This author participates in the Readers' Favorite Free Book Program, which is open to all readers and is completely free. The author will provide you with a free copy of their book in exchange for an honest review. You and the author will discuss what sites you will post your review to and what kind of copy of the book you would like to receive (eBook, PDF, Word, paperback, etc.). To begin, click the purple email icon to send this author a private email.
Reviewed by Jack Magnus for Readers' Favorite
Freshman Mom is a contemporary novel written by Karen Gorback. Meredith Lieberman's cozy and sheltered life has ground to a halt. She's finally divorced her husband Joel, who had been spending all his spare time at his desert apartment, and her children are growing up. She decides it's time for her to fulfill her long-deferred dream of going to college to become a scientist. When she brings up her plans with her family, she hears a chorus of objections. Her mother thinks she's had that chance and should find a job instead. Her kids wonder aloud if she should be taking hormones for her condition. Meredith shrugs off the negativity and enrolls in Point Vista Community College. She had expected raised eyebrows and polite laughter when she presented her middle-aged self at the admission counselor's office and was thrilled when her plans were met with acceptance and admiration. It wouldn't be easy, but Meredith's plans were coming together.
Karen Gorback's contemporary fiction novel, Freshman Mom, is a feel-good story that works. Meredith has given herself a second chance to live her dreams, and it's just grand watching as her world expands. Sure, there are many pitfalls and life will get in the way, but somehow she keeps up with her roles as a daughter, a single mother, and a budding scientist. There's also some fabulous food floating around the pages of Freshman Mom so readers may find themselves a bit hungry at the lavish descriptions of fancy buffets: hot pastrami, knishes and kugels; warm cinnamon buns dripping with icing and washed down with vanilla lattes. Add in a traditional Jewish wedding, a women's lingerie party, and an intriguing male friend and you get magic, or, at least Gorback did when she penned Freshman Mom, a heart-warming and enjoyable tale of dreams that can come true.