Review Rewind: Act Two by Kimberly Stuart

New Yorker Sadie Maddox is the toast of the classical music world and the queen of all she surveys in short, she's a bit of a diva. But lately her CD sales are sagging, not to mention parts of her anatomy. Maybe it's time for a change. Something new. A second act. So when her agent suggests she take on a professorship at a small liberal arts college, Sadie decides to give it a go. Ivy-covered walls, worshipful students . . . oh yes, the ivory tower has its appeal. And she needs the money. Except the college is in rural Iowa, and the closest thing to designer clothes is the western wear shop down on Main Street. Sadie's colleagues are intimidated, her students aren't impressed, and she has to live far too close to farm animals. And when Sadie meets Mac, a large animal veterinarian, she assumes they have nothing in common he is, after all, a country music fan. But when the semester ends, Sadie packs up and decamps for the city that never sleeps . . . and finds she can't, either. This laugh-out-loud novel about second chances will have readers cheering as Sadie struggles to find her life's second act.

MYView: I thought I was over the big-city-girl-goes-country stories, but Kimberly Stuart breathes new life into this plot by immersing her character, an out-of-work, over-the-hill classical music singer into academia. Through Sadie’s diva-licious eyes, I was able to get a sneak peak into the dog-eat-dog, competitive life styles in both the music and academic scene. How fun!

What I didn’t think was fun nor funny was how forty didn’t seem like the new twenty in Sadie’s music career. Bah! How awful to be washed up and looked over so early in life. It’s funny hearing my son talk about basketball players being too old, needing to retire. And they are not even forty yet! Can you tell I’m approaching forty? I’m not saying how close to forty. Could be in a couple of months or a couple of years, but forty isn’t old!

If you want to put up your feet and chuckle a bit, pick up Act Two: A Novel in Perfect Pitch to follow Sadie as she learns to reinvent herself for the second act in her life.

Review first posted: April 28, 2008.

With all the walks down memory lane we've been experiencing with the deaths of beloved family members and celebrities, I've decided to rewind a couple of my reviews. Also, I'd like to look at it as an early birthday gift to myself.