Book Review: The Seven Year Bitch by Jennifer Belle

Title: The Seven Year Bitch

Author: Jennifer Belle

351 pages, Published by Riverhead Books

Jennifer’s Information: Website | Twitter

Buy The Book: Amazon

Summary:

Isolde Brilliant had a great job, great husband, and great life. Her only wish was to be a mother, and when it came true she lost her job, her marriage became shaky, and dirty diapers appeared.

When her best friend leaves her husband after the “the seven year itch,” Isolde wonders if she’ll fall victim to a similar fate. Can she make the life she has become what she actually wants? (Summary provided by Riverhead Books.)

Typically when I read a book for review, I fold down the pages with lines that grab me or dog ear pages that have key plot points. Jennifer Belle’s novel The Seven Year Bitch had me folding corners every fifteen pages or so. It was that good.

I pronounce you husband and wife. You may now give each other the finger.

Belle’s writing is a garden of one liners growing around a richly detailed plot and just when you think this book is merely a light, funny read, shit starts to get real. Emotionally jarring as it is funny, Jennifer Belle writes about the dark side of marriage.

Isolde, the main character, is likable, witty, and smart. Exactly the right company for an afternoon spent reading. Her exploits as she navigates the mine field of her emotionally stagnant marriage and insights regarding what it means to be a mother will ring true for many women. There were many moments in this book that made me cringe as I was reading them, because I could see myself in Isolde. I think that’s part of the beauty of this novel. There is a little bit of Isolde in all of us. Whether it’s issues she has with her husband, motherhood, friends, or the other moms at her son’s school, we have all been there in some way. In one particularly funny scene Isolde and her husband Russell, with whom she has been fighting constantly, are so excited that they got a Poland Springs water cooler for the kitchen they temporarily reconcile and celebrate by having sex. The way Jennifer Belle writes this scene had me in stitches. (Also, I really want a water cooler for my kitchen now!)

This is one of those books that is great for a book club group, because there is so much to discuss. Motherhood and parenting issues, marital themes, and funny moments to relive would provide much fodder for lively discussion. When I finished The Seven Year Bitch, I immediately handed it over to my sister-in-law so she could read it. I can’t wait to talk about it with her. Feel free to leave a comment if you have read The Seven Year Bitch. I would love to hear your thoughts.

Many thanks to TLC Book Tours for including me on this tour. Be sure and check out the other tour stops:

Monday, June 6th:  Laura’s Reviews

Wednesday, June 8th:  Love to Read for Fun

Monday, June 13th:  A Cozy Reader’s Corner

Wednesday, June 15th:  Café of Dreams

Friday, June 17th: Life in Review

Monday, June 20th:  Sara’s Organized Chaos

Tuesday, June 28th:  Unabridged Chick

Friday, July 1st:  Well Read Wife

Tuesday, July 5th:  Teresa’s Reading Corner

Thursday, July 7th:  Colloquium

Friday, July 22nd:  Red Headed Book Child

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