PRO CONNECT
Michelle Colston is a mother, writer and all around American neurotic. What first began as a hobby, writing irreverent jokes and "Get to Know Your Friend" emails, has developed into a full-fledged vocation. Michelle draws inspiration from the simple experiences of daily life: womanhood, friendship, a perpetual identity crisis and wrangling three children, a messy house and a writing career—all while trying to refrain from using the F-word excessively. She is the author of The Undiscovered Goddess, host of the new Internet radio talk show of the same name, and is currently studying Women’s Issues & Gender Studies at the University of Massachusetts while working toward her Life Coaching Certification. For more information, visit http://www.theundiscoveredgoddess.com, like The Undiscovered Goddess on Facebook and follow on Twitter @McGoddess.
“An inspiring, funny tale of one woman's journey to become a better person.”
– Kirkus Reviews
An almost-desperate housewife grows from shallow to fulfilled in debut author Colston’s comic tale of self-discovery.
According to a quiz in Cosmo, Holly is shallow. She’s a stay-at-home mother raising three kids with a loving husband who has to travel frequently for work. Supported by her husband’s paycheck and hampered by laziness, she turns to alcohol and catty lunches with friends to find enjoyment in life. After the “shallow” verdict compels her into the self-help section, she finds Devi Phoenix’s Discover Your Inner Goddess!, which starts her down the long road toward loving herself. The methods that guide her to discovering her own inner goddess—creating anti-goddesses out of her fears, going on a cleansing diet, yoga—often have comical consequences before she learns from mistakes and moves forward. Her transformation is revealed not only in what she writes, but in how she writes it; though her snarky tone remains, and her moments of clarity follow a similar pattern with each step she takes, it’s clear from the changes in how she observes herself and her world that she has succeeded in becoming a different person. She surrendered to her unhappiness, despite the advantages in her life. Fortunately, Colston builds Holly as a likable character even at her cattiest; she becomes a better person without losing her charm. The excerpts from the self-help book are less engaging, and though the steps work for Holly, readers may be frustrated by the idea that they would work universally, which the novel seems to suggest. Holly benefits from the luxury of being able to afford day care as she begins taking yoga classes and partaking in other activities recommended in the self-help book, although she never truly acknowledges that these advantages enable her to focus on self-revelation to a degree that would most likely extend beyond the reach of a woman in a lower pay bracket. Even though she misses that detail in her self-discovery, Holly is nonetheless an engaging narrator, and the comedy that lightens her journey toward a healthy inner life will keep readers entertained.
An inspiring, funny tale of one woman’s journey to become a better person.
Pub Date:
Page count: 211pp
Publisher: CreateSpace
Review Posted Online: July 11, 2012
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