I was initially interested in this book based on the title and cover. I went in thinking it was going to be a pure fluff read but I felt like it was more than just a beach read. The story centers around Maggie as she navigates her divorce and rebuilding herself. I thought the first half of the book was fantastic-the writing and character development drew me in and I had a hard time putting the book down. As a reader you could feel all of Maggie's emotions and experienced her rollercoaster of emotions as she grieved for her marriage and then came to terms with how to pick up the pieces. I thought the cast of characters was well developed and I enjoyed that there were not additional complex side stories to take away from Maggie's. I thought the book dragged a little in the middle and that the ending was fairly predictable but I still enjoyed this book. A solid 3 star read. Thanks for the opportunity for an advanced copy Netgalley!

What a great read. This Author is becoming one of my favorites!!!

I have heard of Camille Pagan and her other novels, but though they sound interesting to me, I have not had the opportunity to read any of them until this one. What an introduction to a talented writer! The story was realistic and the characters and situations were believable. I really have no complaints other than I stayed up far too late reading this simply because I didn't want to leave without knowing what was happening on the next page, and the next, and the next. Well-written, well-paced, overall an entirely enjoyable read.

Many thanks to the publisher for the opportunity to read an advance copy of this book.

This was my first time reading Camille Pagan. I’m so grateful I was given the chance to get an ARC of this one to read and find a new author I love! This book was a great joy to read and one I couldn’t put down. I loved Maggie from the beginning and enjoyed following along on her journey. I couldn’t wait to see what she would do next as she found a new life for herself. This sorry is so well- written. I cannot wait to read more form this fantastic author!

I could definitely relate to this book. Married for so long and just as soon as the kids are about to move out, your "significant other for life" decides everything has been a waste. No growing old together, no until death do us part, and yes, lots of heartbreak.

Divorce can be really hard, especially after that many years, and I really sympathized with Maggie. However, I so admire her. Many women probably would have gone back to their ex with a weak spine and a severe case of loneliness. However, not Maggie. She took the bull by the horn and turned her life around.

Definitely a feel good book for the women who can totally relate to Maggie and the term "woman last seen in her thirties" because after that, all she became was wife and mother. The rest of her was lost taking care of her family.

An absolutely great book that I thoroughly enjoyed.

Huge thanks to Lake Union Publishing and Net Galley for providing me with a free e-galley in exchange for an honest, unbiased review.

LOVED THIS BOOK!!! I adored the story and I cannot wait to read more from this author.

What do you do when the man you've spent your whole adult life with ends up leaving you for another woman? You pick up the pieces and move on the best way you can.
Woman Last Seen in Her Thirties was a fun, lighthearted and warm read. I thoroughly enjoyed it.
I like that she tried new things in life and didn't allow the pain to shut her down. She moved on and experienced new things in life.
The book has funny, sad and happy all combined which makes for a good read.
I appreciate the free copy from NetGalley in return for my honest review. I will search more by this Author!

This was a great read to me. I really thought Maggie was a strong woman and had to deal with a devastating situation when her husband, Adam, said he wanted a divorce. Her perfect life was no longer what she had believed it was. I laughed, cried, was angry, was happy, felt sorry even. The story line was well written and kept me involved the entire book. I had a pit in my stomach feeling for when Maggie finally had to make decisions and I just didn't know what she was going to do. I was so happy for what she chose and the ending was perfect. TY Netgalley for the opportunity to read this book in exchange for my honest review.

Set in what she believed was the perfect life, Maggie is astonished when her husband of 30 years, Adam, walks out of their home. The rebuilding of this woman's life makes for a touching novel.

I love reading coming of age novels, but until I read this book, Woman Last Seen in Her Thirties by Camille Pagan, I pigeonholed all the main characters in this genre as younger. Not true, Maggie Halfmoon Harris is in her fifties. She is living the dream with her husband, house, grown children and then the dream ends. Her husband of many years decides he needs a divorce and Maggie, despite being madly in love with him is left on her own.

Maggie struggles with life without Adam. She works hard and trying to figure out things and even takes their dream vacation alone, looking for answers. The answers are inside her and she is working on figuring them out, when a crisis happens and she is pulled back toward Adam. Maggie needs to figure out what she is doing next.

I always wonder what words made me pick a novel. In this novel, the words for me were, “she has become invisible to the world and to herself”. Do we becomes so complacent in our lives that we become invisible? Heavy thoughts…

Woman Last Seen in Her Thirties by Camille Pagan is a good read. There is a range of emotions that Maggie goes through, that are so recognizable. There is the self doubt and the inching forward trying to find a new way to move that is so recognizable. But mostly there is Maggie, a woman full of so much to offer, who is lost and looking for herself.

