Alan Opts Out

Review - book out in June.

Alan Anderson is the king of capitalism. He can sell you your Granny. His wife Vivian is intent on spending money as fast as he can make the multi-million dollar deals. Her current project is to be accepted into the hallowed ‘Annes’ of the enclosed town where they live which seems to be modelled on Stepford wives. It’s gruesome but acceptance into the Annes means for Vivian a belonging she has never really felt. There’s a dent in the metal though. Alan has seen the light.

After the loss of a contract which meant he would have been able to retire he is looking at life differently. Is Alan suffering a “menty b” as his daughters call it, or has he finally realised that there is a different way of living? Either way, Alan is having dramatic way of finding out, and Vivian does not like it. She has her Stepford wives to think about and standards to meet, and a garden pool to build.

This is a very amusing take on the ‘is there more to life?’ idea and Alan takes it to the limit - and we can watch him safely from our chairs and see how he does, and we can laugh at him too in an empathising way. Vivian, despite my wanting to dislike her for her sheer shallowness, has her own vulnerabilities because she knows only how to be a certain kind of wife and she is utterly panicked at the thought of it all falling apart when there are people - specifically other women - watching and judging her every move. How will she cope? The initial answer is not well, but we all want to know if they can make it don’t we? Because there’s a part of us all that wants to know if Alan and Vivian, and the daughters can survive opting out. A funny and poignant read.

Thanks very much to NetGalley and the publisher for an advance copy.