🕒Obtain The Lifestyle: A Novel by Taylor Hahn
The Lifestyle: A Novel by Taylor Hahn
Don't miss the beach read of the summer! A heartwarming and hilarious novel about swinging, marriage, and complexities of the heart. “This book is fun as hell. Hilarious, addictive, moving, and sexy. I lost track of time reading it, and I couldn’t get enough!” — Jasmine Guillory, bestselling author of While We Were Dating Georgina Wagman has it all—a great marriage, a great job at a prestigious law firm, and great friends. She’s living the life she always wanted, and everything is perfect. Until, that is, she walks in on her husband Nathan in a compromising position with a junior associate. Georgina has a moment of crisis. But divorce is not a part of the five-year plan, so she comes up with an idea to save her marriage and recapture the spark. She and Nathan are going to become swingers. Georgina isn’t going to embark on this adventure alone, though. Her friends Felix and Norah and their respective partners decide to tag along for the ride. They’ve got relationship woes of their own that swinging just might fix. Georgina, convinced Felix and Norah belong together, is thrilled. What better place to reignite romance between two people destined to be together than a swingers’ party? Her plan is foolproof, until she runs into a college ex at the first party. When they reconnect, Georgina will find herself torn between her head and her heart, with her very happiness hanging in the balance. Perfect for fans of Jennifer Weiner and Sophie Kinsella, The Lifestyle is a playful homage to Jane Austen's Emma Woodhouse and an outrageously fun summer read. Read more
Georgina Is 34, Married, & An Attorney. The Things That Make 21-Year-Old Emma So Endearing Are Far Less Forgiving In A Middle-Aged Married Woman. This Is Not Light & Playful In The Manner Of Emma, But Rather A Largely Sad & Depressing Tale (With A Happy Ending). ABOUT THIS BOOK: This book is Georgina’s story. It includes a large cast of characters, but it largely revolves around her marriage with Nathan and two other couples – Felix and Alina, and Ari and Norah. This book is a modern take on Jane Austen’s Emma, a classic and beloved tale. At first glance, I hadn’t known that fact and would not have chosen to read and review this book, but when I glanced at the praise in combination with the Jane Austen angle, I quickly decided to take a chance and changed my mind. Despite the name, it seemed that there was more to this story than a swinging lifestyle – parties for couples where lust and fantasy outside of committed relationships and marital vows take place. It turns out that this is very much a lifestyle book, though what that means to the different characters in this book varies. At some points, this is a primer on living the lifestyle. There are some explicit and steamy moments, but surprisingly, there are not as many as you might think. I very quickly regretted my choice, but in accepting a review copy, I felt committed to seeing the book through. I really had to force myself to finish it. I am an Austen fan, and unfortunately, Georgina is no Emma. She is a married thirty-four-year-old attorney. The things that make twenty-one-year-old Emma Woodhouse so endearing are far less forgiving in a middle-aged married woman. In Emma, we know that Mr. Knightly is the perfect match for her if only she opens her eyes. He is already an important part of her life. I kept trying to figure out who Mr. Knightly was in this story – Nathan or Felix – as they were the two men in her life. I won’t spoil things by saying who it is, but this does not follow the same pattern. This story feels much more dependent upon coincidence, luck, and timing than Georgina’s scheming and her ultimate humility. It does paint Georgina as a matchmaker, however, which is Emma’s obsession. That said, Georgina only seems to have two real matches to brag about. I would not recommend reading this simply because you are an Austen fan. Emma is a light and playful read. Despite Georgina’s somewhat similar personality, this story is not light at all. It is very sad. All of her friends are struggling in their relationships as well. An affair is discovered very early on in the story, which sets the stage for all that follows – and the lifestyle, in particular. Georgina’s wisdom is questionable throughout, and it doesn’t make for an enticing read when so much is at stake. On the contrary, it had me constantly angry with the story. I felt manipulated, unlike when reading Emma. Of course, Georgina is meant to be imperfect, but I must say there were times I was disgusted by her for her gross negligence, blinders, and quick judgment. The first few pages of the story did lend a Jane Austen vibe, which had me initially thinking I had made the right choice. But the sick feeling in my gut that soon followed spoiled the mood. The cheating was easy to see coming, and unfortunately, that dragged out longer than I would have liked. I had not anticipated this would be a book about cheating and broken marriages, and while there is a place for those books, it is not my cup of tea, particularly if it is a big part of the story. I did expect the broken marriage part, but I anticipated there would be an actual effort put forth to save it instead of just relying upon luck. I was very unsatisfied with Georgina’s reactions. Her reaction to Nathan was not enough and yet too much at times. She was a horrible wife. Yes, he was a horrible husband, too, but she claimed to want to fix her marriage and did almost nothing. She hates him one minute and then has no animosity. It feels off. But it is her behavior with Meredith that really upset me. She wants to be all-in for women, but at what cost? By all accounts, Meredith was a problem. Her character later opens a little, but it feels entirely inauthentic and not inconsistent with all