I chose this book for review because 1) I'd been wanting to reading something from this author, and 2) the title intrigued me.

I had read the blurb and thought it might not exactly be a book I'd necessarily read, but decided to go into it with an open mind.

Having said all that, I am only giving a three-star review based on MY OPINION. Looking at it subjectively, no, it's not normally I novel I would finish, but I wouldn't want to discount other friends who would really like this book.

So read it and decide for yourself. :)

It was a super-fast read, very light, and the storyline flowed well.

A few chapters into the book, I decided it sounded very much like a very famous book that was made into a movie - neither of which I've experienced - so when one of the characters actually calls out said novel, I actually laughed out-loud.

There was a page I bookmarked because I loved the sentence, "...who didn't cut down her family tree just because she wanted to stick her feathers in a new nest for awhile." Gorgeous.

Again, read this book for yourself. It could be your next favorite. I'd still be open to reading more works by the author.

I was given a Advanced Readers Copy for review.


This review also appears on Goodreads and Amazon.

I think the sign of a good book is that you are sad that it ended. This was the case for me with this read. I really wished there were another few chapters. Not in a bad way.

This was about Maggie and how her life is turned upside down when her husband decides to leave her. She spends time reflecting and trying to find her way through it.

This could have gone the way of Eat, Pray, Love or skirted on cliche. It did not.

Having gone through a marriage breakup, and the resulting soul-searching that it triggers, this felt true to me. I would be interested to hear feedback from readers who haven't had that experience and what their thought on the book will be.

I found the book to be insightful and a cautionary tale in what can happen when you lose yourself in a relationship, and give up what you need for the greater good of your family.

I flew through the book because I really wanted to know what happened. I think that is the mark of a good read.

If you are looking for a good read with a little bit of (possibly) self-reflection, this is your book.

I gave it a 4/5 star rating on Goodreads.

Full disclosure: I received this eARC from NetGalley for a fair and honest review. (Thanks NetGalley!)

What do you do when you're a woman in your 50's, have taken care of home, family and husband for over 20 years, and suddenly said husband says he's leaving you for another woman? Maggie Halfmoon Harris wonders that same thing when her husband Adam drops that bombshell on her. Insecure and worried about her future, Maggie decides that now is the time for her to think of what's best for HER. There are many firsts for her once again and I applauded and cheered her on in this new chapter of her life. Maggie is very relatable and I liked her a lot. She's someone I would want to strike up a friendship with. The story itself was very well written and I think there will be many women who will indeed see themselves in Maggie. How many of us in our 40's and 50's haven't felt invisible after taking care of others and putting them first for many years? I admired Maggie's resilience to move forward and take care of herself by traveling alone and moving to a new city for a fresh start. There were funny, sad and touching moments in this book. I loved Woman Last Seen in Her Thirties and was actually sad to have it end. I wanted more!

I received an advance review copy of this book via NetGalley.

While a story about a woman's transition from her secure, predictable life as a wife and mother to having to figure out her own wants and needs as a suddenly single woman in mid-life may be a story we've all heard before, Ms. Pagan does a great job of infusing this tale with wit and heart. Maggie's character development through all the stages of grieving the sudden loss of her marriage from denial to acceptance was very relatable, and I found myself on that roller coaster of emotions with her. If you love Women's Fiction, you'll enjoy this one!

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for providing me an ARC of this book. All opinions are my own.

I loved this book! It is a story that probably quite a few of us have been able to relate to at some point in our lives, even for maybe just a little bit. Haven't we all felt somewhat invisible and unappreciated at times?

Maggie's no-good husband, Adam tells her one day that he 'wants a different life.' What the heck? Maggie thought their marriage and their lives were doing just fine. He ups and leaves her and she tries to get on with her life, suddenly realizing that she has no identity—she has been part of a couple for so many years.

There are so many great characters in this book. There's Maggie, of course, as we watch her stumble though her 'new life', and Rose, Maggie's mother-in-law. I loved their relationship and how Maggie didn't give up on Rose, even though Rose's son gave up on Maggie. And then there's Jean, the carefree, adventurous women that Maggie meets on the plane on her way to Rome. Jean takes her under her wing and gives Maggie advice on how to figure it all out.

Woman Last Seen in Her Thirties is an entertaining, thought provoking, and memorable story that captured me from the start. I can highly recommend it as a very enjoyable read!

