One unhappy housewife wonders if the best part of marriage begins after the fairy tale ends
Lizzie Buckley knows she should be happy as a lark in her picture-perfect world. She loves her country estate, her precocious three-year-old twins, and her handsome husband – but why, oh why didn’t somebody warn her about the effects of postpartum depression and the toll it would take on her marriage? She knows it isn’t normal to fantasize about chucking it all in for a good box of chocolates and an uninterrupted bath! Your Roots Are Showing (Grand Central Publishing), the debut novel of Elise Chidley, has been nominated in two categories of the 2009 RITA© Awards for Best First Book and Best Single Title Contemporary Romance.
Lizzie, constantly tired, bored, and misunderstood by her husband James, questions whether her ‘perfect’ life really is all that perfect. When she decides to vent by airing her problems in an email to her sister, Lizzie does the unthinkable; the dreaded millisecond beyond the point of no return, she accidentally sends the email to her husband. And then, as the old adage goes – the ‘you-know-what’ hits the fan! James hastily packs his suitcase and takes himself and his ruffled feathers out of her life.
Your Roots Are Showing is the very real story of a young woman forced to uproot her children and start life over as a single mom in a dilapidated garden cottage. In a desperate attempt to reinvent herself, she takes up running, loses weight, and manages to finish writing a children’s book. Even a temporary distraction created by an attractive gardener doesn’t help her regain her sense of self-worth or stop her wondering whether James might not have left her if she had only been thinner, better dressed and as well-bred as her upper-crust mother-in-law, Your Roots Are Showing is an excellent character-driven story that is inspiring, humorous and insightful, with each person contributing in their own unique way towards helping Lizzie come to realize that she and James can only find their way back to each other when she is strong enough to cope on her own.
TIP SHEET:
Elizabeth Buchan, NY Times best-selling author of Revenge of the Middle-Aged Woman: “Look no further for a delicious, romantic story, written with wit and a light touch.”
Gemma Townely, author of The Importance of Being Married: “Toe-curlingly observant and wonderfully heartwarming – I loved it!”
Jane Porter, author of Flirting with Forty: “Absolutely wonderful…a charming debut, not to be missed.”
Romantic Times Book Reviews: “Chidley hits it out of the park with her debut novel…finds humor in the mundane and absolutely nails Lizzie’s character arc…spot-on writing, Chidley has created a heroine readers will care about.”
Eastern Daily Press: “A page turner, Lizzie Buckley has a life many women would dream of but lately she’s been fantasizing about swapping lives with a single woman. When Lizzie hits ‘send’ on the wrong email everything starts to unravel.”
Prima: “This is full of colorful characters and is the ideal holiday read.”
ArmchairInterviews.com: “Elise Chidley presents…an amusing yet poignant tale… Her characters are vibrant and colorful, and her writing passionate and personal.”
