Saving Virginia: A novel

by Melinda Edwards

Virginia Goodall is a control freak. And she's miserable. Fresh off the stinging defeat of a divorce, her career as an attorney in transition, and an impending empty nest that looms large with her children's departure from home, she's dubious about life without her familiar roles. If she is not the long-suffering wife, the devoted mother, or the benevolent boss-who is she? Faced with the realization that control may not actually be on the true path to authentic happiness, she's at a crossroads. If she can't control everyone and everything around her, what's to keep her life from spiraling into chaos? What's the point? Virginia has too many questions and not enough answers. Somewhere on her path from human doing to human being, an epiphany awaits-but can she let go long enough to find it? Ultimately, Saving Virginia is a love story about learning to love yourself, others, and the world.

202 pages, Paperback

First published May 27, 2014

About the author

Melinda Edwards is a Consultant Clinical Psychologist at the Evelina Children's Hospital, Guys and St Thomas' NHS Foundation Trust in London. She has worked as a paediatric psychologist for 20 years, and has a wide range of experience across different medical specialities. She is a member of the Paediatric Psychology Network Committee, the national special interest group for paediatric psychologists in the UK.

Reviews

[Kim Wingerei · Rating 4 out of 5]

Well written and surprisingly entertaining considering it contains no murders, no wars, no unsolved mysteries, not even a tiny little villain in sight! The book is about a very real and quite normal woman and the the way she faces challenges in her life. Her challenges are also quite normal, divorce, work changes, children, stuff most of us encounter along life's journey and deal with in different ways. Virginia deals with it in her own unique way, embraces change and comes out the other end as not so much a changed woman, but maybe having discovered who she always was in the first place?

Virginia's story is also a refreshingly quick read, no words wasted on the insignificant or trivial. I learnt something about life in general and a new country, Bhutan, in particular. Read it yourself to discover what an amazing place it is. It is now on my bucket list!