A refreshingly honest, laugh-out-loud novel about losing the life you always wanted…and finding the life you were meant to have.For the last ten years, Agnes Parsons’s biggest challenge has been juggling yoga classes and lunch dates. Her Santa Monica house staff takes care of everything, leaving Agnes to focus on her trophy-wife responsibilities: look perfect, adore her older husband, and wear … husband, and wear terribly expensive (if uncomfortable) underwear.
When her husband disappears, leaving Agnes and their infant daughter with no money, no home, and no staff, she is forced to move across the country, where she lands a job teaching at an all-boys boarding school in the Bronx. So long, organic quinoa bowls and sunshine-filled California life. Hello, processed food, pest-infested house, and twelve-year-old-boy humor—all day, every day.
But it’s in this place of second chances (and giant bugs), where Agnes is unexpectedly forced to take care of herself and her daughter, where she finds out the kind of woman she can be. Ultimately, she has to decide if she prefers the woman and mother she has become…or the trophy life she left behind.
Authentic and sharply witty, Trophy Life is proof that granny panties and mom coats might not be the answer to everything; they’re simply comfortable (if slightly unattractive) reminders of what happens when one life ends…and real life begins.
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Agnes has a Trophy Life and doesn’t want for anything. When her husband disappears, her life changes dramatically. Agnes moves across the country with her baby girl and gets a job teaching at a middle school. Trophy Life is a refreshing and sometimes humorous story of starting over and discovering self worth and the resilience of the human spirit. Lea Geller has written a solid debut novel. I can’t wait to read her next book!
Trophy Life is a poignant, heartfelt, and humorous book that I finished in one day, compelled to read long into the night! Agnes is living a life of wealth and luxury with her devoted husband Jack and her 6-month old daughter Grace—until the day that the house of cards her husband has built comes tumbling down. Agnes and Grace are forced to move to New York where she has a job waiting for her teaching middle school boys. Agnes’s transformation from doted-after wife to a harried single working mother was honest and heartfelt. I especially loved the relationships that Agnes developed with her students, a group of middle schoolers who were surly and a bit naughty, but they were also just a group of boys at an age where they were caught between who they were, and who they could be. Thank you to the publisher for providing me a copy of the book.
Agnes is fortunate to have the dream life that most women desire. Her loving husband, Jack, is successful and generously provides for her and their infant daughter, Grace. She lives on the beach in Santa Monica and spends her days practicing yoga. She also has full-time help to run her home and care for her daughter. She has lots of flexibility to spend time with her friends and family.
This happy life comes to an abrupt halt when Jack doesn’t arrive for their usual couples massage. Agnes is informed by Jack’s best friend that he has business troubles and will be away for an undetermined amount of time. She also learns that her house and cars are being repossessed and there is no money to pay the staff. While their finances are in flux, a job has been secured for Agnes in New York City. She will teach at an all-boys middle school and will receive a modest housing allowance. Confused and angry about her husband’s dishonesty, she is forced to move forward and make some important decisions about her life.
This is a debut novel by Lea Geller. ”Trophy Life” is an enjoyable story covering motherhood, friendship, and self-discovery. While reading this book, you can’t help getting pulled into Agnes’ world and all the obstacles she must overcome.
Hilarious debut.