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Jen Craven is the author of upmarket women's fiction, where one decision changes everything. The author of two historical fiction novels, "Best Years of your Life" is her debut contemporary work. She writes from northwestern Pennsylvania, where she lives with her family.
Reviewed by Rabia Tanveer for Readers' Favorite
Best Years of Your Life by Jen Craven is a women’s novel with realistic characters living relatable lives. Christine and Joss have everything they could wish for. They are in love, married to each other, have great jobs, and have a daughter whom they adore. Everything is perfect in their lives until it isn’t. Things change when Joss has to leave for some research work, and Christine becomes lonely. A chance encounter with her student Micah on a rainy day marks the start of something very wrong, and Christine knows it. While Christine struggles, her daughter Abbie faces issues of her own. An outcast willing to do anything to be accepted by her peers, Abbie longs for friends. However, when her new friends ask her to steal exams from the computer of one of the mothers, Abbie is caught in a moral dilemma. What will Christine and Abbie do?
We all make bad decisions, and they have consequences. This novel is all about those decisions, their outcomes, and how our choices can damage our relationships. I was expecting family drama and heartbreak, but in Best Years of Your Life, Jen Craven provided suspense and a lot of emotions too. Telling the tale from three different points of view, each character had a story to tell, and each time I felt like I was right there beside them. I felt terrible for Christine, but even more so for Joss. While Christine was confused, Joss was unaware. Abbie, on the other hand, falls prey to peer pressure and makes friends with the wrong people, and paid the price for it. The narrative was fantastic, the descriptions were incredibly rich, and I was involved with what was happening to these characters. Nothing is predictable in this story, and I loved it! I would highly recommend this novel.
