The Ten-Year Nap (edit title)

• Rated 4 stars

“It rang true, these stories of the lives of women living with husbands and children and jobs and dreams and fears and . . . ”

• Rated 0 stars

“"A Wickedly Observant Take on the Choices that Modern Mothers Face, by the Author of The Position.
For a group of four New York friends, the past decade has been largely defined by marriage and motherhood. Educated and reared to believe that they would conquer the world, they then left prestigious jobs to stay home with their babies. What was meant to be a temporary leave of absence has lasted a decade. Now, at age forty, with the halcyon days of young motherhood behind them and without professions to define them, Amy, Jill, Roberta, and Karen face a life that is not what they were brought up to expect but seems to be the one they have chosen. But when Amy meets someone who seems to have fulfilled the classic women's dream of having it all--work, love, family--without having to give anything up, a lifetime's worth of concerns, both practical and existential, opens up. As her obsession with this woman's bustling life grows, it forces the four friends to confront the choices they've made--until a series of startling events shatters the peace and, for some of them, changes the landscape entirely."

I didn't like this book. It was a story of how disappointing life is to these women. It seems like books like this only have one solution for life not being what is expected, and that is for the women to have affairs. I am not upset by the infidelity. What bothers me is that the women are not satisfied with their relationships so they get into other dissatisfying relationships hoping to fix their lives. It never works.”

• Rated 3 stars

“While I was reading it, I didn't love it but it has really stayed with me and grown on me. ”

• Rated 3 stars

“The book started out as an interesting contrast and reflection on motherhood, marriage, education, and work. It deteriorated when the author evidently had to tie up all the loose ends, rather unsatisfactorily. A beach book.”

• Rated 5 stars

“Very nice read....turning point in 40 something women's lives...work or not? love and marriage...its all there!”

• Rated 3 stars

“In the era of post-post-(post-?)feminism, this novel about New York City stay-at-home moms tackles an interesting phenomenon: the well-educated woman who gives everything up to raise a kid and isn't very satisfied. It's not as interesting as Wolitzer's other formerly-working women, but still a good read.”

• Rated 5 stars

“I loved this book. It covers the well-trodden territory of the decision of extremely accomplished women to work or not to work when having kids. But not in a predictable or obvious way. I thought the female characters were very well-developed and that the author managed to bring up lots of interesting points without being preachy or taking away from the story.”

• Rated 2 stars

“I thought it jumped around too much and was hard to keep track of the characters. It was OK to read but nothing too spectacular. ”

• Rated 2 stars

“I was so disappointed with this book! Started out great - you can tell the author is talented with some of the paragraphs she wrote - but it soon disintegrated into boring and depressing! I was ready to jump off a cliff by the end of this book - not to mention go back to work!!!”

• Rated 2 stars

“just ok- not the book I was expecting- a little plodding”