My reading review this time is about the novel “The Overdue Life of Amy Byler” by Kelly Harms which I can say was a very good and funny read.
This novel is the story of Amy Byler a librarian teacher from Pennsylvania with 2 awesome kids and a beautiful home. The problem with Amy is that she is hurting because her husband abandoned her and her kids, to run after a younger woman in faraway Japan. For Amy, that was unforgivable and forced her to shift her life completely to be able to provide for her kids. However, the change also prompted her to discover a side of herself she forgot about.
When Amy’s husband returns out of nowhere she is allowed to “escape” her reality for a week and becomes, without planning it in a trending topic and social media sensation. Amy realizes that she is not “all dead” on the inside and she can still have fun and follow her dreams while still being a mother.
The author portraits Amy’s struggles in a way that makes the reader feel empathy with her but also have a good laugh at Amy’s sense of humor. Although I don’t have any kids, I was able to interpret the tiredness in Amy due to her full-time parenting and her intense sense of responsibility in providing for her kids while also ensuring they were emotionally protected from their father’s abandonment and that they were educated properly. The result? Amy was burned out and emotionally drained.
The concept of selfishness is subtly discussed by the author and I feel it invites the reader even outside the parenting world, to work on themselves and learning to love who they are, to follow their dreams, and dare to take steps in the direction they feel leads them to those dreams.
This novel is a short and entertaining read, but despite some topics that I disagree with, it is great.
‘Till next read!
Sarah Javier 