Book Review: Today Will Be Different by Maria Semple

Wife and mother of one, Eleanor Flood knows she needs to get a grip on her life. Sleepwalking through her day until it’s time for bed is hardly conducive to a fulfilling existence.

So she’s made a pact: today will be different. She will make the most of her experiences, breed positive relationships and generally be the best version of herself she can possibly be, which is all well and good until her day veers off course.

Charting a single day in Eleanor’s life, Where’d You Go Bernadette? author Maria Semple delivers yet another quirky, unexpected jaunt of a novel and another singularly drawn heroine.

At its heart, the novel explores what it means to be the best wife, mother and woman one can be, often when the odds are stacked against you, and although Semple’s narrative oozes stylistic originality, unfortunately it all becomes rather meandering.

It is a bit like a stained glass window with lots of fragments – some more vivid than the others – which don’t particularly combine into a compelling overall story.

Published by Weidenfeld & Nicolson