• The Restaurant Critic's Wife
4
The Restaurant Critic's Wife Book Cover The Restaurant Critic's Wife
Elizabeth LeBan
Women's fiction
Lake Union Publishing
January 5, 2016
Hardcover, paperback, Kindle
316

Lila Soto has a master’s degree that’s gathering dust, a work-obsessed husband, two kids, and lots of questions about how exactly she ended up here.

In their new city of Philadelphia, Lila’s husband, Sam, takes his job as a restaurant critic a little too seriously. To protect his professional credibility, he’s determined to remain anonymous. Soon his preoccupation with anonymity takes over their lives as he tries to limit the family’s contact with anyone who might have ties to the foodie world. Meanwhile, Lila craves adult conversation and some relief from the constraints of her homemaker role. With her patience wearing thin, she begins to question everything: her decision to get pregnant again, her break from her career, her marriage—even if leaving her ex-boyfriend was the right thing to do. As Sam becomes more and more fixated on keeping his identity secret, Lila begins to wonder if her own identity has completely disappeared—and what it will take to get it back.

 

The Restaurant Critic’s Wife:

This book makes me hungry.

Stealing from Forrest Gump:

Forrest Gump Life is like a box of chocolates quote-8x6[1]

Reviewing books is a lot like that, too.free copy

 Each page of The Restaurant Critic’s Wife was an unexpected moment.  Lila was a successful “firefighter” for a worldwide hotel chain until she unexpectedly met her husband, Sam. A move to a new city and two kids later, Lila is trying to find balance and purpose in her chaotic life.

From disbelief at the extreme’s her husband would go to visit restaurants anonymously to the deja vu of taking a toddler and newborn out for the first time, I totally got into Lila’s struggles. My kids are way past the diaper stage, but I can still remember going from working professional to stay at home mom and wondering what my identity was.

And just like that box of chocolates, some choices are pleasant and sweet and with others you want to put the half eaten piece back in the box.  If you’re lucky, like Lila, you’ll ultimately find the right balance between the two.