It’s Not All Downhill from Here

…”But I’m trying to learn how to live forward instead of backward.”

Loretha is a late 60 something recent widow whose BFFs all fall into lindo of the same catagory. What do you do when your 60 something, your mother’s still around, and your granddaughter is about to be a mother?! Can you still count on yourself at this time your life? How about your friends of 5 decades?

In typical Terry McMillan fashion, this author has crafted a group of women who, having learned the hard way how to “exhale” are learning how hard it might be to simply keep breathing. This is the best McMillan in years! I’ll be adding this one to my collection! Highly Recommended 5/5

[Disclaimer: I received this book from NetGalley and chose to voluntarily read and review it]

A story based on a woman who owns her own apparently BOOMING business at which she has been very successful because she spends thousands of dollars, a true fortune really, left and right to help her family. Wish someone had done that for me, but I had to do it for myself and never had even half a million dollars until I retired, hahaha!

If you’re craving an escape from reality, look no further than Terry McMillan’s heart-warming and humorous tenth novel, “Its Not All Downhill From Here.”
The wisecracking, procrastinating Loretha Curry hates celebrating her birthday. To discourage her four BFFs from their latest planned celebration, her third husband, Carl, strikes a bargain with them. They must allow Loretha to spend the day alone with him in Palm Springs if she makes the self-improvements they’ve been nagging her about. She promises to comply because she’s deeply in love with Carl and is desperate for alone time with him. He makes her “feel forty and sexy” even though she’s sixty-eight.
Obsessed with aging, Loretha is a self-made beauty-supply mogul who lives in Pasadena. She is cursed with an alcoholic daughter, a jealous twin sister, an ex-pat son living in Japan whose wife and twins she’s never met, and a family who treats her like an ATM machine. With two prior bad marriages, she’s strived to be the dutiful wife, mother, sister and grandmother while balancing her ambition and underwriting her family.
Until tragedy strikes in Chapter One, Loretha has been living in denial about her own imperfections, but now they are staring back at her in the mirror. Fortunately, her lively sisterhood “has her back” on the bumpy road to rejuvenation. Her posse, Sadie, Pookie, Korynthia and Lucky, similarly struggle with family issues, affairs, addiction and health. For the past fifty years, these “crazy old ladies” have regularly met up to dish, dine and support each other through life’s messiness.
These girlfriends are so outrageous that the reader hungers for an invitation to their dinners featuring laugh-out-loud one-liners about Viagra, relationships and religion that counterbalance the heartbreak in their lives. Additionally, Loretha’s witty eight-six year-old Ma is entertaining when she goes “all Oprah” on her by mailing her missives about self-improvement.
Through it all, Loretha’s faith in love, family, friends, and eventually herself, propel her past her grief, loneliness, and weight gain, opening her up to new adventures. Although she’s in her Third Chapter of life, Loretha discovers that she can grow, and that old dogs can learn new tricks. There is no pivotal “Aha!” moment for Lorentha; her self-journey is a slow, steady climb. In fulfilling her promise to Carl she approaches her evolution in “baby steps.” Whether it’s exercising, traveling, attending church or reconnecting with family, Loretha views her world with a sense of insightful humor that makes her struggles feel real to the reader.
As I read the novel, I couldn’t help thinking that McMillan, known for “Waiting to Exhale” and “How Stella Got Her Groove Back,” has also reached the Third Chapter of her own life. Like Loretha, she’s now sixty-eight, and she’s perceptive about the concerns of women of a certain age, which often feel uncomfortable. The universal fears of being attractive to the opposite sex, respected by your children, and acknowledged for your accomplishments, as well as dealing with age-related aliments, are addressed with wit and humor.
In “Its Not All Downhill From Here,” McMillan not only provides inspirational lessons for her characters, but for the reader as well. She flips the bird at the societal expectations of aging women, making her characters sexy and fun. As Loretha concludes, we should “learn how to live forward instead of backward.”

Another hit from Terry McMillan, her characters are engaging & inspiring & witty. Thoroughly enjoyed it & was sad when I finished it….

This book is great. It gives senioraa hope at another chance for happiness.

It’s Not All Downhill From Here is new women’s, multicultural fiction from award-winning and bestselling author, Terry McMillan.

Sixty-eight-year-old Loretha Curry has a full life as a wife, mother, business owner and loyal friend to a diverse group of women. She doesn’t believe that life is over at sixty-five. Loretha experiences a devastating loss and temporarily loses herself, but amid the turmoil she comes to realize the value of family, friends and self confidence.

It’s Not All Downhill From Here is a well-written novel told from the first person perspective. The characters are alive and vibrant. The novel is packed with sincere, vividly expressed emotions. Grief, happiness, love, hate and anger all seem real and appropriate. The author explores difficult familial relationships, but there is enough humor to offset the darker emotions. Ultimately, this is a story about love, loss, forgiveness, redemption and resurrected life. It’s never to late to change and improve. I throughly enjoyed this novel and rate it 5 out of 5 stars. I recommend it to anyone who enjoys good fiction.

My thanks to Random House Publishing Group – Ballantine and NetGalley for the opportunity to read an advance copy of this book. However the opinions expressed in this review are 100% mine and mine alone.

It’s Not All Downhill From Here by Terry McMillan is an excellent book that brings the reader into the middle of a warm embrace that is comprised of a wonderful collection of a group of girlfriends (pretend sisters as well as real) of “old” souls that are truly young at heart.

This is the second book I have read by Ms McMillan, the first being “Waiting To Exhale”. This was one of my favorite books growing up and I am so surprised I waited this long to bask again in the glow of a great, feel-good read. I am so glad I came back home.

I know I just met all of these ladies, and gents, but I really felt I was a part of their family as time went on. I cheered with them during their triumphs and successes, I cried with them during their frustrations and losses, and my heart burst with pride when I was able to see their transformations, their awakenings, their acceptances, and finally their love for each other and themselves to end up in happiness.

I loved Loretha Curry, her best friends: Poochie, Korynthia, Lucky, Sadie, her Ma, and her family: Odessa, Cinnamon, Kwame, Jackson, and even Jalecia and Peggy ( I am so glad how things ended up with them). I loved all of their faults, strengths, weaknesses, and their successes. Every one of the characters were real and passionate, and perfect for this book. I loved every one’s journeys, and so glad that they were able to support and love each other. I thought the names of Pretty and Handsome were endearing. I even loved B.B. King and Billie Holiday. They made this story extra sweet.

I thought the concepts that were central to this journey: love, loss, family, friendship, perseverance, acceptance, forgiveness, loyalty, hope, and life were the perfect themes to remind everyone: that life is too short, you are never too old to try new things and start out again, you are never alone, life is a journey best spent with those we cherish and love, and there will always be a way home.

Excellent, excellent, excellent. 5/5 stars