I enjoyed this, my second by Liz Byrski. My own life had many unavoidable distractions while I tried to read the first half and I very nearly didn’t continue. So to be far, because it could have been my lack of attention causing the problem, I decided to read to the end. Managing to read the second half straight through, I finally engaged with these four women. The narrative reminded me a little of Mary Moody’s writing - women, over fifty, who feel they have to leave home to find themselves. What I found a little unrealistic was that all four left at pretty much the same time on their trip of self discovery! I doubt this would happen in real life but maybe I’m wrong and anyway, I didn’t write the story. It was interesting to see what happened to each of the women and what they got out of their time away. ( )

In the books I like most, such as those by Per Petterson and Marilynne Robinson, very little happens. In fact people who review them complain about this. You'll never have that problem with a Liz Byrski novel - too much happens! Every major character has a lot happening in their life and has a dramatic story to tell. Further, every one of the sub-plots is tied up neatly by the end. No one is left unhappy, although everyone (well, every woman, anyway) gets emotional about some issue and expresses that emotion in words as well as tears. In "The Gang of Four", even the death of a main character happens in the nicest possible way with no extended period of suffering. The novel almost defines the chook-lit genre: middle-aged women making something positive out of their life despite a series of adverse events, usually mediated by men. If you accept the limitations of the genre, the interest in this book is in the characters themselves and how they relate to each other. I found some affinity with each member of the 'Gang of Four' and even found myself emotionally involved with their lives. For me, I found Liz Byrski's characters to be truly three-dimensional even though their lives have some rather unlikely events and situations to deal with. ( )

Gang of Four is about four friends in their early 50's who are all reaching a crisis point in their lives, how each deals with their new situation and how their friendships sustain and support them. Isabel starts the ball rolling with her decision to leave her husband and grown-up children for a year to travel Europe, following in the footsteps of a journey her mother made many years before. Each of her friends reacts differently to her decision and this acts as a catalyst for their own lives to change. Liz Byrski is an Australian author whose novels are usually set in and around Perth and WA. I enjoyed reading a novel set in places I had been and could picture and because of this found it easy to relate to the characters as well - or it may just be that I am in the same age group and could recognize so many of their situations and emotional reations. This is chick lit for the more mature reader - think "Eat, Pray, Love" with better plot progression and more sympathetic characters.

Realistic novel interweaving the lives of 4 fiftyish friends with varying degrees of closeness and regular contact. The crises in their lives on different continents serve only to strengthen the bonds between them and Byrski's characterisations are believable, mostly likeable, sometimes annoying, but always interesting. ( )

The Gang of Four are four professional, fifty something women bound by friendship. Each of them embarks on a journey of self discovery resulting in radical changes of direction for the future. Isabel married for 34 years, coming to the end of her term as mayor, announces to her family at Christmas lunch that she wants to go to Europe for a year. Sally goes to San Francisco ostensibly to undertake a photojournalism course but secretly to discover and hopefully meet her daughter she hasn't seen since birth. Robin suspends her relationship with a married colleague and goes on leave from her law firm to live in a cottage by the beach. Grace, being deserted by the other three, goes to England and discovers facets of herself which have been hidden for far too long.
The ending is sad but hopeful. A chick lit read for the more mature. ( )

Opening Sentence: "...There was a moment when she first woke, a moment free of any sense of the day ahead; a moment before she opened her eyes and when all she could feel was the warmth of the early sunshine falling on her face through the open curtains, and the soft heaviness of her body relaxed after sleep..."

So opens a really good story - The women who was waking was Isabel who is 50 something and about to prepare a full traditional cooked Christmas lunch with no help from her husband or grown up children. Think Perth in Western Australia - think over 35 degrees celsius heat - think get me out of the kitchen! Which is what Isabel announced to her family that day - she was going to travel to Europe for a whole year - and they could look after themselves.

Isabel has 3 friends - together they make up the gang of four. Isabel is not the only woman who changes over the next year all four women are feeling restless in their lives and are looking for something different. Sally, an art teacher, has a 30 year secret - a daughter adopted out when she was a student in London. Sally wonders if she should go to meet her daughter. Robin is having an affair with a married man and drops out of her law firm and moves to the country. Finally Grace, who feels that she doesn't need any changes in her life, flies to England on a whim and discovers she does have to make some badly needed changes.

I loved the first Liz Byrski I read: Belly Dancing for Beginners but I was blown away by this one. I got so involved in the different storylines that I found myself getting emotionally involved - I was shocked, happy, sad and roaring with laughter and then angry!

The publisher - Transita Books - are onto a winner with this chick lit for the mature woman - I recommend you give all their books a try :) ( )

fanstatic read about women, life, families, and getting older! ( )