Adam Harris is leaving his wife, Maggie, after 32 years of marriage for a woman named Jillian Smith, age 30. She is near the age of their children, Jack and Zoe. Maggie always thought that she and Adam had a great marriage so she is totally shocked and devastated at Adam’s defection.

We follow Maggie as the days pass and little by little she tries to accept that her marriage is over. She finds herself drowning her sorrows by drinking too much wine so she works to stop drinking.

As Thanksgiving approaches, she decides to have one last family dinner so she invites her son, daughter, and Adam. After dinner when Adam confesses that he didn’t really leave her for another woman but because he didn’t love her anymore, her heart is truly broken. But life goes on and so does Maggie as she slowly accepts her new life and begins to grow from it.

This novel could have been a bit better if it had been written as it had been promoted. Thinking Maggie is in her thirties instead of her fifties and that there would be humor in the book, I was disappointed to find that it was also rather depressing. I can’t say that I cared that much for Maggie either. Just another story of a broken marriage.

Copy provided by NetGalley in exchange for a fair and honest review.

I don’t know if there’s a mother on the planet that hasn’t felt like they lost a piece of themselves at some point since having their children. It’s SO incredibly easy to throw your heart and soul into being a mom, it’s a gigantic responsibility and one most don’t take lightly. Along the way it’s far too easy to put yourself last in order to keep your family functioning happily and you don’t even notice until you’ve been doing it for years, decades even. That is the crux of Maggie’s problem, she has lost herself and it takes her husband leaving her for her to even realize it.

I could completely relate to Maggie even though she’s a bit older than me, she’s a normal, everyday wife and mom who doesn’t even really know what makes her happy. She knows what drives her kids and her husband, but herself? The last time she followed her dreams was when she married her husband decades ago. Pagan created such a realistic character in Maggie, she was warm and kind and also insecure and unsure of her place in the world and lacking confidence in a major way. Who can’t relate to that?! She also had a dark sense of humor at times that I loved! The way the whole book unfolded was so true to real life, you know those books where a woman gets divorced then moves someplace new, falls in love and gets a second chance at happiness super quickly? This isn’t that book and I so appreciated that, it’s an extremely well written and accurate portrayal of what a woman would do after her life is shattered.

Woman Last Seen in Her Thirties in three words: Honest, Relatable and Hopeful.

Maggie Harris begins the narration of her story by describing it as a "tale as old as time." Indeed it is. But Camille Pagán manages to put a delightful modern spin on the story. First, she creates a likable, empathetic protagonist in Maggie Harris, a woman who never worried that her husband of nearly thirty years would leave her. But then he did. And she is left to find her way through the morass of emotions associated with the end of a relationship she thought would only be dissolved by death, grown children who no longer need her to shepherd them through their own lives, dismantled dreams about how growing older and retirement will unfold, and a nagging sense that she hasn't really been in touch with her true self since she was in her 30's. Because, after all, her energy has been focused on the needs of her family. First, she takes the vacation she and her husband had planned by herself. Then she decides to move -- ostensibly, temporarily -- to a place where she doesn't know anyone and has no ties. Slowly and steadily, Maggie discovers she has strength and reserves she never imagined. Of course, there is romance along the way. A family crisis threatens to derail Maggie's newly-minted dreams, but also offers second chances and an opportunity to recoup some of what she lost. As she finds herself at a crossroads, Pagan makes an artistic decision that will leave most readers applauding. Maggie is a character every woman over the age of 40 will relate to and cheer for. And in Pagan's skillful retelling, the ages-old tale is fast-paced, enjoyable, and even inspiring. Woman Last Seen in Her Thirties readily lends itself to a lazy afternoon on the beach or a multi-layered discussion during a book club meeting,

Middle aged woman (Maggie) finds herself after husband (Adam) leaves her for younger woman. OK, that simple description makes this book sound mundane and predictable, but please believe me when I tell you that it was not! It started out light and humorous, so I was not at all expecting the depth of emotion sprinkled throughout and especially at the end. #Bawling

I must add that my mom passed away less than 3 months ago (and her outlook on life was very similar to Maggie's mom), so I think that definitely contributed to my extreme emotional reaction to this story. Even if you haven't lost a parent, there are so many other themes in this book (divorce, midlife crisis, career change, mothering grown children, forgiveness, trying new things, etc), I think it'll hit a chord with almost everyone and highly recommend it!

Thank you to the author, the publisher, and the Great Thought’s Ninja Review Team for a free ARC of this book! All opinions are my own.