Title: Searching for Tina TurnerPublisher: Grand Central Publishing
About the book: On their first date more than 30 years ago, Randall Spencer took Lena to an Ike and Tina Turner concert. From the minute they sat down in the fifth row, Lena knew that Randall wanted to impress her even though he didn't need to -- she would have gone anywhere just to be close to him. Yet now, after twenty-three years of marriage, Lena is missing one important thing. . . happiness.
On the surface it looks like she has everything a woman could wish for: a rich husband, two wonderful children, and a life of luxury. The reality is that her husband is emotionally distant, her son has developed a drug habit, and her daughter is disgusted by her mother's "overbearing behavior."
Determined to save her failing marriage, Lena suggests going to a marriage counselor to get to the root of her unhappiness and to find the gem they once called love. But in the sessions Randall doesn't understand Lena's frustrations and makes it clear that she is the one with the problem. When the counseling seems futile, he offers his wife an ultimatum: Be grateful for all I've done for you or leave. Embracing her fear of wasting her life, Lena chooses the latter and leaves behind everything she's known.
Drawing on the strength of Tina Turner's life story, Searching for Tina Turner is Lena's struggle to find herself after twenty-three years of being Randall's wife.
My thoughts: This book started out slow for me but gradually picked up speed. I didn't really like Lena - I felt like she had created her own existence. She is the one that had accepted her role for so long and just continued to blame everyone else for not taking ahold of her dreams. At the same time, I didn't like her because it reminded me of a time in my past - except I was only 29 when I "woke up" and realized that I had lost who I was and that I wasn't happy.
I couldn't stand Randall! Selfish, overbearing, thinking that money will be able to solve anything - and that his wife should be happy just because she had all material things that she could want. I don't think he gave it a second thought that she would actually leave him - it went beyond his understanding that someone would willingly give that all up.
Even though it may sound like I didn't enjoy this book - it was able to illicit strong feelings from me, so that would give it a plus in my book.
Searching for Tina Turner
Publisher/Publication Date: Grand Central Publishing/Jan 27, 2010
ISBN: 978-0-446-54296-8
320 pages
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3 comments:
I couldnt stand Randall either. He was easy to dislike.
I enjoyed this book. I liked Lena - I felt like she was trying to fit into the role she thought society and her family wanted her to and finally realized she had to live for herself.
I've been seeing the reviews for this one and they seem to be mostly positive. I agree that a book that elicits strong emotions is usually a good one even if it's not a light or fun read.
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