A Mile in My Flip-Flops
Melody Carlson
Waterbrook, Jun 2008, $15.99
ISBN: 9781400073146
Thirtyish Gretchen Hanover is shook to her core when her engagement ended badly leaving her with a broken heart and her only male companions Ben and Jerry, her concerned dad and a new Lab puppy Riley. Her other companion is home improvement TV shows on the Home and Garden network.
Eighteen months and twenty-two pounds B&J “Chunky Monkey” and other sinfully delicious flavors later, Gretchen realizes Riley is getting too big for her pint sized apartment; she decides to buy a fixer-upper house as she feels she knows what to do from all that TV. Her plan calls for her to flip the renovated house and use the profit start on another one. However, Gretchen may have energy and enthusiasm but lacks practical skills; her father’s friend Noah Campbell a carpenter, helps her.
A MILE IN MY FLIP-FLOPS uses the self-renovation mania to tell an amusing character driven tale. Gretchen is a wonderful lead protagonist as she finds emotional healing with passive activities that do not require interaction like eating ice cream and watching TV until the home improvement shows motivate her to get active. By doing this she “flips” her life even if the climax seems she underwent too perfect of renovation.
Harriet Klausner
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