Review by Booklist Review
Gray, author of Ten Men (2005), continues to bring insight and poise to chick lit. Yoga has long been a source of inner peace for Grace, a pharmaceutical rep, and it now serves as a catalyst to change all that is unsatisfactory in her life. Unhappy with her job and possibly unfaithful boyfriend, Grace leaves work, Harry, and London to learn to be a yoga teacher in California. While there, she often thinks about Dr. James, whom she met while working in pharmaceuticals. He is in Vietnam studying holistic medicine, and they communicate sporadically via text messaging. Upon her return to England, Grace volunteers at a yoga studio and eventually builds up her own client base, which includes a model, an actress, and several society women. She also works with patients who have been unable to deal with their medical problems in other ways. Dr. James' letters help reassure her she is on the right path as she deals with her tumultuous clients and works toward reconciling with her distant father.--Boyle, Katherine Copyright 2008 Booklist
From Booklist, Copyright (c) American Library Association. Used with permission.
Review by Publisher's Weekly Review
Gray (Ten Men) portrays the world of Westernized yoga, from its true disciples to spandex-wrapped poseurs, in this uplifting tale of starting over. Languishing in an unfulfilling pharmaceutical sales job, unhappy in her relationship with an unemployed single dad and still mourning the death of her previous boyfriend, Londoner Grace sees the daily yoga classes at Swami P's as her only salvation. A business meeting that turns personal inspires Grace to ditch both job and boyfriend and become a yoga teacher. Yet Grace's new path is far from blissful; she teaches "heart sinker" patients at a health clinic and privately instructs socialites, a starlet and an aging supermodel. She also carries on a correspondence with the doctor who sparked her decision to change her life, and their letters are full of potential for a future together. The narration can be frustrating--in the same passage, the reader will be inside of Grace's head one moment and a detached observer the next--but if Grace seems distant, her decisiveness at making a new life is still an inspiration for anyone who's ever yearned to pursue a dream. (Aug.) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
(c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
Review by Library Journal Review
Grace is a London-based pharmaceutical sales person by day and a yoga devotee by night. The loss of loved ones has left her reluctant to reach out to others. Then she meets Dr. David James, and their conversations reveal much common ground. Both see the flaws in their current jobs, and both aspire to better and more fulfilling lives. The chemistry between them bubbles beneath the surface. Still, they part--Grace to a California training program for yoga teachers, David to a Vietnamese course in non-Western medicine. Once certified, Grace returns to London and collects an eclectic array of yoga students, which helps her crystallize her plans for the future. David also returns to practice holistic medicine. With a little push from a friend, Grace and David are reunited, equally optimistic, refreshed, renewed, and ready to pursue a romantic relationship together. Gray's second novel (after Ten Men) details the mental and spiritual realignment of the midlife crisis. She captures the struggle and its consequences. Funny, sad, engaging, and optimistic, this story conveys almost as much about yoga as it does about the human condition. Recommended for all general fiction collections.--Joanna Burkhardt, Univ. of Rhode Island Coll. of Continuing Education Lib., Providence (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
(c) Copyright Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Review by Kirkus Book Review
In the second novel from London-resident Gray (Ten Men, 2005), a successful British pharmaceutical rep gives up her lucrative career to train as a yoga instructor. For elegant 40-year-old Grace (the daughter of two physicians) the healthcare profession was an obvious choice, whether or not it particularly suited her. As a legal "drug dealer" shilling antidepressants to doctors, she takes refuge from her hectic city life in the yoga studio, under the ministrations of quirky "Swami P," who shows her that there really is more to the world than material possessions and quick-fix happy pills. Yoga, which also led her to her handsome unemployed actor boyfriend Harry, inspires Grace to quit her job and pursue a simpler life teaching yoga to others. To that end she signs up for a teacher training course in Southern California, right before dumping the leechy Harry, who was probably cheating on her anyway. Then it's off to groovy Malibu where she bonds with an assortment of fellow devotees. She also carries on a sweetly intimate correspondence with Dr. James, an attractive (single) psychiatrist back in England who, like Grace, has begun to have doubts about Western medicine and the path his life has taken. Their romantic potential is thwarted, though, when he jets off to Vietnam to study alternative medicine just as she is returning to London. Back at home she quickly picks up a variety of clients ranging from pampered rich women to hard case National Health patients referred to her by a frustrated doctor. These reluctant yogis, who suffer from a variety of mental and physical ailments, challenge Grace's confidence, as does aging supermodel Collette, who hopes that yoga will help her to conceive. It soon becomes clear to all her students that Grace is a natural--so good that an A-list movie star tries to lure her to New York. But what about Dr. James? Liberally peppered with yogic terms and philosophy, Gray's drolly funny novel favors Grace's internal transformation over dramatic plot. A winning depiction of a modern spiritual quest, even if Grace's speedy transformation to in-demand guru is a bit too smooth. Copyright ©Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
