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 is living the good life in California. She has an older wealthy husband who adores her and wants to take care of her and their daughter. She lives in a beautiful house with staff to take care of the house and a nanny to take care of her daughter. She spends her days doing yoga and having lunch with friends. Even though she grew up poor, she has quickly adapted to this new wealthy life style. Until one day, it’s all gone. Jack doesn’t come home after work and when Agnes calls his best friend, she finds out that they are in financial difficulty and that Jack has gone into hiding to work things out. All of a sudden, Agnes not only has no household staff – she doesn’t have a house or a new car or any of her beautiful jewelry. She has been told to go to NYC and take a job that was procured for her at an all boys school for troubled students teaching middle school English. Now it’s time for Agnes to face her new reality – working, day care, buying groceries, living in sub-standard housing and no idea of when everything will be cleared up and she can return to California and her beautiful life with Jack. She soon finds out that she needs to work to make a success of her new life — both as a mother and as a teacher of troubled boys. Will she find out that she has hidden strengths and that she can succeed at her new life and will she continue to miss her life as a pampered trophy life?
This book was much more than I expected. I thought that it would be a light fluffy romance but instead it was a book about self growth and learning to accept the challenges that life threw at her. I enjoyed Agnes as a character and seeing all of the changes that she was able to make in her life.
Thanks to the publisher for a copy of this book to read and review. All opinions are my own.
Agnes, the Trophy Wife with a charmed life, is suddenly found penniless and alone. Finding salvation at a boys school in New York, she comes face to face with who she once was and what matters most. Giving up her coiffed hair and full-time nanny, all while connecting with the middle schoolers who have come to rely upon her, Aggie sheds her superficial skin and sinks deep inside a different life. Better? Depends on who you ask, but for this heroine, I’d say she’s found her new home. Brava to the author for delivering a fast-paced, heartwarming read.
In this absorbing and dazzling debut, Agnes Parsons, a beautiful woman, teacher, and young mother, learns to value the true trophies in life. Author Lea Geller has hit a home run her first time out.
/ 5
I know there are going to be a lot of people that will LOVE Trophy Life by Lea Geller but unfortunately I didn’t love it as much as I was hoping to.
What it’s about: Agnes Parsons did not have the best childhood, her parents died when she was young and she had to bounce around from foster home to foster home without much to call her own. So when she gets the chance to marry a man older than her, but who is stable and has lots of money to provide for her, she obviously takes it. She also loves him, but lets face it – a stable home, lots of money to spend, a nanny, and a cook isn’t bad either. But now, 10 years later, her husband doesn’t come home one day from work and she discovers they no longer have all the money she thought they did. Agnes is then told that she is going to be a middle school teacher at a boarding school in the Bronx, which means moving across country with their six-month-old daughter Grace. By herself. At least she has her friend Beeks in NY. . . What follows is Agnes’ finding her place in NY away from her trophy life, and figuring out just what kind of person she really is.
The biggest issue I had with Trophy Life is that Agnes really didn’t get a backbone until the last few pages of the book. She went along with everything her husband said even though there were a ton of obvious red flags that everything was NOT on the up and up. I just can’t connect to a character that would move across the country without question, just because her husband (who has gone MIA) tells her to. Plus she just seemed really dense which drove me nuts.
I also thought this book wasn’t near as funny as it was made out to be. There is definitely humor don’t get me wrong, but I was expecting to be laughing a lot when reality was more of a few chuckles every now and then. It had a lot of potential but just feel flat for me.
Final Thought: I really think that if I could have made some sort of connection to Agnes I would have liked this book a whole lot more. Every time she whined about her new life in New York I wanted to tell her to put on her big girl panties and deal with it, she isn’t a child. Overall, I did really like the story though and would definitely read more by Geller. This is a debut novel and I hope I will like her second much better. I will say that I would still recommend this book to people that like lighter reads and anyone that likes the sounds of the synopsis. I have seen a lot of people that love this one, but just not me.
I received an Advance Review Copy of this book. All opinions are my own.
Lindas Book Obsession Reviews “Trophy Life” by Lea Geller, Lake Union Publishing, April 9, 2019
Lea Geller, Author of “Trophy Life” has written a witty, intriguing, entertaining, and thought-provoking novel. The Genres for this novel are Fiction, Women’s Fiction, with a touch of humor.
The time-line for this story is in the present and goes to the past, when it pertains to the characters or events in the story. Lea Geller describes her characters as complex, complicated and dysfunctional.
Agnes Parsons life has been extremely comfortable for the last ten years. Agnes has all the jewelry she can want, the most expensive clothes, a house-keeper and a nanny to take care of the baby, and a handsome husband. Does this sound too good to be true?
