Reviewed by Claudia Moss for Readers' Favorite

With little time for herself between her family and the job, social worker Lindsey Chandler convinces herself to enroll in a “Mythology for Modern Times” course at The New School for Social Research. While there, she encounters Joan Archer, a seemingly kindred spirit, in a class full of “hippie young things.” The women fall into an easy friendship. Not long afterward, Lindsey is left heartbroken and emotionally needy when her successful lawyer husband, Ted, walks out after fifteen years of marriage. Joan, an estranged wife, quickly becomes more than a nurturing shoulder. At this point in her life, Lindsey is open to a rebound lesbian romance. Choosing to conceal the relationship, Lindsey has no idea what to do as her family life unravels in a heap around her. Zoey, her thirteen-year-old-daughter, is rebellious and sharp-tongued. Harried by the demands of her profession and fighting to hang on to normalcy for Zoey’s sake, Lindsey wonders if she’s made a mistake by choosing to seek comfort in a woman’s embrace.

Mary Gottschalk’s A Fitting Place is a well-constructed, beautifully written page-turner. Lindsey Chandler is a likable character, deftly developed, and a fitting protagonist to counter Ted in a trying divorce and Joan in a fight for separation. During the novel, she journeys into self to learn invaluable lessons. Every woman, married or single, would do well to read this provocative novel. Reading it, I was reminded to be present in my relationships, not to wait to be asked, to engage in meaningful exchanges with my significant others, to release hasty judgment, and never to keep secrets from my loved ones. Not everybody is out to get you. In the novel, Lindsey finds herself in a most “fitting place” when the dust clears as she discovers that not running away from her issues leads to liberation. After all, satisfying relationships cannot thrive on neediness. They require the connection rooted in shared interests, values, and genuine communication. I loved Gottschalk’s characterizations in Lindsey, Dee, Claire and Joan. The women were at once familiar, fully fleshed and memorable. In addition, I loved the panoramic strokes of the New York setting, Gottschalk’s vibrant, concise writing style and the very real depictions of women trapped by marriages in which they feel reluctant to speak up and guilty if they do speak up.