Time of My Life

Jillian is much like many other women in their mid-thirties. She’s married. She has a child. She has a nice house in the suburbs and nice SUV. And occasionally she asks herself, “What would I do differently if I could do it all over again?” The only difference is Jillian DOES get a chance to do it all over again. One minute she is a discontented thirty-something housewife and mother wondering what would have happened if she hadn’t broken up with her ex-boyfriend, Jackson. The next minute she blacks out in the middle of a massage, and wakes up seven years in the past. And, oh yes, she’s in her ex-boyfriend’s bed! Jillian is determined to make her life turn out differently. Hindsight is twenty-twenty, and Jillian thinks that this time around she can side step the many fights she and Jackson had and thus correct the imperfections in their relationship. Hindsight is also very helpful in the advertising business! Before she quit her job to be a full-time mom, Jillian was an up and comer at an ad agency. And with her knowledge of the future she can foresee just what the clients want. She is quickly on the fast track to a promotion. It would seem that Jillian now has the life she wished for, but the past isn’t exactly as wonderful as she had remembered it. Every time she holds her tongue to avoid an argument with Jackson, Jillian loses a little piece of her self-respect. And she misses her eighteen month old daughter, Katie, more than she could have ever imagined back when she was a suburban mom cleaning vomit out of her shiny SUV. And there’s another glitch that Jillian didn’t foresee. She keeps running into Henry, her husband from the future. Jillian’s resolve to change her life’s path begins to waver. She doesn’t know what she wants anymore, and she wonders if she lost something she’ll never get back again when she chose to relive her past.

At first this book really disturbed me. Jillian has my life in many ways. I too am a thirty-something stay-at-home wife and mom with a young daughter, a house in the suburbs and, yes, an SUV too (although mine isn’t very shiny any more). I asked myself, “Why does Jillian hate her life so much? What’s wrong with it!? How could she wish she did things differently? Doesn’t she realize she wouldn’t have her daughter if she had!? Stupid woman!” But then I began to learn more about Jillian. Her mother abandoned the family when she was nine, and she hasn’t seen or heard from her since then. Jillian hasn’t ever really faced how her mother’s abandonment affected her, so she has no idea the influence it has over her decisions. About half way through the book I began to see that Jillian’s life with Henry and Katie isn’t her problem. Her life with Jackson isn’t the problem either. Jillian’s problem is Jillian. I have long been a believer in the “everything happens for a reason theory”. So I was very interested to see if this book supported or refuted that theory. You’ll have to read it to find out though.

This author has a very interesting writing style. It is very thought-like. Some of her writing is so long and winding that one can actually get lost halfway through a sentence! I thought the author’s use of parentheses was very amusing, too. Here’s an example. Jillian narrates, “I’ve flipped over the tan fleece blanket that (slightly) covers our (horrid) couch.” I also really liked the way the author peppered the book with snippet stories about Jillian’s life in the future with Henry and Katie even though most of the story takes place during Jillian’s trip to the past. To sum up, Time of My Life was not anywhere near the depressing read I thought it could be. I should have known this. My friend Darla lent it to me. She is a new mom too and so sweet and bubbly; she would never give me a depressing book about a woman who hates being a mother! I’m with Darla on this one. Time of My Life is a nice, fun read. It’s light and easy, but thought provoking, too. I recommend this to my female friends who love the “chick lit” genre. This is a great one to curl up with before going to bed!