An imaginative story of a woman caught in an alternate world—where she will need to learn the skills of magic to surviveNora Fischer’s dissertation is stalled and her boyfriend is about to marry another woman. During a miserable weekend at a friend’s wedding, Nora wanders off and walks through a portal into a different world where she’s transformed from a drab grad student into a stunning … a stunning beauty. Before long, she has a set of glamorous new friends and her romance with gorgeous, masterful Raclin is heating up. It’s almost too good to be true.
Then the elegant veneer shatters. Nora’s new fantasy world turns darker, a fairy tale gone incredibly wrong. Making it here will take skills Nora never learned in graduate school. Her only real ally—and a reluctant one at that—is the magician Aruendiel, a grim, reclusive figure with a biting tongue and a shrouded past. And it will take her becoming Aruendiel’s student—and learning magic herself—to survive. When a passage home finally opens, Nora must weigh her “real life” against the dangerous power of love and magic.
For lovers of Lev Grossman’s The Magicians series (The Magicians and The Magician King) and Deborah Harkness’s All Souls Trilogy (A Discovery of Witches and Shadow of Night).
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It’s not easy to manage the set-up where a character zips from the “real” world to the “fantasy” world and back, but “The Thinking Woman’s Guide” manages that quite satisfactorily. The heroine, Nora, is in a down place in life, what with her PhD thesis not going well and her boyfriend running off with someone else. She’s insecure, down on herself…and in the middle of a friend’s wedding, she takes what she thought would be a soothing walk in the woods and finds herself transported to another world. It’s great at first; her new friends make her feel and look elegant and there are endless parties, but… I won’t give any more away, except to write that Nora figures out how to navigate this medieval-level world and stand up for herself. I’m looking forward to the sequel.
Just okay. I had actually already read it but didn’t remember until 100 pages in. Not a horrible book just meh!
Well written, exceptional characters, can’t wait for sequel.
The book stayed with me. Wish the author would write a sequel.
I chose the book because I am a Harry Potter fan and the intro suggested I might like it. I did, mostly like it. I think the author had a lot of good ideas, but a little trouble stringing them all along to make the story cohesive. I hope there is a sequel to help tie up the loose ends.
A woman enters a world full of magic both good and bad. Original story that was entertaining. If this continued to become a series I would definitely read it.
I finished it this morning. Then, I looked at the publication date —6years ago. Then, I looked for the sequel — there HAS to be a sequel. A six year lead and she still hasn’t finished it. Please, Ms. Barkley, have mercy!
I tried several times to read this book and it just didn’t hold my interest. I only made it through the first 3 chapters. Skipped to the middle then the last few pages.
Boring.
It’s a rather tenuous hook for a series.
But I think a better one than “Eregon”.
The title character is not as good a “thinker” as I had expected; and seems distressingly callow for a woman pushing thirty.
Really enjoyed this read, from start to finish it kept me engaged! I am looking forward to seeing what the Author has in store for the characters next!
I would read more work by this author, a different slant
This novel is an engrossing read. Sometimes I don’t care if I read the next installment in a series, but I am looking forward to reading what comes next in Nora’s life.
Enjoyed reading this book; I hope there is a sequel.
Was disappointed. Long on descriptions. Kept reading–hoping things would get better. Left it open to sequel, I guess.