Opening Belle

Warning: This Review Contains Spoilers

Opening Belle was a disappointing read for me. I honestly do not remember how I heard of this book. This happens from time to time in the life of an avid reader because I have multiple places that I like to find books.

It initially struck me as very smart. The main character was a female breadwinner working in the financial industry. Initially I found myself cheering on that there was a glass ceiling club where women were voicing concerns that I found as being a very fresh voice in chick lit. Having a woman in a high power corporate setting is a bit of fresh air when it comes to this particular genre of fiction.

But one of my disappointments in this book was that even though it touched on the financial crisis in the background it seemed more concerned with the drama that takes place between co-workers than having scenes where the main character was actually working.

My even deeper disappointment came with the ending of the book. It ended with the main character's husband having an affair and leaving her. He was pursuing interests that were not producing economic gain throughout the novel with the main character supporting him. And in the end he started having more interests in things like working out and social media which were supposed to be signs that he was having an affair.  Earlier in the novel they did start to have conflicts about her work when he voices concerns that the money she earns comes at the cost of putting other people's lives at stake. Yeah I know that there was another man that turned out to be even more perfect for her and she was trying to honor her marriage. But It would have been refreshing if her husband was trying to build his own business instead of having an affair.

However the trope of the successful career woman having her husband leave her because she is putting more into her career than her marriage is one that I really grow weary of. I feel like while it comes out of a real dilemma that women face in the balance that balance that they try to have it has become a cliche that makes me roll my eyes.  I acknowledge that I am a helpless romantic who feels like there needs to be a compelling narrative leading up  to a divorce for me to feel like it is a good thing.  I know that there was another romantic interest in this story but I desperately wanted to see more efforts on the characters part to save her marriage. Taking a family vacation when the issue was that she was spending 60 hours a week away from her family felt like a shallow attempt at a fix.

Also I feel like it does no favors to women who are in careers that this is a common trope that the husband leaves the successful wife. Its oddly a way in which it tells women that they should expect supportive romances to go to the dust when they become successful. I feel like literature still has a long way to go in terms of the way women balance family and work life. This book had a great concept but it turned out to be shallow and fall into a forgettable cliche.