Looking For Wonderland by Jane AinslieAuthor Website Amazon (UK) Amazon.com Endeavour Press (e-book), 2015
179 Pages
BLURB
Welcome to the world of Alice. At forty four, she's a nurse who is burnt to a crisp by her job, has a family which makes dysfunctional look normal, and thinks valium should be handed out like lollies.
Alice knows things have to change. Calling on her two best friends for advice, they decide to try and find their life purpose. Alice hopes Pilates, yoga, and Oprah The DVD Box Set, may have some answers. Or does Dr. Botha, the hospital's Infectious Disease Consultant, hold the key to Alice's future?
As things begin to look brighter, a life changing event sends Alice tumbling down the rabbit hole, leaving her to wonder if she has missed her chances for happiness. Will she ever find her Wonderland?
OPENING SENTENCE
It's 6:45am on Saturday morning when I pull into the car park of St Mary's hospital.
REVIEW
Looking for Wonderland was a fun, entertaining read. I really enjoyed it. It's a very different thing than the stuff I usually read. I prefer my fiction to be on the dark side. It's been a long time, perhaps too long since I read something light and fluffy. Not too light and fluffy though. Looking for Wonderland does have plenty of drama towards the end. Vanilla drama. No dead bodies or demons. I really liked Alice as a character. She was very real and easy to relate to. I've felt like her at times, quite recently in fact. I loved the way the novel explores the dynamics of dysfunctional family relationships. Alice's mother came across as a horrible, harsh person. Every family has one. In my family it's my dad's older sister. She has a reputation as being very abrasive and hard. Funnily enough, I'm the only person who gets on with her. I get on great with her. What does that say about me? I saw my aunt in Alice's mother. I liked Johan. His romance with Alice was sweet but not OTT. I can't stand simpering lovey-dovey romance. I liked the way Looking for Wonderland ended. It was a happy ending but also without being OTT. I find happy-ever-after ending's nauseating. Looking for Wonderland managed to avoid this while finishing on an optimistic note. I'd highly recommend this book.
