BOOKS: Mrs. Perfect by Jane Porter

"An Interesting Journey..."

MRS. PERFECT
by Jane Porter
(5 Spot/Hachette, 2008)

Trade Paperback, 420 pages, $13.99 U.S.

I will admit it was a shock to eagerly dive into the sequel to the fabulous ODD MOM OUT, only to find ourselves inside perfectly-perfect Taylor Young's pretty (empty) head; but, of course, she would be MRS. PERFECT and this one is from her perspective.

It does start empty, with fleeting, superficial and cringe-inducing meanderings on Taylor's perfect life (again, from her perspective): PTA, entertaining, weight issues, beauty regimen, shopping, managing a very large home, judgements and criticism of other women and, ultimately, in spite of it all, self-pity:

"And the problem -- if there is a problem, and I even hesitate to call it a problem -- is that this life, my life, looks good from the outside, but it's not so fun on the inside. On the inside, it's intense. On the inside, it's endless stress." (page 96)
[Poor Taylor, right?!]

Fortunately, it gets better. Something is wrong with Taylor's husband. He's acting all weird and then he abruptly decides to move the family from upscale Bellevue, Washington to Omaha, Nebraska. He goes ahead, leaving Taylor to finish out the school year with the kids. Taylor begins to realize the extent of their trouble when her credit card is declined while she is at lunch with a friend. (Turns out, her husband was fired from his executive job and has been out of work for months.)

Poor Taylor's situation goes from bad to worse, as her husband abandons her, the collection notices start rolling in and she has no money. We could almost cheer for Taylor as she begins the transformation from rich housewife to resourceful woman and mother who must figure out some way to survive and take care of her children: Taylor has a garage sale.

Next, Taylor gets a job -- a job as a go-to girl/office manager in advertising, employed by her once and not-quite-former PTA nemesis, ODD MOM OUT Marta Zinsser.

MRS. PERFECT turns out to be an in interesting journey, with Taylor's growth through challenge. She works to support herself and her daughters; she figures out a new lifestyle on her own; she moves from a very large, beautiful mansion to a dingy rental house and makes it a home. She triumphs and finds new depths of character as she re-settles her children, focusing on what they still have, rather than what they've lost and making the best of it.

While it was more fun inside ODD MOM OUT’s narrative with Marta, Jane Porter does a masterful job of portraying similar lives from two very different perspectives, making both books a must-read experience for women who can relate to the PTA lifestyle.