How To Save Your Own Life by Erica Jong

Synopsis
Picks up the story of Isadora three years after the events of “Fear of Flying”. Isadora is by now an older, wiser and somewhat more rueful heroine. This time her odyssey takes her to the never-never land called California where she meets a variety of sharks, knaves, fools – and one real lover.

Review
In the synopsis of this book it states that this is the sequel to Erica Jong’s previous book Fear of Flying, but I haven’t read the first book, and it didn’t spoil my enjoyment of this book. To celebrate International Women’s Day Agora Books has re-published How To Save Your Own Life origionally published in the 1970’s. The main character Isadora narrates the book in a wonderful and honest voice with occassional humour, anger and plenty of passion. Isadora is a character than many women can identify in some way, and can’t help but come to love through the book.She is a famous author, whose book ‘Candida Confesses’, about a married woman, her affairs and fantasies, was a bestseller based on Isadora’s own life, and shot her to fame. Now fame is beginning to slip away, as is her marraige to husband Bennett, and as the title says, she has to learn to save her own life.

The book reads in parts like a therapy session, which is ironic as her husband is a psychiatrist, as she works through whether she should stay in her marriage or leave, after she finds out about his affairs. Through this Erica Jong is able to research how we have the need to punish ourselves, by seeking out details, in this case about an affair, even though we know they will hurt us even more. There is also the case that in the failure of a relationship we spend more time talking to friends, seeking their advice, rather than talking to the most important person, our partner.

Erica Jong’s first person narrative makes us party to Isadora’s thoughts in what feels like an intimate way. The emotions are realistic, and Erica Jong captures them perfectly, the turmoil and her passion for love and sex. I will say that this book may not suit everyone as there is plenty of bad language and graphic sexual scenes. As well as Isadora there are some wonderful supporting characters including the rich heiress and student of Isadora’s Rosanna, who is attracted to her, her editor Hope whose mother had an affair with Isadora’s Grandfather and Britt who wants to make Isadora’s book into a film, but is very annoying, always late and very unpredictable. What should be pointed out is that all these women are strong, independent and don’t rely on men in their lives, they are totally in control.

I found How To Save Your Own Life an fascinating, liberating and thought provoking read. Interestingly it is set in 1973, but no mention is made of the year, and to be honest the problems and sitiuations in the book are realtable to any period. Isadola was a wonderful character, passionate about everything in her life, especially around men and love. This is the perfect read to be released for International Women’s Day, showing such strong and liberated women.

I would like to thank Agora Books for my invite on this blog tour and for my copy of the book in return for my unbiased review.