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WHAT
DOESN'T KILL YOU - Virginia DeBerry & Donna Grant Simon & Schuster/Touchstone January 2010 |
SYNOPSIS: By turns funny, smart, poignant, insightful, and engaging, "What Doesn't Kill You" tells how Thomasina "Tee" Hodges loses her job and finds herself.
MAINSTREAM FICTION |4| Dianthia Lemons
REVIEW: Tee Hodges is a forty-something divorcee who has just married off her only child in the wedding of her dreams and woke up in bed with the best-man the morning after. The only problem that now stands before her is that she is without employment after twenty-five years. You see, Tee was the very first employee for Markson & Daughter and grew with the company. However with the untimely death of the owner Olivia, Tee is left without the golden parachute and is left out in the cold. She doesn’t worry initially because she feels that she will be employed in no time after her termination but that doesn’t happen. She does a few things and makes a few miscalculations with her money and initially continues to live as if nothing is wrong. Her savings soon become a thing of the past and she hangs on the edge of bankruptcy. Too prideful to ask anyone for help, things just go from bad to worse. Tee has to hit rock bottom before she can find not only herself but true friends and someone special.
What Doesn’t Kill You is a story about a woman who has to remake herself after
going through life making sure she only had to depend on self. Not feeling as if
she could confide in her parents or ask for assistance from anyone. She doesn’t
even want to take advantage of Unemployment until she has no other choice. Tee
doesn’t have any close friends other than Olivia and after her death, she tries
to conseal her problems but what’s held in the dark will come to the light. Tee
learns that living the high life is nothing but a problem and she learns how to
manage on a downsized lifestyle. When her family learns of her plight, they are
there to help and help comes to her from unlikely sources. She remakes herself
and develops a business from her passion for organization.
Virginia DeBerry and Donna Grant have been favorites of mine since “Tryin To
Sleep In The Bed You Made”. This book is on time and very insightful into what
is going on in America today. So many people have now found themselves
unemployed and having to downsize their living situations. This book not only
shows that life happens, unemployment happens and situations beyond your
control. You may have to rely on others or other sources to tide you over until
you can regain your foot hold on your life but as the ladies have said, “What
Doesn’t Kill You” will make you better.
reviewer@romanceincolor.com | 12th December 2009