The Perfect Comeback of Caroline Jacobs by Matthew Dicks is part of the SheReads Fall book selections. SheReads is a community of bloggers that as a group help promote specific books. We share reviews, thoughts, and our feelings after reading books suggested to us by the wonderful people who run the SheReads Organization.
Published September 8, 2015 by St. Martin’s Press
Caroline Jacobs is a wimp, someone who specializes in the
suffering of tiny indignities in silence. And the big ones, too. But when the
twinset wearing president of the local Parent Teacher Organization steps out of
line one too many times, Caroline musters the courage to assert herself. With a
four-letter word, no less.
Caroline's outburst has awakened something in her. Not just gumption, but a realization that the roots of her tirade can be traced back to something that happened to her as a teenager, when her best friend very publicly betrayed her. So, with a little bit of bravery, Caroline decides to go back to her home town and tell off her childhood friend. She busts her daughter out of school, and the two set off to deliver the perfect comeback . . . some twenty-five years later. But nothing goes as planned. Long buried secrets rise to the surface, and Caroline finds she has to face much more than one old, bad best friend.
Caroline's outburst has awakened something in her. Not just gumption, but a realization that the roots of her tirade can be traced back to something that happened to her as a teenager, when her best friend very publicly betrayed her. So, with a little bit of bravery, Caroline decides to go back to her home town and tell off her childhood friend. She busts her daughter out of school, and the two set off to deliver the perfect comeback . . . some twenty-five years later. But nothing goes as planned. Long buried secrets rise to the surface, and Caroline finds she has to face much more than one old, bad best friend.
My Thoughts…
Quiet, meek Caroline blows up at a PTO meeting. This starts a chain of events that are so not
Caroline’s way. She decides to go
back to her hometown and tell her high school bully off. What happens is sometimes funny, sometimes
serious, and always very entertaining.
What I loved most about this story is the relationship
between Caroline and her daughter. At
the time of beginning of the journey Caroline and her daughter were barely
talking, they were juts co-existing.
During the road trip to Caroline’s mom’s house their dynamic
changed. It starts with Caroline
opening up to Polly, her daughter. She
shares her history and what made her into the mousy woman that she is currently. It was nice that Polly was a captive
audience; it is hard to get away in a moving car. By sharing her stories Polly starts sharing
some of her stories. They both
connect in a way that they may not have had they not taken this road trip together.
The fact that she wanted to tell her bully off proved to me
that she was not as meek as she thought she was. Telling a bully off is probably something
all of us have wanted to do once upon a time or at least we would like to go
back and change something in our past.
The fact that Caroline shares her plan with Polly and Polly jumps on
board with the plan makes it all the more likely to happen. While you will have to read the book to
find out how the plan plays out, let me tell you that I did not see what happen
coming. I loved how Polly played into
it.
I was intrigued when this came across my email. Very rarely do I see a book written by a man
from a woman’s point of view. Matthew
Dick did a great job of being a good mom, wife, daughter, sister, and best
friend. He was able to show all the
different sides of Caroline and not making her seem like a whiny done wrong
woman. I found this so refreshing.
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