It seems too good to be true, when Agnes finds out that her husband has problems and deep secrets, and she and the baby have to leave the only home they know. They are told it is for their safety, and they are in danger.
Only where is her husband? Why does the tiny apartment given to her by the school she will be teaching middle school English, have mice and leaks?
Agnes finds there are secrets where she is working. There are betrayals from certain people. What is Agnes to do?
I appreciate that Lea Geller discusses the importance of family, friends, and love. I would recommend this delightful and witty novel for readers who enjoy an entertaining story. I received an ARC for my honest review.
I really enjoyed Trophy Life by Lea Geller. The main character, Agnes, is very real and relatable. She is pushed into what seems like an impossible situation and makes mistakes trying to navigate her new life, but she learns from them and moves on. One of my favorite things about the story is the humor. Even though serious issues are addressed, the lightheartedness shows that even though serious things happen in life, they can be overcome. I’m excited to read more books by Lea Geller!
I received an advanced copy of this book.
Are you like me and love humorous books about starting over and second chances? If so, you need to download Trophy Life! Agnes’ story hooked me from the first page. I loved the cast of characters, and the humor was terrific. While on the surface, this seems to be a lighthearted tale, the novel offers a lot of depth. I would love to see a sequel!
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What a fun book with great humor. Agnes has to adjust to a life of being a pampered wife with a nanny and cook, etc in CA to living a somewhat normal everyday life in NY with a brown couch in a fairly nasty apartment. Many laugh out loud moments on how Agnes lets herself just be and adapt. I came to really respect Agnes a lot! Also enjoyed the narrator.
This book gets 2 stars simply because the writing itself is not bad. That being said, the lead character is terrible. You can’t help but hate her and her co-dependency to her terrible husband. I picked up this book thinking it’d be fun and humorous but it’s not. The wife is placed in a terrible situation by her husband and rather than holding him accountable she goes along with his b.s. plan, no questions asked and pines for him constantly. I grew tired of her constant whining about missing her husband and the situation she had been placed in. At any time, she could have decided to walk away and plot her own future. Have some self-respect and focus on your infant daughter. Anytime the husband does show up and spend time with her and the baby, he behaves inappropriately and avoids any responsibility for his poor actions. He is abusive at one point to the lead character, verbally and physically. The characters all feel flat, as other reviewers have pointed out, and the only points that were somewhat enjoyable were her interactions with students in her middle school class. I sincerely hope the author has not been in such a dysfunctional and unhealthy relationship as the one between the lead character in this book and her husband. Don’t waste your time on this book, you’ll regret it like I did.
Trophy Life was so wonderful! I liked how the story was written. Agnes is married to Jack, a wealthy older man, and has it all. She has all of the best things in her life, including a nanny for her baby and a housekeeper who helps her around the house. This leaves Agnes a lot of free time to enjoy herself with classes and eating out. Then one day, she finds out they are losing everything because her husband’s business is failing. Agnes is sent away to teach at a boys’ school. Pretty soon, Agnes is struggling to do things that she never had to do before. She struggles with keeping up her house and taking care of her baby. And she really struggles with her students and the school system where she is teaching. Jack keeps promising her that soon they will be back together. Agnes’ struggles with her new life are portrayed in a wonderful way, both the challenges and the joyful moments. There are laugh out loud moments and so relatable moments throughout her challenges.
Wonderful personal growth.
I really enjoyed Trophy Life. Agnes is living the high life in California to a rich older man:Jack. She has no idea how he makes his money and really doesn’t care as she has everything she needs at her disposal. Jack makes some bad financial decisions and has to go in hiding so sends Aggie and child to NYC to be safe. I really liked Agnes’ character as I found her to be a good person underneath that social cover she wore. Having to drive cross country with a baby is a test of strength and perseverance. Aggie is put some tough situations and she has to decide what she can live with and if Jack will be part of it. I recommend this book.
TROPHY LIFE by Lea Geller
The minute she shoved her thong into the diaper bag, changed into her granny panties and became addicted to baby Puffs, I knew Agnes Parson was going to be one of my favorite characters of 2019! She’s one tough cookie and when life kicks her off the posh beaches of California right into the puffy sleeves of a plum colored down filled “mom coat” as an English teacher at a boys school in The Bronx, she zips up and finds the moxie she never knew she had. Her husband Jack is MIA, her BFF Beeks is over the moon to have her in the same city with her, Principal Jerk is an overgrown bully and her new middle school students just might suffocate her with their cologne; AKA the Wall of Axe but Agnes is determined to do what she needs to in order to get Jack and her old life back, but maybe that’s not the life she really wants anymore. Lea Geller’s cast of characters are lovable charming and hilariously realistic, the story of Agnes’ struggles wonderfully entertaining. Clip your coupons, grab your baby snacks, shed your winter puffy coats, toss Trophy Life in your summer beach bag and get ready to turn some pages!
