The Divorced Not Dead Workshop

CeCe
Osgood
Genre: 
Contemporary

ROMANTIC COMEDY, CHICK-LIT:  Five years after her divorce, Dorsey Bing is still not on even ground.  Her only boyfriend since walked away months ago without a word. A night of tequila follows seeing him loving someone else. A drunken idea for a divorce workshop, perpetuated by friends Mimi and Pilar, becomes reality for Dorsey in the worst possible way.  She must take control of a co-ed workshop she has no notes for, on a cruise to her widowed stepdad’s wedding in Mexico, while finding out that her ex-boyfriend and soon-to-be stepmom are related to a very angry man whose phone she knocked overboard before they lost sight of San Diego, who then shows up to the workshop along with 6 other divorcees!

An endearing story full of eccentrically comfortable characters, Ms. Osgood doesn’t mock divorce, nor make excuses or point fingers. Almost all of her unique but completely believable individuals have reached a point in their post-married lives to know it’s time to move on. Through a series of assumptions any normal person would also make, and finally listening to what has been said in the workshop, Dorsey discovers she isn’t as evolved as she thought she was and has unwittingly hurt her chances for a new start.  Nowhere does the story lag or feel manipulated into slowness by any characters’ misunderstandings. , although some of the cast are too clichéd and two-dimensional. Though the topic of divorcees taking back their lives is fairly common, this one uses a brilliant number of allusions to movies, music and oddball trivia to keep it interesting. The quirky cast blends learning and growth into an appealing cruise to Cabo San Lucas that one doesn’t have to be divorced to enjoy!

 

Julie York