REVIEW: I ALMOST FORGOT ABOUT YOU, BY TERRY MCMILLAN

 

 

 

Dr. Georgia Young is bored with her life. Some might say it’s a good life, since she lives in a lovely home in the SF Bay Area. She is an optometrist with a good practice. And her two daughters are grown. Sort of.

But Georgia is getting older, and she is pondering her lack of a love life, while at the same time, reflecting on the choices she has made. Why did she pick her two husbands, whom she later divorced? What made her fall in love with the men she did pick, and what, if anything, did she learn from them?

I Almost Forgot About You is narrated in Georgia’s first person voice, and she is hilarious. Her self-deprecating humor kept me smiling, and I also loved the dialogue between her and her two best friends, Wanda and Violet. Her mother, Early, an octogenarian living in Bakersfield, where Georgia grew up, is feisty and outspoken.

Her two daughters, Frankie and Estelle, were annoying brats, and just because they were old enough to be grown didn’t mean they had managed to accomplish that feat. Later in the story, they grew on me, and I came to understand their behavior.

The author’s characters reminded me of people I’ve known, and their personality flaws and foibles are definitely familiar to any woman who has reached a midpoint in her life.

When Georgia plans to sell her house and take a train ride around Canada, while searching for old lovers, will her plan go off without a hitch? Or will life get in the way? What astonishing surprises will change her direction to something unexpected?

A lively and colorful story that kept me reading, and which will appeal to women of any age who are pondering their life choices. 4.5 stars.