Ashenburg's latest is about a journalist who stumbles into an unusual relationship with the woman who broke up her marriage. At first glance, Liz appears to have a fulfilled life: she has a good relationship with her adult son, her own apartment, an active dating life, and is the editor of "My Turn," a popular newspaper column where readers submit personal essays. But Liz is actually resentful of her ex-husband because he cheated on her, is emotionally unavailable to her suitors, and involved with a married man. And to make matters worse, her correspondence with her ex-husband's wife—the woman who he had an affair with—is bordering on unethical and could get her fired.
Liz is complex and layered. She thinks she is managing her deep-seated resentment towards her ex but it is seeping into all of her relationships, including the most important one, which is with her son. Her inability to move past what Sydney did makes her emotionally unavailable to her suitors, pushing her towards a man who is married and another who is a complete narcissist. While it is refreshing to read about someone in their late forties, Liz is not overly likeable and ultimately loses the plot literally and figuratively.
Her Turn is character-driven novel that explores one woman's second act in life while she's still tethered to the first. It is a story about infidelity, forgiveness, and taking a chance.
KATHERINE ASHENBURG has worked as an academic, a CBC Radio producer and the Arts and Books editor of the Globe and Mail. She has written about travel for the New York Times and architecture for Toronto Life magazine. Her books include Going to Town: Architectural Walking Tours of Southern Ontario Towns, The Mourner’s Dance: What We Do When People Die, The Dirt on Clean: An Unsanitized History, and the novel Sofie & Cecilia. Her Turn is her second novel.
Ashenburg lives in Toronto.
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