couldn't help them, they were there and unfortunately they were not met. Pretty much everything was kept close to the surface.

This does not mean that the book was bad, not at all. It was a nice read altogether with an OK, but very generic story. There is not really anything to make it stand out among the others of its kind. It is about how a woman in her fifties who has to start life all over again, re-discovering herself in the process.
When it came to her travel to Rome, I started to get nervous, getting some very unwelcome "Eat, Pray, Love"-vibes (am not a fan of that book). I think the author must have been conscious of this herself as there was a direct, tongue-in-cheek denial about it.

The writing was good, but bland and did not really help me connecting to Maggie.

I love all of this authors work and this most recent release is equally wonderful.
In this story we meet Maggie Harris a fifty-three year old wife and the mother of two adult children whose husband of nearly 28 years declares that he no longer loves her and wants a divorce. He tells her he has found a younger woman and wants to start his life over. This is story familiar to many of us first wives and immediately her story resonated with me. I felt her anguish and sadness as the author so beautifully conveys through her words. It was the story of all of us that have been dumped by our husbands for a younger women.
She finds herself suddenly alone with no idea how to move on. The book follows Maggie’s journey to self-discovery and self-acceptance with empathy, compassion and even a little humor. Maggie is both believable and relatable with some unique turns in her journey as she takes on each new life challenge . The reader sees Maggie’s strength in the face of betrayal. I enjoyed this uplifting story of hope and second chances and I look forward to reading more from Camille Pagán. Thank you for the ARC which did not influence my review.

I love the premise of this- woman spends her entire adult life caring for her family, only to discover that she's lost herself. This is a theme that I think many of us women can relate to. As a mother myself I struggle to find time to do everything that I love while taking care of my family and working full time. How do we not lose ourselves a little along the way?

I really enjoyed the book at the beginning. The words are gorgeously crafted and the author really knows how to get her point across in an elegant way. Unfortunately for me, this book lost me when Maggie Harris goes to Rome alone in order to find herself again. That part was too "Eat, Pray, Love" me for, which is a book that I found annoying personally. That all comes down to personal preference, I know, but it is worth mentioning for those who feel the same way as me.

While the book lost me midway through, I rarely meet a book that I can't finish, and this one finished strong for me. Back were the enticing scenarios and the thought-provoking passages, and I enjoyed the ending of the book more than I did the middle.

As I mentioned, Woman Last Seen In Her Thirties was very well-written, and had a great theme which carried me through the rough parts. Overall I'm glad that Pagan was able to tackle such a fresh topic and I'm glad that I had the opportunity to read this book. 3.5 stars.

When I first saw the title of this book, I thought it would be about a woman in her 30s. Was I ever wrong - it's about a woman in her 50s and I was thrilled. I feel that this is an age group that is being ignored in modern books and it was great to have such a multi-dimensional and well written character take the lead. Kudos to Camille for writing such a fantastic main character and a great book.

After 30 years of marriage and being part of a couple who were well matched and happy, Maggie's husband decides that he no longer loves his wife and wants a divorce. He has found another woman who is as young as their two children and wants to start his life over. Maggie is shocked and at first thinks that he will be back soon. She even plans a family Thanksgiving dinner several months later so he can see what he's missed and beg to come home. It doesn't work that way and Maggie has to re-invent herself and her life and at 53 that's a tough thing to do. She ends up taking a solo trip to Italy and then moves to another state to try to find herself and figure out what she wants out of life and what her life will look like as she moves forward. I loved Maggie and I laughed with her and cried with her and was rooting for her to find a way to move forward with her life. This book doesn't disappoint and you don't want to miss it.

Thank you to the author and the Great Thought's Ninja Review Team for the review copy. All opinions are my own.

Maggie Harris doesn't know that it's time to rebuild her life. When walls begin falling all around her, she must pull it together or risk losing herself. Camille Pagan paints a realistic picture of middle age doubt. She gives Maggie the space to take in the views around her and choose which pieces she will use to create the next chapter of her life.

I enjoyed this book way more than I thought I would! Not my typical read, especially since I'm in my 20's so I don't relate to a lot of the struggles the narrator is going through. The writing style was impressive and kept me engaged. Overall easy but enjoyable to read.

I generally enjoy reading stories about women finding themselves, and this was no exception. At age 53, Maggie has major decisions to make and boy does she. Starting with her marriage crumbling, Maggie faces her divorce and singledom with weakness at first, but then builds a sense of grace and strength as she finds herself.

I absolutely loved this story of Maggie, on her journey to find out who she is at 53. Her husband, Adam, told her he was leaving her after 23 years of marriage. In a tailspin, Maggie faces this first with weakness, building to strength as she experiences being alone after marriage and two grown kids. Pagan is a great storyteller, and I found it hard to put down the book. Highly recommend.