Genre: Women’s
Fiction
Description:
“When Mazie Reynolds was a young girl, she believed monsters lived
under her bed. Now a grown, married woman, she discovers one sleeps in her bed.
Mazie schemes to save herself and her daughter. Her plan will work, if
she can out-maneuver the monster who is a master of manipulation and control.
She’s got one thing going for her, the one thing she truly owns. Mazie has
moxie to the bone. But will it be enough?”
Author:
The author of three novels and two short story collections, Julie
Frayn lives in Calgary, Alberta where she’s a senior manager at a historical
theme park. Her novel It isn’t Cheating
if He’s Dead was the top vote getter in the Chick-Lit/Women’s Fiction
category of the 2014 BigAl’s Books and Pals Readers’ Choice Awards.
For more, visit Frayn’s website, or catch Ms. Frayn on Facebook.
Appraisal:
I liked Mazie Baby for
several very different reasons. The main one is the portrayal of living with an
abusive husband. The family dynamics between Mazie, her daughter, and husband
rang true and gave me insight into the difficulties someone in that situation
has in surviving or getting out. It made for some intense drama as does the
story of what Mazie finally does when she realizes the time has come for a
change.
However, it isn’t all unrelenting drama and vicarious stress for the
reader, Mazie goes through what I’ll describe as an adventure. Her next door
neighbor, who helps Mazie along the way, also provides a bit of comic relief.
Just as with It isn’t Cheating if He’s
Dead, another of Frayn’s books I’ve read, I loved Frayn’s characters. They
hit the right balance between being realistic (not unlike people you know), and
unique, so you aren’t sure where they’re going to take the story. An excellent
read.
FYI:
Uses Canadian spelling conventions (a cross between the US and UK). Some
adult language.
Added for
Reprise Review: Mazie Baby
by Julie Frayn was a nominee in the Women’s Fiction category for B&P 2015
Readers' Choice Awards. Original review ran September 26, 2014
Format/Typo
Issues:
No significant issues.
Rating:
***** Five Stars
Reviewed
by: BigAl
Approximate
word count: 75-80,000 words
1 comment:
One of my favorite books!
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