Review: The Change

Title: The Change

Author: Kirsten Miller

Publisher: 18th May 2022 by Harlequin Australia & MIRA

Pages: 470 pages

How I Read It: ARC book

Genre: contemporary, magical realism, feminism, mystery

My Rating: 5 cups

Synopsis:

Big Little Lies meets The Witches of Eastwick—a gloriously entertaining and knife-sharp feminist revenge fantasy about three women whose midlife crisis brings unexpected new powers—putting them on a collision course with the evil that lurks in their wealthy beach town. 

In the Long Island oceanfront community of Mattauk, three different women discover that midlife changes bring a whole new type of empowerment…

After Nessa James’s husband dies and her twin daughters leave for college, she’s left all alone in a trim white house not far from the ocean. In the quiet of her late forties, the former nurse begins to hear voices. It doesn’t take long for Nessa to realize that the voices calling out to her belong to the dead—a gift she’s inherited from her grandmother, which comes with special responsibilities.

On the cusp of 50, suave advertising director Harriett Osborne has just witnessed the implosion of her lucrative career and her marriage. She hasn’t left her house in months, and from the outside, it appears as if she and her garden have both gone to seed. But Harriet’s life is far from over—in fact, she’s undergone a stunning and very welcome metamorphosis.

Ambitious former executive Jo Levison has spent thirty long years at war with her body. The free-floating rage and hot flashes that arrive with the beginning of menopause feel like the very last straw—until she realizes she has the ability to channel them, and finally comes into her power.

Guided by voices only Nessa can hear, the trio of women discover a teenage girl whose body was abandoned beside a remote beach. The police have written the victim off as a drug-addicted sex worker, but the women refuse to buy into the official narrative. Their investigation into the girl’s murder leads to more bodies, and to the town’s most exclusive and isolated enclave, a world of stupendous wealth where the rules don’t apply. With their newfound powers, Jo, Nessa, and Harriet will take matters into their own hands…

My Thoughts

I highly anticipated this book for a number of reasons and not only did it meet my expectations but it exceeded them! What a book! Part social commentary, part feminine empowerment, part murder mystery, part magical realism - it has it all and does it all. I loved this book from start to finish with a gripping story that will make you laugh, make you angry but in the end affirm women’s rights, knowledge and power. 

“I’m nowhere near as attractive as I used to be”

“By attractive you mean young and thin? … attractive means you draw people to you … do you know how beautiful it is to be alive? Do you have any idea how few people really are?”

Initially I was attracted to this book because of the age of the lead characters, those going through ‘The Change’ in more ways than one. The further I got into the book the more I realised how cleverly Kirsten had used the concept of change in multiple ways. I was thrilled to learn that women of this age bracket were not only highlighted but also given power - representative of embracing this stage of life in redefining who they wish to be. This book should be read by all women and who would then look forward to this stage of life as they finally bloom into their true selves. This is well encapsulated by three incredible female leads who, though seemingly so very different, come together to prove a powerful force to reckon with. 

‘For decades, they'd been dutifully following the map the world laid out for them. School led to work. Dating led to marriage and then to motherhood. But now those milestones were behind them, and they'd entered uncharted territory. Somewhere in the distance lay the final destination, but that was decades away, and a featureless wasteland seemed to stretch in between. These women, who'd done everything that had ever been asked of them now felt forsaken. Just when they were reaching the height of their powers, they felt like life had led them astray.’

What happily surprised me with this book was how multifaceted the plot line was. A serial killer story interwoven with strong feminist themes and the power of wisdom through the ages. There are also strong views on the patriarchal society we live in and breaking the glass ceiling. Kirsten is to be commended on successfully and succinctly bringing together a cast of characters and themes that just gel together so very well. The Change will have you laughing one minute and then horrified the next with the much darker themes that rear their ugly head. To achieve such balance is really quite extraordinary with the cherry on top being a story that was so very ready to be told. Kirsten confronts sexual harassment in the workplace, trafficking of young girls, gender discrimination and the constraints of a society that often fails to recognise half of its population. 

‘I wish it hadn't taken so long for me to realize it was there. I feel like I spent the first twenty years of my life trying to figure shit out. The second twenty, I wasted on the wrong people … Then I reached this stage of my life, and all of that fell away. For the first time in my life, I was alone. And for the first time in my life, I knew what 

the hell I was doing.’

I would highly recommend everyone to read this book. However, it is surely not to be missed by those who feel life has forgotten them once they reach a certain age. Dark yet inspirational, confrontational yet challenging, funny yet horrific - this book surely has it all! The Change deserves to be embraced and shouted out from the rooftops - it is original, exciting and a wonder. A must read for 2022!

"Her left hand clutched a bottle of champagne. 

"Are we celebrating? " Nessa asked. 

"Every day is a celebration," Harriett responded. "Grab a glass and get comfortable. I've got a story to tell you."

This review is based on a complimentary copy from the publisher in exchange for an honest review. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own. The quoted material may have changed in the final release.