Forty something wife and mother Eva ponders a life she lives alone with her son, while husband Harry works abroad. Both Ava and husband Harry have had to make sacrifices in their married life in order to ensure the lifestyle they want. But living this one parent existence Eva begins to question everything about her situation and it’s not surprising she’s soon drawn into temptation with an ex-lover. I’m not one to use spoilers in my reviews so I will only say that this is merely the first of many temptations and challenges she will face before the story concludes. And I have to say I very much enjoyed how the author brought this story to its conclusion.
It was an interesting and thought provoking read but I did find sometimes Ava’s thoughts tended to override the general progression of the story. However, in general I very much enjoyed this book and would not hesitate to recommend it to friends.
I would like to thank Netgally for a free copy of this book in return for an honest review.

Really loved this heartfelt novel about middle age and wondering if you made the right choices in life and the temptation to take a different course when you thought your path was mapped out for you. Must read womens fiction.

I found myself wavering on how many stars to give this book and eventually decided on 4 stars as a fair reflection to me personally.

Forty One is a story seen through a middle-aged woman's eyes. It tells a very recognisable tale of a wife and mother, Eva, who sees her life flashing before her and wondering if she has made the right choices and effectively asking herself 'Is that it'??

This is a very well-written book and Lesia Daria is a great wordsmith and I would expect this book to be very well received by the literary world as it is very relevant.

There were some elements of the book which I loved and would certainly by worthy of 5 stars, yet other aspects that frustrated me and this is why I settled on 4 stars overall.

The positive points were the storyline itself, with a very understandable dilemma of dealing with the reality of a partner working away from home to earn the best income. Lesia successfully described how both partners have their own sacrifices to make when living apart and conveyed how easy the other partner gets blamed or made to feel that they have the better deal. I loved the frisson of excitement as Eva reconnects with her ex Xavier and the temptation that ensues as she turns to him for some attention. I myself am a linguist and I found Lesia's use of language and the wordplay very clever, although it may be lost on those who are not familiar with other languages. I also really enjoyed the last section and the ending as it was handled in a very realistic manner and did not work out as I expected. How the story wrapped up for me was a definite highlight.

My only criticism and the negative for me was that it was (certainly in the early part of the book) too wordy and some subjects analysed and described in too much detail. This resulted in some of the musings bordering on excessive and an element of navel-gazing which seemed to confirm a long-held suspicion I have had of 'stay at home moms', that they have FAR TOO MUCH time on their hands. Working moms would not have the luxury to ponder on the meaning of life so much as they are racing around every day trying to fit in everything that they need to get done !

In conclusion though a very good book which I hope does well.

I really enjoyed reading this book and would definitely recommend it to my friends.

Is one's life unique? Well after reading 'Forty One' and confessing to be somewhat north of that age, I was amazed at what similarities a fictional Eva et al has with one's self. Surely the book was written to chime a few bells with anyone past two score years and so it does, big time! So, if you fancy a book to evoke a bit of navel gazing or to stir the memories of past affairs you'll enjoy this one.