Piling everything she owns into her car, Lanie leaves family and friends behind - all so her husband can realise his dreams of becoming a professional musician. But, somewhere in the eye of her personal hurricane, it hits Lanie that she once had dreams too. If only she could remember what they were. Fifteen years, three babies, and more pounds than she's willing to count after she said 'I do', Lanie longs desperately to feel like her old self again. It's time to fish her va-va-voom out of the nappy bin and find the woman she was before motherhood capsized her existence - harder said than done, when by finding herself she seems to be losing everything else in the process.
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About the Author
A former co-editor for the literary journal Gulf Coast, Katherine Center lives with her husband and two children in Houston, Texas.
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
By annie hughes
Format:Paperback
The crisp and pretty domestic image on the cover suggests a light domestic tale, but the description of a relationship not quite living up to its early promise hints at something deeper and more meaningful.
As students, Lanie and Peter fell madly in love. In a series of flashbacks Katherine Center gives us insights into their youthful romance, from the initial glimpses across a classroom to the "first of a lifetime of kisses". But Lanie confides "Here's what I need to confess about Peter and me: We were not exactly in love anymore. After fifteen years and three children together, we were often other places besides in it. We were under it sometimes. Or above it... or in arm's reach of it.... but not in it. Not lately."
It's a familiar situation - Lanie is exhausted by caring for three energetic boys under the age of four. She's still carrying a lot of baby-weight, wearing sweatpants and Peter's old shirts, grabbing a sandwich and yogurt on the go. Peter is teaching piano lessons to supplement his university teaching, and although suffering from writer's block, he's also trying to study and compose. They're both tired, stressed and frustrated - hardly a recipe for romance.
Katherine Center manages to create a cast of characters and a range of situations that you can't help but relate to. There are laugh out loud moments, and grab the tissues moments. Most importantly, you care what happens, which is so often the crux of a good book. At a time when I'm doing my best to clear out books, Everything is Beautiful has turned out to be a keeper.
As students, Lanie and Peter fell madly in love. In a series of flashbacks Katherine Center gives us insights into their youthful romance, from the initial glimpses across a classroom to the "first of a lifetime of kisses". But Lanie confides "Here's what I need to confess about Peter and me: We were not exactly in love anymore. After fifteen years and three children together, we were often other places besides in it. We were under it sometimes. Or above it... or in arm's reach of it.... but not in it. Not lately."
It's a familiar situation - Lanie is exhausted by caring for three energetic boys under the age of four. She's still carrying a lot of baby-weight, wearing sweatpants and Peter's old shirts, grabbing a sandwich and yogurt on the go. Peter is teaching piano lessons to supplement his university teaching, and although suffering from writer's block, he's also trying to study and compose. They're both tired, stressed and frustrated - hardly a recipe for romance.
Katherine Center manages to create a cast of characters and a range of situations that you can't help but relate to. There are laugh out loud moments, and grab the tissues moments. Most importantly, you care what happens, which is so often the crux of a good book. At a time when I'm doing my best to clear out books, Everything is Beautiful has turned out to be a keeper.
Format:Paperback
I have just finished this, what a wonderful book. I couldn't put it down. I picked it up thinking it was an autobiography, but it is a work a fiction. It is, above all, a love story, with plenty of hilarious family antics along the way. Thoroughly enjoyable.
Most Helpful Customer Reviews on Amazon.com (beta)
Amazon.com:
4.6 out of 5 stars
62 reviews
7 of 7 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars
Great Read!
20 Feb 2009
By Tender Moon
- Published on Amazon.com
Format:Hardcover
A wonderfully written, laugh out loud book about life, love, and motherhood. I don't think there's a mother alive who won't be able to identify in some way.
5 of 5 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars
honest, wise, and hysterically funny
17 Feb 2009
By Brené Brown
- Published on Amazon.com
Format:Hardcover
Katherine Center's writing is so honest that I spent a lot of time wincing and thinking "I'm so glad it's not just me." The book is also so funny that I found myself laughing hysterically in almost every chapter (which is rare for me).
Everyone is Beautiful is for every woman who has ever struggled to find, hold on to, and nurture authenticity in the midst of that wild, messy, wonderful thing called motherhood.
This is the perfect book club book. It's also the kind of book that you hand to a close friend and grin when you say, "I think you'll relate."
Everyone is Beautiful is for every woman who has ever struggled to find, hold on to, and nurture authenticity in the midst of that wild, messy, wonderful thing called motherhood.
This is the perfect book club book. It's also the kind of book that you hand to a close friend and grin when you say, "I think you'll relate."
6 of 7 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars
A Moving, Funny, Family Pageturner
19 Feb 2009
By Rachel Kramer Bussel
- Published on Amazon.com
Format:Hardcover
Katherine Center has done it again - created a novel about family, motherhood and sense of self that is gripping, humorous, and dramatic enough to keep me reading right up until the end. Lainie is much more than simply the downtrodden, neglected wife and mother (though she is also that) and her fight for one hour of gym time is the start of her growing up a little and discovering who she is beyond the confines of her family.
Where that discovery takes her is something Center lets unfold with the help of some characters who are quirky enough in and of themselves. One little white lie that will be horrific and family to anyone packing on a few pounds plays a major plot point later on (I don't want to give too much away). Lainie's attempts to hold her family and marriage together, while also finding her own artistic impulses and inspirations, is at the heart of this book. Tender and touching, it makes me hope there are many more such novels in Center's future.
Where that discovery takes her is something Center lets unfold with the help of some characters who are quirky enough in and of themselves. One little white lie that will be horrific and family to anyone packing on a few pounds plays a major plot point later on (I don't want to give too much away). Lainie's attempts to hold her family and marriage together, while also finding her own artistic impulses and inspirations, is at the heart of this book. Tender and touching, it makes me hope there are many more such novels in Center's future.
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4.6 out of 5 stars
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