The Private Lives of Pippa Lee by Rebecca Miller

The first time I saw the title of this book I went cold all over because...it is/was my name before I was married! My initial reaction was "who wrote it and did they know me?!!"

To my relief it was not (quite!) about me. It is in fact the poignant story of vibrant 50 year old Pippa, who has reluctantly moved to a retirement home with her husband Herb who is 30 years her senior, a publisher and sometime bohemian. Pippa begins to have worrying episodes of sleepwalking and this leads to flashbacks of her life, including memories of her mentally ill mother and Pippa's subsequently reckless early life. The reflections are powerful and deeply moving; Pippa's relationships are intense and at the same time strangely vacuous and detached which makes intriguing reading. It is a sensitive but raw tale of the passage of life, reminding us of our own interactions with those who take the journey with us.

An excellent read and beautifully written.