earlier accounts. It is nice to support other women, but not to give them special treatment just because of that fact. There is something to be said for earning respect, and much is lost in its absence. There were many seemingly important moments that this story skipped entirely. There are conversations and events that seem important but are never referenced. Some are later referenced or explained, but many get no explanation at all. It feels like a void. It does work out in the end, and I was most happy for Georgina, but it feels rather pathetic and unearned. Again, it is based mostly on good luck and timing. I did shed tears in this story, but none were for Georgina. By my count, there were six teary moments, all with Norah and Ari. I love how that played out (even if I was not a big fan of the lifestyle part). I think I was expecting Georgina’s happy ending to be something more like Norah’s when I agreed to read. IN THIS BOOK: Georgina, turning thirty-five, has the perfect life. Her perfect marriage is the envy of all. She works as a litigator; her husband Nathan works at the same firm in structured finance. Both made partner last year. She and Nathan met as first-years, and five years later, they married. They have had seven wonderful years of marriage together, and she is proud that she made a safe choice in him. Seeing her own parents’ passion end in divorce, she had decided that a heated romance only led to heartbreak. Safe is good, even if it is boring. She and Nathan have a routine, and it works perfectly well for her. With a life so perfect, Georgina has made it her mission to help others find the same happiness that she has. Georgina is proud to have matched her father and Buppha, who have been together for about twelve years now. She is also happy to have matched Norah, one of her two best friends. Her other best friend, Felix, had briefly dated Norah until Georgina intervened and set Norah straight. Norah has now been married to Ari for twelve years and they have three children together, but that marriage is not going well. Ari does not live up to Georgina’s standards, and she feels that Norah allows him to walk all over her. She wants to help her friend learn to stand up for herself, and she regrets her ill-fated match. She hopes to correct her earlier mistake and get Norah and Felix back together. Georgina had met both Norah and Felix at Fordham Law School, but Norah had dropped out at the end of the first year after getting pregnant and marrying Ari, another student at Fordham. Felix went on to work as an attorney but eventually burned out. He has since drifted from one relationship or idea to another. He has been with Alina for the last year, who is very much a free spirit. The match will never last, but since he is so unsure of his own beliefs, it will take some time for that relationship to fizzle out. Georgina hopes to help him along and get Felix and Norah back together through her machinations. When she suddenly is faced with the fact that her marriage is not great, Georgina is determined to fix it. Her client had been raving about how the lifestyle had saved her own marriage, so Georgina latches on to that idea as the answer to all her woes – and those of her friends. In no time at all, she manages to get herself, Nathan, Norah, Ari, Felix, and Alina invited to a lifestyle party. There is much to learn about the lifestyle, which is different things for different people. For some, it saves a marriage; for others, it does not. Much advice is offered to make the experience work, but unfortunately, Georgina fails to take most of the advice. She and her friends break the rules, and soon things get out of control. All their lives and relationships are on the line. As Georgina puts on the blinders to her own problems and inserts herself in the lives of those around her, she is eventually forced to face some hard facts. Her story eventually has a happy ending. Note that Georgina and Nathan met as first-years and married five years later. They have now been married seven years. That is twelve years together, but that puts her at twenty-three and one year into law school when they met. The timeline thus dictates that she and Nathan began dating in their second year of law school, not as first-year associates. Georgina and Nathan should have met when Norah and Ari married, according to the timeline. It is a little odd that her father and Buppha got together twelve years ago also, and that Norah and Ari have been married twelve years. Georgina’s story was difficult to read. She acts like a middle-aged teenager, and she makes so many mistakes that it is painful. The writing is excellent and the characters feel real much of the time, but the storytelling did not work for me. The story was not likable. There are many inconsistencies and holes in the story, in addition to odd conclusions that don’t add up. It is a wonder that nobody put the breaks on Georgina, who keeps going like the energizer bunny but without a true sense of her direction. She is most talented at avoidance. She also ignores all of the good advice given to her, which is rather maddening. For someone set on saving her marriage, she does her best to do everything wrong, which seems completely out of character for someone that lives on to-do lists. The plot is fairly simple. The story is told in third person in Georgina’s POV. I rate this book 3.5 stars. I received an advance copy of this book and am voluntarily leaving a review.
Publisher -> Anchor (June 7, 2022) Language -> English Hardcover -> 336 pages ISBN-10 -> 0593316355 ISBN-13 -> 978-0593316351 Item Weight -> 1.33 pounds Dimensions -> 6.4 x 1.2 x 9.53 inches Best Sellers Rank: #9,074 in Books (See Top 100 in Books) #23 in Comedic Dramas & Plays #35 in Lawyers & Criminals Humor #185 in Women's Divorce Fiction
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