"The Middle Place"

Author: Kelly Corrigan
Genre: Memoir. Mommy/Chick Lit
Publisher: Hyperion
Pages: 272
My Rating: Recommend

The Middle Place is worth reading, but I enjoyed Lift more.

Synopsis (from book jacket): For Kelly Corrigan, family is everything. At thirty-six, she had a marriage that worked, two funny, active kids, and a weekly newspaper column. But even as a thriving adult, Kelly still saw herself as the daughter of garrulous Irish-American charmer George Corrigan. She was living deep within what she calls the Middle Place—"that sliver of time when parenthood and childhood overlap"—comfortably wedged between her adult duties and her parents' care. But Kelly is abruptly shoved into coming-of-age when she finds a lump in her breast—and gets the diagnosis no one wants to hear. When George, too, learns that he has late-stage cancer, it is Kelly's turn to take care of the man who had always taken care of her—and to show us a woman who finally takes the leap and grows up.

Review: A childless childhood friend of mine recommended this. She liked it and thought that because I'm a mom I'd get even more out of it than she had. Coincidentally I read Lift earlier this month and when I found out the same author wrote The Middle Place I looked forward to starting it. I find Kelly Corrigan so easy to relate to, as a woman and as a mom (although the deeper I got into this book the more she came across as the spoiled "baby" and only girl in her family and I don't think she has a clue that that's how she comes across). Her daughters are about 18 months apart (like my daughters) and when The Middle Place opens she mentions her children's ages which are coincidentally the same ages as mine. The ways in which her girls are different are so like my own. I love Corrigan's friendly, chatty writing style and just the way she brings the reader into her life. This is worth reading, but I enjoyed Lift more.