Getting Even With Fran by Christine Stinson is a light read. Although the title would tend to suggest this book is about revenge it's not until the last few pages that any act of "revenge", if you want to call it that, occurs.

The story follows the lives of seven women in their mid to late 40's as they prepare for their 30 year school reunion. Each of the women is grappling with their own "mid-life" crisis: from cancer, marriage break-up, menopause and miscarriage to accepting new relationships, coming to terms with careers or just getting on in years.

All of these issues, although not related to the reunion directly, comprise the backdrop and context within which each of the women plan to deal and interrelate with others they expect to see at the reunion.

Several of the characters are carrying grudges developed 30 years previously when they formed and lost their schoolyard friendships, faced ridicule and bullying and generally dealt with the vicissitudes of school life.

The one, not too subtle, message that came through in this book is that judgements you may have made in youth, and within the context of the time, and with the limited knowledge you may have had, may not hold if you allow wisdom, knowledge and forgiveness to temper your views.

A book to read with a glass of wine and in front of an open fire on a cold winters night when you have nothing else to do and you just want to relax and not be over taxed.