Baggage Claim

When standing at a fork in the road and deciding which way to turn you need to look over your shoulder and view the baggage you are bringing with you. Then ask yourself only one question - is this baggage that I carry with me a piece of luggage with wheels? We all have baggage we can't escape you just need to be able to wheel it along the bumps of life and drop some pieces of clothing along the way that just don't fit anymore. Two people in such a predicament are Elisabeth "Beth" Overton and Dr. Carlotta "Carly" Frazer. Both women are standing at that proverbial crossroad and facing the uncertainty of where do I go from here. They come together over a luggage switch when they each wind up with the other's green suitcase. But soon they come to realize they have nothing in the big picture in common but a specific small piece of life is shared - where do I go from here? Beth finds her husband of many years is a compulsive gambler and Carly is being forced to face the fact that her oppressive and domineering father did nothing to help her emotionally and may have stifled her professionally. Carly's father has recently passed and after meeting Beth hires her to care for her mother while she recovers from the car accident Carly's father caused. Carly is seeing her mother through new eyes and beginning to grasp that her ex-husband was right that she is a socially stagnant and there is more to life than your career. Beth realizes by taking care of herself for the first time in her life that amazingly she can take care of herself and be alone. Both women are scared of different things but change is the common denominator that catapults them forward and a little backward. While both women are rewarded with one another's company they are also driven to discover what makes the other survive and what makes they drown in self-pity and emotion. Being better educated did not make Carly a good wife, being a great stay at home mom did not help Beth be a better woman. They are so different and so alike that even though there are years between them there is no time between good friends only memories you have yet to make. While this book is not sold as self-help it most assuredly could work as that for any woman facing any kind of crossroads in her life. We face a new challenge everyday but at some point we have to look in the mirror and ask ourselves "do I like me?" Tanya Michna forces this question upon you in a totally enjoyable, albeit some parts sad look at these characters as well as ourselves. While I relate more with Beth due to our similarity in age it does not take away from feeling the strain that Carly is experiencing trying to work out the kinks of her relationships. Age is a number not a fact and you need to accept that no matter what the number change is coming so put on your big girl [...]! Review by Mary Gramlich "The Reading Reviewer" ([...]

Beth Overton and Dr. Carlotta Frazer accidentally took each other's luggage at the Hartsfield Airport in Atlanta. However, upon meeting to exchange their bags they chat and realize they can help one another. After staying at home to raise her child, Beth needs a job to pay off the debts her husband Allen accumulated as he screwed up their finances. A divorcee, the assistant history professor at Ramson Neil College, Carly needs someone to care for her battered mother Helene recovering from a brutal car accident that left her with a torn MCL and a concussion while also killing Carly's dad. Beth considers ending her marriage while Carly hides as a workaholic so she does not have to consider her single status. As the two become friends, they realize they can depend on the other for support. BAGGAGE CLAIM is a terrific character study that follows the lives of two different people who initially interact over the baggage mishap. The novel contains two subplots as Beth and Carly star in separate family dramas, but the story lines intermingle effortlessly. Readers who appreciate a fine contemporary will enjoy spending time in places like Alpharetta, just north of Atlanta Harriet Klausner