Impersonation

Genre: Fiction

This is the story of Allie and her son Kass. Allie is a single mother and is having a hard time managing her life and expenses all by herself. Allie works as a ghostwriter and really loves her work. But recently, she's been needing to rely on people she wouldn't necessarily want to rely on, but she has to work and she needs help. For instance, Kass has been going to a neighbor's house to play with a boy who's been mean to him, so that Allie can work. Or Allie's roommate (come boyfriend) who helps with rent and watches Kass so that Allie can work. Or her babysitter who's been acting strangely lately, but still Kass has to go to her house so that, you got it, Allie can work. And then Allie gets the job. She's going to be the ghostwriter for Lana Breban, the hotshot attorney everyone is talking about who is moving mountains for marginalized people. Allie is a fan and is excited to work with such an amazing person. And she gets paid big bucks for this too! Lana turns out to not be the story-teller Allie had hoped she would be, the money is not coming in as quickly as she hoped it would, and everything around her seems to be falling apart all at once. This is a story of womanhood, community and friendship and learning that the good ending we always wished for was just a fairy tale, and that reality, with all of its glorious messiness, is so much better!

I was recently invited by a newfound friend, to join her and a small group of women to do, what she described, as a zoom Zen session. It was meant to be an opportunity to center myself through conversation and learning with a small group of women. We made brief introductions and had a quick meditation practice. One of the first things the leaders of this meeting (who work with corporations helping their employees find work-life balance) said was that taking the time to breathe deeply and center ourselves was something that working mothers should consider doing often as it is difficult to balance work and family. The record in my head, which was playing soft, lovely music up until then, ground to a screeching halt. I had been a stay-at-home mom for nine years and am now in graduate school working on my Master's in Library and Information Sciences. I wholeheartedly felt I was where I wanted to be then, and am where I want to be now. I immediately felt self-conscious. I know the schtick, my friends. Women are judged based on how well we combine our super-hero persona, with our vixen maven persona, with our Donna Reed picture of motherhood persona. And as a stay at home mom, my personas don't add up. Realistically I know, no one there was judging me but, let's be real, no-one judges us as hard as we judge ourselves.

This all happened around the time I read this book and I'm so glad that, yet again, fiction pointed the way. The story has so many incredible parts to it that inform, entertain and point out many different aspects of humanity. But to me, Pitlor's success with this story is that it's for, and about every woman: single mothers, children-less women, working women, stay-at-home moms, career moms. Not all are represented in the best light, but all are represented in their imperfect humanity and we need to see that. Sometimes I feel like we women are hardest on each other. There's always a judgement call on who is the hardest working, but through this story it is clear that there is no hardest. There's only what is right for us. I write this shortly after Ruth Bader Ginsburg has died and the nomination of a new Supreme Court Justice looms, and so much for women in our nation is on the line. Drop what you're reading and read this one instead. It'll be just what you need. I pray, ladies, that we find it in ourselves to love ourselves and support each other through what is promising to be challenging times.

Note: Full disclosure. Heidi Pitlor's kids and my kids were in a playgroup together for five years several years ago now. We saw each other weekly and I consider her a friend, even though, nowadays our paths never cross. I never write book reviews for anyone who asks me to write them. She didn't ask me, nor does she even know I've read her book. I have a "to-read" list of about 450 books and I just go through my list and read whatever becomes available from my library. I really do love this story. But, don't listen to my opinion. You need only Google the title of this book to read the many positive reviews she got from better and more experienced reviewers than me. I'm only one of many. Only I love the author too!