Alice is stuck. She’s just getting herself back together after a messy divorce that
has left her alone and shattered. The only thing Alice has ever done is be a supportive wife and mother to her college-aged daughter, who is currently in the Peace Corps. But now that Alice is on her own, she loses some weight and
tries to figure out the next step to take. On New Year’s Eve, on her way to watch the ball drop in New York City with her best friend, Maggie, she makes a wish to be younger. Although the wish doesn’t really come true, with the help of a dye job and some younger-looking clothes, forty-four-year-old Alice appears to be in her twenties.
Her appearance translates into a date with twenty-five-year-old Josh, and Alice decides that her young persona might help with getting a job as well. Can she actually live her life as if she is in her twenties again? Or has experience changed her too much?
Younger has an interesting premise, one that brings to light many of the issues of ageism in relationships and in business. Alice’s first-person point-of-view creates an intimate tone that allows the reader a bit of vicarious living
through with her. As a reader, it frustrated me that she felt the need to lie to the people around her for so long. I spent the whole book waiting for her to get caught, which detracted from the message of the story. Unfortunately, Alice’s age doesn’t create much maturity.
The portions of Younger that deal with Alice’s resurrected
publishing career are the most fascinating. Satran provides a balanced look at the issues faced by both young and mature women in the working world. There is no ideal situation, and the author shines when she discusses these. Younger is a well-written and executed chick lit/mom lit novel. If one can overlook some of the plot holes, it’s an enjoyable tale with some subtle lessons to be learned.