Out of the Clear Blue Sky, published in 2022, is a women’s fiction novel about two women who make the same mistake with the same guy. What either of these women saw in this dork is beyond me. Nevertheless, Out of the Clear Blue Sky was a pleasure to read.
Lillie and Melissa are nothing alike. Lillie is an average-in-appearance, 40ish nurse-midwife whose eighteen-year-old son is about to move across the country for college. She has been married to her husband for nineteen years and thinks their relationship is great. Melissa is a thirty-year-old rich and beautiful widow who is raising her twelve-year-old niece. Lillie and Melissa’s lives collide when Lillie’s husband leaves her for Melissa.
When Lillie’s husband tells her he wants a divorce, it’s in a crowded restaurant the night before their son’s high school graduation. Before he tells her about his affair, he makes sure to tell her that she hasn’t been a great wife and that he wants joy in his life. This is the first she’s hearing of his unhappiness and is stunned. Then he hits her with Melissa, and Lillie just gets angry. Melissa gets her man, but it turns out her new groom is not the man she hoped he would be.
The man in question is known to Lillie as Brad. He has always been called Brad. Then Melissa comes along, and he suddenly wants to be called Bradley. Ladies, a man who changes his mind about his name is a man who will change his mind about anything, including his love for you. Take cover. Furthermore, based on his bathroom habits, Brad/Bradley is not worth the effort. According to Lillie, Brad is incapable of seeing or cleaning the frequent smears of feces he leaves in the toilet. According to Melissa, Bradley clogs the toilet every morning with his giant dumps. Brad/Bradley doesn’t need a wife. He needs a housekeeping service and a plumber.
When Brad leaves her, Lillie is more angry than heartbroken. She needs revenge. For a while, she goes a little crazy with the revenge tactics. Some of the tamer things she does are ironing his shirts with pee water and putting hair remover cream in his body wash and shampoo. The worst involves a skunk. Don’t worry, though. The skunk doesn’t get hurt. Brad/Bradley, however, has never smelled worse.
Out of the Clear Blue Sky was a joy to read. There was one thing I didn’t enjoy about it, though. By the end of the novel, approximately ten months or so after Brad announces his new life as Bradley, Lillie begins a relationship with a man she has known since childhood. Honestly, I don’t think the relationship was necessary for the story to feel complete. I could have done without it. But then again, I’m a cynic. If you like a hint of romance in your women’s fiction, you’ll love this novel.
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