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"What to do now, I don't know. You see, I no longer love my husband."
A thirty-something journalist living in Brooklyn, Heather Chaplin has to acknowledge the obvious: her marriage is over, and her career is stagnating. When she summons the courage to leave her husband behind, her life turns into an emotional roller coaster. She is soon dating a cast of characters in New York until an impulsive trip to Ireland thrusts her into the orb of a magnetic man named Kieran. But just when she believes herself to be on the brink of what she'd always wanted, a series of setbacks throw her into a volatile spiral downwards. Her independence becomes a frightening prison. As she struggles to find her way back to the world she once knew, she must confront the reality of the past to find her way to the possibilities of her future.
Narrated with a uniquely provocative voice, Reckless Years is a raw, propulsive debut: unfailingly profound and impossible to put down. Chaplin writes about all the things women aren't supposed to say or feel: rage, manipulation, sexual desire—even madness. "Dramatic, adventurous, and heartbreaking" (Kirkus Reviews), yet ultimately redemptive, it is the story of losing yourself in the middle of a comeback and finding yourself in the most surprising of places.
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Creators
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Publisher
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Release date
July 11, 2017 -
Formats
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OverDrive Listen audiobook
- ISBN: 9781508237426
- File size: 246811 KB
- Duration: 08:34:11
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Languages
- English
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Reviews
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Starred review from September 18, 2017
Journalist Chaplin (Smartbomb) had been married for 13 years when she realized she no longer loved her husband and began a diary that would evolve into this thoughtful, moving memoir. Garnering her courage, she ended her relationship—which was emotionally abusive and codependent—and set out to experience life on her own again at the age of 35. In her untethered state she found a refreshing freedom and took advantage of her situation by ramping up her freelance writing career. At one point, she traveled to Ireland to write a piece on Dublin; there she met a documentary filmmaker and had a steamy but anguished affair. Her story is exhilarating and full of extraordinary people; she experiences inflated highs followed by dark and, at times, suicidal lows. Her self-reflection ranges from “You rule, HC!” to “I do not like myself.... And maybe I’m not as cool and awesome as I thought.” Chaplin’s writing is spirited and multilayered, and readers will be drawn into this deepening tale of love, sex, confusion, buried family secrets, and—as the title suggests—“madness.” The sheer force of Chaplin’s relentless passion for the magnificence of life makes this a fascinating narrative.
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