Author : Maria Semple
Genre : Contemporary
Narrators : Kathleen Wilhoite
Publisher : Hachette Audio
Listening Length : 6 hrs 28 min
Source : Library
Rating : 2.5/5
Like Semple’s previous book “Where’d You go Bernadette”, “Today Will be Different” also has an eccentric/quirky housewife for a protagonist. She, Eleanor Flood, also lives in Seattle with 1 husband and 1 child (it is a son this time instead of a daughter), and she was also a genius artist/illustrator a long time ago (Bernadette was an architect). The book which spans a day in Eleanor’s life covers her life, her relationships and her desire to make this new day count.
Today will be different. Today I will be present. Today, anyone I speak to, I will look them in the eye and listen deeply. Today I’ll play a board game with Timby. I’ll initiate sex with Joe. Today I will take pride in my appearance. I’ll shower, get dressed in proper clothes, and change into yoga clothes only for yoga, which today I will actually attend. Today I won’t swear. I won’t talk about money. Today there will be an ease about me. My face will be relaxed, its resting place a smile. Today I will radiate calm. Kindness and self-control will abound. Today I will buy local. Today I will be my best self, the person I’m capable of being. Today will be different.
The plot is a bit wishy-washy. I can sorta sum it up as being about acceptance of oneself and others and life as it is (not as it should be). That said, I will say that I came close to giving up on this book and DNFing it. For one, the context switches are surreal. The protagonist jumps about from one far-flung thought to another and if you’re listening to this as an audio-book (as I was) you lose track if you don’t pay attention (as I’m wont to do sometimes).
There is an undercurrent of humor, which is nice. And Eleanor although loopy, is a good person with faults, just like the rest of us. I kinda felt for her at times and was moved, other times I just didn’t get her impetuous over-the-top reactions. The parts about her relationship with her sister are interesting. The book did move philosophically from point A to point B, but I can’t say that I enjoyed the journey – and there isn’t much to take away from or ponder post-read. I don’t get the hype over this book, so unfortunately can’t recommend it.
Kathleen Wilhoite narrates this book too and is just as good as she was in “Where’d you go Bernadette?”.
