DON’T YOU LOVE it when your treasured sister-friend tells you “You have to read this!” and you do, and it’s a can’t-put-it-down experience? My most recent sister-must-read is Isabel Gillies’ Happens Every Day. The book is billed as a divorce memoir, and it is, but it’s also clear-eyed, funny and hopeful. And yes–I couldn’t put it down.
Over a rare lunch with my college roommate, a dear sister-friend, last November, she told me that one of her other sister-friends had written a book. A great book. Any time a dear sister-friend tells you that her treasured sister-friend has written a terrific book, you pay attention. If your friend also happens to be an amazing writer and a highly picky reader, and a person known for being boldly (as opposed to ruthlessly) honest–well, you pay double attention.
My roommate told me that her dear friend, Isabel Gillies (known to many for her role as ‘Kathy Stabler’ on Law and Order), had written a memoir–not of an actor’s life but of the unexpected dissolution of Isabel’s seemingly picture-perfect marriage. The book was to be released this spring, and my friend fervently hoped for its success. I did my part: I went home and immediately pre-ordered it, then promptly forgot all about it.
The book, Happens Every Day, was published last month, and I have now read it, twice. The first time, I stayed up until 2 a.m., devouring the entire work in one sitting. (Have I mentioned that I have two children? I never read anything in one sitting anymore, save Olive, the Other Reindeer.)
Isabel Gillies
Your sisters don’t let you down. The book is beautifully written, with a natural, girlfriend-to-girlfriend voice that accentuates the heartbreak of the story rather than burying it in trying-too-hard prose. Isabel’s experience was raw and devastating, and you live it along with her. I can’t help but think that no matter the state of your partnership status, single, married, happily or un-, there’s wisdom to be gleaned in Isabel’s thoughtful and, it seems, brutally honest, account of a situation that indeed, happens every day. (Apparently, the anonymous folks who run Starbucks book program agree, because the book was chosen as a Starbucks selection.)
Already read it? Reading it? Tell us what you think. (And for a great interview with Isabel Gillies, click over to one of my favorite sites, The Happiness Project.)
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