Nora Goes Off Script
by Annabel Monaghan
read by Hillary Huber
Penguin Audio, 2022. 6 hours, 57 minutes.
Review written July 29, 2024, from a library eaudiobook.
Starred Review
First, thanks to my friend, the librarian Amanda Sealey, for mentioning this author in a post. Yes, it’s an unashamed romance novel, and this book left me feeling happy – and also happy about my own life and my choices. So that’s a win!
Nora, our heroine in this story writes movie scripts for the Romance Channel. They always follow a formula and always turn out happy. The formula involves a big-city person meeting a person from the country and at first they butt heads, but they fall in love. Big City Person gets involved with the small community and helps with planning an important community event. But then BCP leaves, the one left behind is heartbroken – but something gives BCP an epiphany and they show up at the community event and they kiss and live happily ever after.
Well, this book didn’t *exactly* follow that pattern. But it was pretty darn close. All the same, there was enough introspection and thoughtfulness that it got me thinking about my own life and what love means and standing on your own and learning to let go and all sorts of other good things. And that made it rise above the formula for a win.
As the book opens, a movie company is taking over Nora’s yard and tea house to make a movie. But this time, it’s not for the Romance Channel. After Nora’s husband left her two years ago, she wrote a script about it, not following the formula, not bringing the guy back. And a big Hollywood producer picked it up. So two of the biggest stars in Hollywood are portraying Nora and her husband.
And then the big star sticks around. At first they butt heads, but soon fall in love. He starts helping with a community event – Nora’s fifth grade son’s play. Things are going according to the script, until they don’t.
A lot of the power in this book comes when Nora feels like she’s the kind of person people leave, and she figures out how to cope, with help from her friends. It hadn’t been as bad when her husband left, because things had died between them long before. Nora’s coping doesn’t come easily or flippantly, and I appreciated that.
I think it speaks well of the book that it got me thinking of my own life. My own divorce was much much harder, because I was very much still in love with my husband. For me, it’s now almost 20 years later, and it was nice to think about all the freedom I have as a woman on my own with a career I love – and I enjoyed that this book ticked off those reflections. I’m glad the romance part turned out happier for Nora, though!
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Disclaimer: I am a professional librarian, but the views expressed are solely my own, and in no way represent the official views of my employer or of any committee or group of which I am part.
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