Author: Anne Schroeder
www.readanneschroeder.com

Reviewed By: Georgia Richardson

In this surprisingly wonderful and astute memoir, Ordinary Aphrodite, author Anne Schroeder’s writing is anything but “ordinary.” It is a coming of age-coming to terms autobiography, and chapter after chapter delivers a map of her life with each rite of passage from puberty to care giver, delivered with light-weight sarcasm’s, humor, kindness, and tons of love. I hovered over each story, each “lifecident,” and each person along the way who shaped her womanhood, her joy, and her sorrow.

Married at 19 and thinking life was/would be perfect, Anne is introduced to one obstacle after another, such as a mother-in-law who deems her less than satisfactory, as she moved into the next phase of her life; adulthood. After putting her adorable husband through college, and birthing three children, Anne returns to complete her own degree.

She struggles through the years with her weight (and learning to love her body), bills, raising children, her Aging parents, graduating college, and keeping her marriage from going stale. Schroeder helps me, the reader, understand that her life was not just “acceptable,” but such an incredible ride. I don’t believe she wouldn’t have missed it for the world. Now I’m glad I didn’t.

Some have described this book as uplifting, funny and a super-fast read. I beg to differ. If you rush through Ordinary Aphrodite, you’ll miss your own life because it’s in there. I found myself relating, and on occasion even saying out loud, “Don’t you know it sister!”

Savor it…re-read the essays that reach out and beg to help you understand your own strengths and weaknesses, your own choices; because there will be many of those. The first time you read this book, enjoy it. Don’t muddy up the journey with your pen. Leave that for the second go-around because I can tell you now, there will be a second time.

From now on, I’m viewing life through a pair of Anne Schroeder glasses.