As with anything else I've read or seen of Miller's, this novel disappoints. The characters are one-note, the plot is thin, and yet I kept reading it, hoping for better. Don't: it's not coming. ( )

I absolutely hated this book,most people seem to like it but maybe I am old fashioned as it seemed to me to be more pornagraphic than anything and I gave it away! ( )

The Private Lives of Pippa Lee was a slow-starter for me - it took me a couple of weeks to make it through part 1, not because the writing is especially dense or difficult, but because the first fifty-ish pages barely captured my interest. However, other reviews suggested that the novel was worth persevering with, and I am very glad indeed that I did.

The novel opens with Pippa moving into a retirement community with her much-older husband, Herb. Decades younger than all the other residents, Pippa is alternately smugly aware of her relative youth and dismayed to be a middle-aged woman so accelerated into old-age. Pippa seems to have been the model housewife, catering to Herb's every need and providing him with bright, successful children. As Pippa's grasp on the present wavers, she begins to tell the story of her life from its inception.

This, for me, is where the novel really picked up. Pippa's journey from pampered child to perfect housewife - embracing a wayward adolescence - is fascinating. Pippa herself seems something of a cipher, buffeted from one experience to another but somewhat powerless as an actor in her own life. She is repeatedly clothed by other characters, moulded into a particular role according to their desire until the time comes to move on, to assume another identity. The novel documents the emergence of Pippa from these influences, the transition from moving through others' stories into living one of her own.

Miller's writing is detached, even in the middle sections which use first-person narration, and this does make it difficult at times to care about the characters. Not everyone will find Pippa a compelling character due to this, and the way in which her presence within the text is often difficult to grasp. However, despite my early misgivings, I found this a well-written and ultimately rewarding novel. ( )

Pippa Lee har vært gift med den tretti år eldre ektemannen Herb i en mannsalder. Nå nærmer hun seg 50 år, og Herb har solgt huset deres slik at de kan flytte til et bokompleks for eldre. Dette bokomplekset kalles "Rynkeby" på folkemunne.

Pippa kan på alle mulige måter se tilbake på et lykkelig samliv med Herb, hvor hun har gjort alt som har stått i hennes makt på å fremstå som en perfekt hustru for Herb og en god mor for deres to barn. Men med fremtidsutsikter i Rynkeby, skjer det noe dramatisk med henne. Skjønt der sartere sjeler kanskje ville ha fått et nervøst sammenbrudd, begynner Pippa i stedet i reflektere over hva som er årsaken til at hun har endt opp akkurat her.

Gjennom tilbakeblikk til sin ville ungdomstid - en periode som var villere enn for de aller, aller fleste - finner hun på et vis svar på hva som gjorde at hun foretok de valg hun gjorde. Og det var først på dette stadiet at boka tok av for mitt vedkommende. For maken til hemmeligheter som Pippa skjuler skal man lete lenge etter. Spennende var det også å lese om hennes distanserte forhold til moren - noe som har satt sitt preg på Pippas forhold til sin egen datter. På veien mot det mer konforme livet, har imidlertid Pippa mistet mye av seg selv. Men er det for sent å finne tilbake til dette, selv i en alder av 50?

Dette er en herlig bok om å finne seg selv. Spennende og fargerike personskildringer krydret historien og gjorde den i tillegg morsom å lese. ( )

it took me a while to get into this book. The first part when pippa & herb are settling into the retirement village wasn't keeping my attention. However, this merely sets the scene for the rest of the book. Once the story delved into Pippa's past, I was hooked. It was so well written. ( )