Audiobook Review – The Wife Who Got a Life

Title: The Wife Who Got A Life

Author: Tracy Bloom/ Narrated by Fiona Boylan

Genre: Contemporary Fiction/ Womens Fiction

Goodreads Rating: 4.24

My Rating:

Source: ARC

Synopsis:

Cathy Collins is a mum on a mission – to change her life.

When her husband drops a midlife-crisis bombshell,
Cathy decides it’s time to take control.

No more laundry, teenage tantrums or housework.
After years of putting herself last, she’s going to be first for a change.

Cathy Collins is carving a new path, and nothing is going to get in her way…

My Review:

I’d like to thank NetGalley and Harper Collins UK for approving me for an ARC of this book.

After being approved for an ARC I also found an audio version so I gave that one a listen too. The narration by Fiona Boylan was superb. Her voice had just the right amount of panic, sarcasm and humour to deliver a stellar performance.

I really liked the diary layout of the book and all the stats at the beginning were very amusing. To begin with I didn’t think much of Cathy’s goals, I thought they were quite unimaginative and boring. I guess that was the point though. Cathy didn’t need to run a marathon or do a sky dive to feel she had taken control of her life. She just needed to ditch cooking, sort her parent’s out and finally have the ‘talk’ with her husband Mike. As a mum I could understand that, for me just sitting to have a warm cup of tea can feel like a challenge!

There were plenty of moments that I found myself nodding along and sympathising with Cathy’s woes. I loved the banter between her and her sister’s and the conversations with her children that always made me giggle. What I hadn’t expected though were the moments when I found myself welling up. I thought this would be a laugh a minute and whilst it was there was a level of sadness that I oddly enjoyed. It grounded the whole book and made Cathy, her family and her friends seem even more realistic.

A big stand out moment for me was the conversation Cathy had with her daughter. She earned major mum points in this chapter and I loved the honesty. She didn’t try to tell her daughter what to do, she treated her as a growing woman who needed a little guidance. To be honest, I loved Cathy. Her zero bull shit, no nonsense attitude made her stand out and proved to be useful on several occasions. I feel like we could all do with channelling a little more Cathy sometimes.

This was a laugh out loud, completely relatable and fun read. The perfect pick me up for any parent that struggles with the daily routine that parenthood can bring.