Fifty Is Not a Four-Letter Word

Reviewed by Carol Hoyer, PhD, for Reader Views (4/09) Author Linda Kelsey has written a fast-paced and often funny book for those of us who are trying to have it all and are on a merry-go-round and can't get off. Hope Lyndhurst-Steele is a woman we all can relate to. She has a great job, husband and a teenage son. Even though it is sometimes a struggle to meets everyone's needs and demands she seems to pull it off quite well. However, her boss Simon doesn't think at the age of fifty that Hope is with it. He proceeds to tell her times are changing and the magazine needs to change as well. He has decided that he will give the magazine to another editor to liven it up. Then Hope's world turns upside down- her husband is leaving, her best friend having a baby and her son is moving on with his life. Readers will not be able to put this book down. In "Fifty Is Not a Four-Letter Word" by Linda Kelsey the words and descriptions of the characters are all people we can relate to. The author will put you in the story with her wonderful voice.

I really enjoyed this story about a woman who has it all and loses it right around her 50th birthday. Parts of it were right on about the health and metal issues that happen to any woman at this age. I really recommend this older "chick lit" genre for those of us who are no longer thinking of getting the guy, but more trying to keep your sanity.

In 2003 Hope Lyndhurst-Steele believes strongly her upcoming fiftieth birthday is no milestone as nothing will change in her near perfect life. However, just after her birthday, her world collapses. Her mom announces she is dying with just a few months to live. Hope's husband Jack says he cannot cope with her cynicism and upside down values accentuated when she is more upset that he told their son Olly before her that he is leaving her and moves out. She is also upset to see Olly hanging around with the neighborhood tramp, the older single mom Vanessa; Hope tells her to leave her son alone only to upset her son. Hope feels no hope as she flees for Paris to reassess her relationships. This is an interesting character study of a fifty year old woman whose world implodes and has to look closely at her set ways and decide whether changing is worth the cost. Hope is a fascinating protagonist but the use of her viewpoint abates the impact of how the others feel as we only know them through a Hope filter. Still this is a difficult read as the heroine learns fifty is a four-letter word and changing one's spots is extremely difficult; that is if a person truly wants to change. Harriet Klausner

Hope Lyndhurst-Steele has come to a tipping point in her life, the dreaded 5-0. Though there's a few more wrinkles, her life is in full bloom with a fabulous career as star editor of a glossy woman's magazine, Jasmine. Husband, Jack is a successful physiotherapist. Then there's her son Olly, typical teenager, if typical means falling for Vanessa who's almost twice his age. Hope seems to have it all but then the bottom falls out. Her mother announces that she's sick, very sick. Boss Simon gives her the boot and then it if that's not enough Jack leaves. The book opens around Hope's birthday, which happens to be New Year's Day. The story is written in the first person, involving the reader immediately. By the end of the book you've traveled with Hope for a full year, realizing that Fifty Is Not A Four Letter Word when you open yourself to change.

FIFTY IS NOT A FOUR-LETTER WORD Linda Kelsey 5 Spot Hachette Book Group ISBN: 978-0-446-19590-4 $13.99 - Paperback 354 pages Reviewer: Annie Slessman Hope Lyndhurst turns fifty on New Year's Day and she isn't happy about it. She finds herself at fifty, separated from her husband, Jack, and Olly, her only child, is graduating high school and taking a year to travel before starting college. To top it all off, Hope's mother is dying of cancer. As if Hope doesn't have enough on her plate to deal with, she loses her job as the editor of Jasmine, an upscale magazine for women. Alone, for the first time in many years, Hope finds herself listless and wandering aimlessly through life. Except for a brief trip to Paris where she meets a young professor and spends a night of bliss in his arms, she has no goals except to exist from day to day. Hope and her dying mother try to "fix" the problems between them but find the task almost impossible. Hope has felt her mother never loved her and even resented the fact that she exists. Her father on the other hand, provides the love any daughter could want. Completing the cast of characters in the book is Maddy, a young doctor and Hope's best friend, her sister, Sarah and a young gay cousin, Mike and his partner, Stanko. There is also an older woman, Vanessa, who is having an affair with Olly, Hope's young son and a young couple, Nick and Sally who are working to build a foundation to help critically ill children. The story vacillates between "what was" and "what is." The background provided by the "what was" makes the "what is " more understandable to the reader. This is a simple story about a very complicated woman and provides some good reading. It will maintain a reader's interest and will become a book you pass onto your friends.