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Is There Happiness in Slow Love? - A Book Review

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Tiaras and Trucks

Thursday, September 8, 2011

Is There Happiness in Slow Love? - A Book Review


What would you do with a year?  

Dominique Browning’s memoir, Slow Love, explores what happens when an editor-in-chief loses her job and is forced to reevaluate her attachments and general outlook on life.

Two facets of Slow Love may irk readers.

When Ms. Browning loses her job, she isn't in a dire financial situation.  She mentions she has spent years living frugally.  However, her relative frugality includes owning two homes and having enough money to take a year off from work, except for freelance consulting jobs.

In my opinion, her financial security doesn’t change the emotional impact of losing her job; someone with such an all-encompassing career may have an even more difficult time accepting a job loss, because so much of her self-worth was tied to that career. 

I had a more difficult time understanding her dysfunctional relationship with her legally separated boyfriend, Stroller.  I expected Slow Love to be an intensely personal journey, a breaking down of personal perceptions, and I found an inordinate amount of time spent on her relationship.

Browning’s memoir spoke to me on a visceral level.  When she writes about playing the piano and her relationship with music, her time in her garden, the tiny sea creatures in the vastness of the ocean, her prose is achingly descriptive and evocative.

Towards the end of Slow Love, Browning states, “Stroller doesn’t even come into my thoughts very often anymore.”  I only wish he wasn’t such a force throughout the majority of the memoir.

Join the BlogHer Book Club discussion on Dominique Browning's Slow Love

If you haven't yet read the book, you can read an excerpt, meet the author, or share your opinions about shaking a toxic relationship.

This was a paid review for BlogHer Book Club.  
I received a copy of Slow Love to read and review and was compensated for this post, but all the opinions expressed are my own.

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4 Comments:

  • At September 8, 2011 at 11:21 AM , Anonymous Heather Bush said...

    The very idea of Stroller being a real person makes my skin crawl, but worse to me is the insane amount of pages that she devotes to him. Her love for her sons almost pales in comparison to the undeserved love that she has for Stroller. 

     
  • At September 8, 2011 at 11:35 AM , Anonymous Angela said...

    I understand that it is her journey, and I don't want to judge it, because I guess she needed to work through that part of her life, too, but so much of the book focused on him :(  I liked the parts without him much, much better.

     
  • At September 9, 2011 at 12:05 AM , Anonymous Kimberly said...

    I think I would expect it to be more about her as well. Though it wasn't what you expected did you still enjoy it?

     
  • At September 9, 2011 at 12:17 AM , Anonymous Angela said...

    There were parts I really enjoyed.  Also, it ended really beautifully, so my overall impression is more positive than I expected it to be in the middle of the book.  Her writing is lovely, which draws me in; the relationship is just infuriating for so many reasons, and that tainted it for me a little.  (But it's a quick read, so if you're interested, I would say it's worth it!)

     

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