Golf Widows

A group of wives have lunch together every weekend at the Country Club while their husbands play golf. They refer to themselves as “golf widows” because they are alone, week after week, month after month. You get the picture.

The women are:
Belinda: a fifty-five year old, overweight woman who has just been dumped by her husband Roger for Carrie, a gorgeous younger woman. She’s an outstanding cook, with baking as her speciality, and mother to Max, her only child.
Amanda: wife to Christopher, mother to Sophie. She’s worked hard for her entire life, leaving behind a lower middle class background and is bored with her life. She’s looking for something new.
Tracey: Married to Andy, an accountant. She describes herself as an artist but, while talented, she spends as much time possible drinking whatever alcoholic beverage she can get her hands on. She’s not a pleasant drunk. Andy’s friends feel sorry for him.
Louise: Married to and dominated by Chris, she works six days a week for his real estate firm.
She’s frustrated and looking for a way out of her boring life.
Janet: Buttoned up, conservative Janet is married to the Chairman of the Golf Club, Major Charles. They have no children and she’s spent her entire married life following his orders. She wants to know what she’s missing.
Carrie: Roger’s new girlfriend. Carrie wants a home and children. She doesn’t understand why she isn’t pregnant yet. Roger knows.

When a sudden tragedy changes the lives of these six women forever, they decide to change their lives. They take a trip to Majorca where they will discover (in no particular order) food they haven’t cooked themselves, massage, varied alcoholic drinks, the joy of honest conversation, beaches, shopping and sex. The life changing thing works! In a delightful final chapter, we see how.

Although Golf Widows could use a better cover, it’s delightful escapist fiction. Stow this in your beach bag or leave it on your bedside table. Enjoy! 5 stars.

Thank you to NetGalley, Matador and Samantha Marcham for this ARC.

When the five wives who usually meet for lunch while their husbands play golf turn into for due to infidelity. They don’t want to like the young women forced upon them by the fifth husband and cheater Roger, but she is so sweet and insecure they can help but feel protective. Eventually even the wife Belinda who was cheated on will grow to like her but that’s later. First all the wives are unhappy their husbands claim to have won a trip to the Philippines for a golfing tournament. Everyone knows the Philippines is a sex terrorist capital of the world and so to say they are unhappy is an understatement Amanda isn’t happy because her 50th birthday is coming up fast and instead of taking her on holiday he’s going on a golfing vacation with his buddies, Janet the oldest member of the crew it’s just happy she’ll have time for herself, Tracy is angry he’s leaving but then again she’ll be able to drink until her heart‘s content so maybe she’s not as angry as she first thought, Louise is just flabbergasted she sex starved so her frustration is twofold Carrie is upset because Herb and Roger just got together and they’re trying to have a baby and he’ll be going on her ovulation day plus she’ll miss him and then there’s Belinda who could care less Roger left her for the gorgeous carry and so it’s not her problem nor her concern where he goes. All these emotions and frustrations will be for not though, because soon after takeoff their plane goes missing and when it’s found all the golf widows or really widows and this is when the fun begins. Although they’re sad at losing their husbands when they find out the big secret the husbands have been keeping from them after the anger dissolves they will dust off the memory of them and they will do it in a private jet on the way to Spain. This book was so funny I loved how Belinda and the rest of the women took Kelly in despite how she became a part of the group and even Belinda son was nice to her that shows true class. I love drunk Tracy I wasn’t that excited about Louise and thought she acted very cheap, but to each his own I love Janet but my favorite was Amanda and Belinda love them so much. I loved how every woman had different abilities and talents that added to the groups good time. I also love that they didn’t go on vacation and go shopping but spent time together and getting to know each other letting their hair down and having a bunch of laughs. Janets evolution was the best. I wish the author would write more stories with these women finding love that would be such great books. especially Amanda and Belinda and Janet who is never been kissed properly. This is a funny book about women becoming friends and not only getting to know each other but their selves. If you love books like that this is the book for you it was so awesome I loved it loved it loved it! I received this book from NetGalleyShelf and a publisher but I am leaving this review voluntarily please forgive any mistakes as I am blind and dictate my review.

Entertaining, Escapist..
The Golf widows are just that - second to their husbands love of the game. They are inexorably bound together, they lunch every Sunday and forget their woes. However, something is about to change all of that and when it does the golf widows decide to run amok. A Majorcan trip is just what the doctor ordered but will it be their downfall or their best decision to date? Wholly entertaining, escapist fiction with a colourful cast and an enjoyable narrative.

I don’t think I’ve disliked a group of characters more than the males in this book. The author paints a pretty awful picture of married life. Luckily for these wives they soon become widows and their lives suddenly become worth living. Female friendships are the winner in this witty comedy. I really enjoyed it.

Golf widows is a comedy, tragedy and a ride from start to finish.

Many Thanks to NetGalley and Matador for an eARC in exchange for an honest review.

Overview:
When the boys golfing group i.e. the husbands spend every single free minute playing golf together- be it at the club or on trips abroad- the left behind wives are known as the golf widows. Every week on a Saturday without fail they will meet for lunch whilst their husbands play golf at the club to bemoan their unfortunate status.

All in unfulfilling marriages, they discover their husbands are all guilty of being terrible people-in more ways than one. This actually makes the group become friends and go on their own trip- to Majorca as they try to make up for their lost years in just one week.

Review:
Plot- Generally it was a pretty well done story. Was it pretty easy to guess the plot? Yes. Was it cheesy? Very much so. Was it really fun to read it anyway as a bit of comedy, easy reading escapism? Yes.
It was well written, extremely witty and it was interesting to see the differences between all the leading ladies, their lives and their interactions with each other as a group throughout.

Pacing wise, the story started slightly slow which is why it took me a while to get into it, but once I was about three chapters in I read the rest of it in one sitting as the pace picked up immensely!

World building- This was done pretty well overall, the golfing lifestyle has never been for me but it’s interesting to see the appeal and how it can impact relationships.

Characters- This was the big reason I both loved and struggled with this story. This book is extremely character driven- but some of them got a fantastic amount of development, while others seemed very one sided, not really any depth and just kind of “there” with no sort of redemption or improvement. One character in particular I felt was just there to be an easy joke.
The husbands- now I have never detested a group of men as much as these so very well done on that.

Final Thoughts,
It’s a great piece of easy reading escapist fiction perfect for a beach read!