On life’s ups and downs and friends and sisters
Caribbean Life, April 10-16, 2020 21
By Terri Schlichenmeyer
Getting old ain’t for sissies.
Aging is not for the weak,
whiners, or wimps, not for
‘fraidycats or those with no
confidence, and aging is absolutely
not for the inflexible.
But then again, as in the new
novel by Terry McMillan, “It’s
Not All Downhill from Here,”
either.
The last thing Loretha Curry
wanted was another “surprise”
birthday party.
Good heavens, she was going
to be sixty-eight on New Year’s
Eve and she told her husband,
Carl, that she didn’t want the
fuss again this year. He would
listen to her wishes, but her
girlfriends? They never would.
Yet, they did.
Korynthia, Poochie, Lucky,
and Sadie stepped back and let
Carl handle a special treat: a
weekend at Loretha’s favorite
hotel in Palm Springs, just
the two of them. It was exactly
what she needed to take her
mind off everything: her mother
had been moved into assisted
living; her sister, Odessa,
was some kind of witch; her
daughter, Jalecia, was Heaven
knows-where and probably
high on something; her granddaughter,
Cinnamon, was a
“space cadet”; and Loretha
was just plain tired. A weekend
away with Carl would be
perfect.
But before it had even started,
her birthday weekend ended
in a way that Loretha could
never have imagined, with a
loss both unfathomable and
unfair. When it was all over
and everybody went home, she
could barely remember what
hour it was. She closed her
businesses because she had no
energy to run them.
Staying at home, alone and
staring at four walls, wasn’t an
option, though. Jalecia moved
in with Loretha’s ex-sister-inlaw,
who was always calling for
money. Cinnamon announced
that she was pregnant with
twins and could she have one of
Loretha’s rentals? Then Korynthia
insisted that Loretha join
her dance class, some young
man showed up and announced
that he was Carl’s long-lost
son, and Poochie started planning
an all-girls cruise week.
And life goes on after a bad
event: uphill sometimes, and
sometimes not…
FaceTime isn’t cuttin’ it. Skype’s
not enough. You can get by
with phone calls and texts but
it isn’t the same: you need your
friends, just as in “It’s Not All
Downhill from Here.”
And yet, don’t think that
this is just another “girlfriends”
book. Yes, absolutely,
it’s a story about women’s
friendships, but author Terry
McMillan also explores what
it’s like to grow older, when a
body’s Of A Certain Age but the
mind forgets that’s so. Readers
who’ve glued together the
pieces of a life shattered know
all about this, and what it’s
like to do it again tomorrow,
if the need arises. McMillan’s
characters possess just the
right amount of wisdom for
that, which will appeal not so
much to her younger readers
as, perhaps, to the age group
that originally loved “Waiting
to Exhale.”
“It’s Not All Downhill from
Here” actually comes at the
right time: it reminds readers
that even in Novel-Land,
things can get messy and you’ll
be okay. Find it for your next
book-group virtual-meet. Read
it, and share with your Sissies.
“It’s Not All Downhill
from Here” by Terry
McMillan
c.2020, Ballantine
Books $28.00 / $37.00
Canada 350 pages
“It’s Not All Downhill from Here” author Terry McMillan. Matthew Jordan Smith
Book cover of “It’s Not All Downhill From Here,” by Terry www.CaribbeanLifeNews.com
McMillan.
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