"...I slept with my best friend's
husband. There is no explanation. Not a real one, anyway [...] but I want to
tell my side, just hear me out."
Right from the start, Donna Hill's An
Ordninary Woman begins with a shocking paragraph that has the reader's eyes
widen in shock, dismay, perplexity, and finally curiosity. Right then, a part
of us is apprehensive about the plot already, but another huge part wants to
find out more about the revelation: Why? How? Who? What happens next? And thus
begins a most powerful reading journey that our minds have yet to explore.
Asha and Lisa have been best friends since
grade school, and although both girls are as different as day and night,
they've always shared everything, and their friendship continues all through
their teenage years and into adulthood. Both beautiful in their own ways, Asha
is more exciting and spontaneous when it comes to men and relationships,
while Lisa is more 'put-together' and prefers to think things through before
making decisions. Asha becomes a world photographer, traveling the world,
taking gorgeous pictures, and meeting men from all continents. Lisa becomes an
English Professor, stable and grounded. When Lisa decides to get married, both
girls fear this would mar their friendship, but they continue to hold on,
although Asha begins to go through some emotional struggles, which included a
hugely upsetting confrontation with her mother.
Ross, Lisa's husband, doesn't want to admit he isn't happy in his new marriage; he feels overwhelmed and out of
control. He’s never met a woman like Lisa who liked to take care of things and
made sure everything was good and dandy. Having recently lost his job, it
frustrated him that he couldn't take care of his wife the way he felt a man was
supposed to.
Thus begins the betrayal that no one really
saw coming. It just happened, that one single moment that shattered the lives
of everyone around, and now Asha, Lisa and Ross each want to speak up about what,
how, why it happened, and the roles they each played...
Hill weaves the storyline so perfectly, the
characters, the events, the setting...it is no ordinary story of betrayal and
heartbreak. It is a masterminded concoction that gives us some insight on why
we do the things we do, how things such as our childhood environment, that
'the-way-we-grew-up' mentality (that never really leaves us no matter how much
we want it to), our beliefs...how all these can play a huge role in the things
we say or do (even without our knowledge).
In this novel, we are put very much in all
the characters' place, feel their pain and hurt, see everything they see from
their eyes. It's really almost like we're physically manifesting in their bodies,
feeling every inch of what they feel and understanding why they did some things
they did, however horrendous and unforgiving the actions were.
Usually, Hill's works are listed under the
Romance genre that focuses on the typical boy-girl relationships.
However, there are a few that take on that different literary stand with the
powerful plot and characterizations, so much that one can't help but praise her for being
not only versatile, but also outstandingly genius in the way she
shows us things about life and about ourselves. An Ordinary
Woman is one of those works.
This book is a must-read! Grab it from your
nearest library or bookstore -- I'm positive that you will not be disappointed!
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