Book Review: "Love and Biology at the Center of the Universe" (NAL Trade, 2008) by Jennie Shortridge

By Amanda Linsmeier

Love and Biology at the Center of the Universe is a novel by bestselling author Jennie Shortridge (Eating Heaven, NAL Trade, 2005.) This novel tells the story of 45-year old Mira Serafino, who in the beginning has a seemingly perfect life. She’s the ever-obedient daughter, loyal wife, caring teacher and loving mother. That is until she discovers that her husband Parker has been seeing another woman. Mira’s world is destroyed, her own identity altered by discovering that things aren’t so perfect, and in fact that nobody wanted them that way to begin with, much less her husband and rebellious daughter Thea. With nowhere to turn, Mira escapes. She runs from her husband, her home, her big Italian family and her responsibilities. She drives with no point in mind and little money until she reaches Seattle. It is there that Mira finds a job at the strange Coffee Shop at the Center of the Universe and meets some people who will become friends and some who will become more. The Mira that emerges from these struggles and experiences is unlike the old Mira. It takes courage and freedom for her to accept the new woman she has become- flawed, imperfect and real, and to finally allow her family to see who she is and who she wants to be.

Love and Biology at the Center of the Universe is a terrific novel. Although I am not middle-aged (yet) and not going through menopause (thank goodness) I really understood Mira. I thought she was a warm and hopeful character. I liked the fact that even though each main character in the book does something wrong, nobody is seen as the “bad guy.” Mira herself has to accept that she’s not a good girl or a bad girl, and I think lots of women will relate to this issue. Shortridge’s novel is a sad, funny, warm and sensual story of a perimenospausal woman in the midst of discovering herself and those she loves. I hope you like it as much as I did and if you read it without wanting to run out for a grande white chocolate mocha with extra whipped cream then you’re much stronger than I am.