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Summary
Summary
A delightfully funny novel packing a clever punch, from the author of the New York Times bestselling Julie and Romeo
A mom in her early fifties, Clover knows she no longer turns heads the way she used to, and she's only really missed when dinner isn't on the table on time. Then Clover wakes up one morning to discover she's invisible--truly invisible. She panics, but when her husband and son sit down to dinner, nothing is amiss. Even though she's been with her husband, Arthur, since college, her condition goes unnoticed. Her friend Gilda immediately observes that Clover is invisible, which relieves Clover immensely--she's not losing her mind after all!--but she is crushed by the realization that neither her husband nor her children ever truly look at her. She was invisible even before she knew she was invisible.
Clover discovers that there are other women like her, women of a certain age who seem to have disappeared. As she uses her invisibility to get to know her family and her town better, Clover leads the way in helping invisible women become recognized and appreciated no matter what their role. Smart and hilarious, with indomitable female characters, Calling Invisible Women will appeal to anyone who has ever felt invisible.
Praise for Jeanne Ray's novels:
"A captivating comic romp...Wise, winsome, and refreshingly optimistic." -- People
"A comic gem of a love story...completely entertaining." -- The Denver Post
"At last, someone has written a love story for and about grown-ups! A smart, sexy celebration of the timeless nature of romance." --A. Manette Ansay
"A little jewel of a book." -- The Philadelphia Inquirer
"Love and desire will not be denied in this lighthearted inversion of a classic story. Filled with the delicate sweetness of fresh flowers and new love, Julie and Romeo is a smart, funny, touching book. Where has Jeanne Ray been hiding all these years?" --Alison McGhee, author of Shadow Baby
"A charming, smart love story with interesting characters and great laughs." -- The Christian Science Monitor
Reviews (1)
Kirkus Review
In this slim comic treatise on the social status of middle-aged women, Clover Hobart disappears. It had been happening metaphorically for a long time--her job as stealth reporter for the newspaper had slowly morphed into a weekly gardening column, her husband barely notices her and her grown children take her for granted. No one hits on her anymore. And then one morning she wakes up invisible. Her body has mass and weight, but she is shockingly see-through. When her sleepy son Nick doesn't notice, she rushes over to her friend Gilda, who thankfully (Clover's not crazy!) perceives that she's not there. Strangely, or not, no one seems to notice she's invisible--they see her clothes, hear her voice. That her head and hands are missingwell, it only reaffirms what Clover's been feeling for a while: she's simply disappeared. Luckily she comes upon an ad for the next meeting of invisible women at the downtown Sheraton. In the conference room Clover is met with a circle of chairs, disembodied testimonials and a shocking revelation--these women slip out of their clothes to become completely unseen, and do some rather interesting things. She also discovers that they've all been on the same three medications--for menopause, bone density and depression--manufactured by a big pharmaceutical, which tacitly admits something may be going on with this particular combination of drugs. With her support group, Clover begins relishing her invisibility. She's stopped bullies at the local high school, foiled a bank robbery and prevented her son from obtaining an awful tattoo. She just wishes her husband, a good guy in all other ways, would notice. It seems there are a lot of invisible women out there, but they can't get help unless they are heard and seen. Ray's novel could have easily slipped into a series of jokes, but suitably she creates substantial characters for this whimsy. Though the novel has a softer bite than the best satires (Fay Weldon's, for one), it offers a lot of witty charm. ]] Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