What Is A Trophy? In this tale by debut author Lea Geller, we get an interesting tale of an orphan who seemingly wins the jackpot while working as a preschool teacher after college – she randomly meets and marries an older wealthy man and through him obtains a life of ease. Maybe too easy. But as is to be expected somewhat, things are not as they seem and our new mom is sent across the country. Along the way, she finds herself and rediscovers just how strong she truly is. Overall a solid story with a few interesting twists, and I look forward to seeing more from this author.
A wife and mother has everything she could ever want until her husband disappears and leaves her broke without anything to help support her and their daughter. Everyone has seen that person who seems to have it all together without breaking a sweat. That is exactly how Agnes lives. She is that person, she has the life that she always dreamed of. Until she doesn’t.
I knew that there was another shoe to drop. I had a feeling that something else was going on with Agnes and her not so amazing husband. The strength that Agnes showed while moving across the country, living in a rodent-infested house, and working in a job that she is not trained for all while taking care of her wonderful daughter proved how when push comes to shove a mother can do what is needed to make a safe home. I liked that she didn’t always give in to the easiest route; she did what she had to do, and called people out when it was needed.
The ending was perfect. Agnes is a hero with a heart of gold when it comes to taking care of her little girl and protecting her students.
Aggie lived in foster homes until she was of age to be independent. She never had a lot.
THEN…. She hit the lottery and married Jack after college.
A Trophy Life was achieved. She had it all and that included her six month old daughter Grace and a caregiver to assist in parenting. There is also an elegant cook who only makes natural, organic foods for the family.
But WAIT….. She then finds herself moving to the Bronx from California with Grace and NO Jack.
She has been given a teaching job in a private boys middle school.
How did this happen? What kind off trouble is Jack involved in? When would the nightmare end?
Aggie is not going down without a fight, and I really admired her constitution and humor. She stayed true to her beliefs when life goes awry. She has common sense and a survival instincts that we could all use.
It’s a wonderful intriguing book that any age group will enjoy!
What a breath of fresh air! In Trophy Life, Lea Geller gives us a smart, capable, witty and relatable heroine. Agnes suddenly finds herself in trouble — big trouble — but the path she chooses to find her way back to stability is surprising, entertaining, and ultimately triumphant.
Lea Geller’s novel Trophy Life is a winner of a book. I sat down to read just the first few pages and looked up a day and a half later — it is that good. This novel examines the ongoing search for true happiness, and shows us that sometimes it is found in the most unexpected places, all against the backdrop of an intriguing domestic mystery. It is well-written, absorbing, thought-provoking, and satisfying.
Lea Geller’s debut novel is aces! I have no doubt that women everywhere are going to love this book. The heroine Agnes “Aggie” Parsons is 110% one of my favorite fictional characters to come along in a long time. She was beyond likable for so many reasons. She is presented with losing it all and having to fight back and you cannot help but cheer for her the whole way through.
Agnes’s husband Jack disappears one day and his closest friend, “Don” tells her not to call the police. Her husband is in real trouble and he just needs time to fix it, and there is a plan she just needs to stay away from him for the time being.
The next day she is told to move to New York; all the way from the comforts of her plush home in sunny Santa Monica, to go teach English at a boarding school for boys. Mind you, it has housing and day care for their 6-month-old daughter, Grace. She is to get across the country by driving a used beat up car, because her fancy car is now gone. There will be no nanny, no housekeeper, no lovely home on the cliffs overlooking the Pacific anymore for Agnes. Most importantly, there will be no husband to look out for her. Agnes will only have herself to count on.
Will she be able to fend for herself in this whole new world in the Bronx, New York?
This is a fantastically written tale! I went in to this story thinking I was reading a chick lit book, but there is a deeper story going on at the boarding school that I found so intriguing.
I wasn’t just rooting for Agnes; I was rooting for her students, as well.
For a read that you will absolutely fall in love with I highly recommend “Trophy Life”!
I know that Lea Geller made it on to my favorite author hot list! I’m anxiously awaiting her next novel!
Trophy Life is unputdownable—Lea Geller’s writing is fresh, funny, and relatable, and it’s impossible not to cheer for Aggie, Geller’s plucky heroine, as she wakes up from her so-called dream life and realizes reality offers something even better: a chance to get it right.