Review: Stella Makes Good by Lisa Heidke

Stella Makes Good

by Lisa Heidke

Stella Sparks is on good terms with her ex-husband, Terry, despite the fact that he left her for a younger woman. Stella’s philosphical – the marriage had run it’s course, they remain friends and the well-being of their kids is central to both of them.

Stella’s two closest friends, Carly and Jesse, envy her togetherness and wish they could emulate it. Jesse’s husband, Steve, is a control freak who’s driving her crazy, but she has two small children and can’t see a way out. Carly, meanwhile, suspects her husband is having an affair and isn’t sure what to do about it.

Stella’s life takes a distinctly upward turn when she meets a handsome, apparently single – no ring, anyway – father at her son’s school speech night. For Carly and Jesse, however, the search for happiness and fulfilment proves more elusive…

With a healthy dose of humour and romance Stella Makes Good is about the games we play, the secrets we keep, the unpredictable nature of life and the importance of female friendship.

This is another great chick-lit book by a superb Australian Woman author, she manages to convey the complexities and and confusion that life throws at us, from being in a family, involved in friendships and living life among other people close to us. She explores how different actions can possibly effect the lives of ourselves and other people; do we share secrets’ we know?, do we keep them to ourselves for the sake of somebody else’s life and let them learn them in their own time?, if we share them what is the best time and place to do so?

The story is based on Stella’s life, we join her shortly after her husband Terry has left her for a younger. more bustier version, but she is coping OK, she is happy with her life and wishes Terry all the best with his new lover and doesn’t hold any grudges. We meet her best friends Carly and Jesse when they are on a semi-annual girl’s night out, the night out isn’t all they expected it to be. Jesse leaves early to go home to relieve the baby-sitter, as Steve (her husband) is ‘working late’ and can’t make it back in time, the other 2 girls are invited out to a ‘party’ with some handsome men that they meet at the pub. The party isn’t quite what they were expecting and they discover a secret that they wish they had never seen. It is this secret that becomes the main focus point of the story and how it has affected everyone’s lives in the past and how they can best deal with it in the present and future.

While trying to get their head around the secret we get an insight into the modern woman’s life, how being a mother, wife, friend, worker, empty-nester, housekeeper, daughter-in-law etc effects our lives on a daily basis. The story explores how each person may deal with similar situations and either read too much into something, or just choose to ignore the signs in order to cope with the day to day grind of living their lives.

I really enjoyed this book, and would definitely recommend it to women in their 30’s-40’s.

Published by: Allen and Unwin

Recommended Retail Price $29.99

Recommended Age:18+

My Rating: 4.5/5