Mona Lisa Siggs could be the average American woman. She goes to work at Wal-Mart and is deeply entrenched in the mundane. Calling Oxford Valley, PA home, she deals with an eccentric next door neighbor daily. Wal-Mart’s express lane is where she interacts with others. At the age of 34, she reflects on the faded dreams of her youth and picks apart her flaws in a bathroom mirror.
One constant in her life is her husband, Tom. But, falling into doldrums of life have made her marriage stagnant and left her appearance lacking. Trying to revive a marriage on life support, she embarks on a quest for self-improvement. Along the way, she encounters home improvements leading to surprises, sees people in a new light, and gets honest with herself.
Being from Pa myself, I always love when it’s used as a setting. Pennsylvanians can be an interesting lot and these characters are no exceptions. All the book’s characters are endearing, even their next door busybody. Background is important to the plot and our author utilizes it well. It’s not too much, but not too little.
Self-discovery is the main focal point. However, there’s so much honesty and humor in it that it ends up inspiriting and honest. What woman in her thirties hasn’t glanced in the mirror at least once and said, ‘Oh, my’? For some of us, way more than once!
Mona is just so likeable and easy to relate with as a heroine. Her concerns are real, but she’s a smart cookie who knows when to take action before her ship sinks. I love her work as the average ‘Joe’. She would be missing something if she worked in a more glamorous profession.
Tom’s character and how he gets unknowingly drug into self-discovery mode are great. He is sweet and soft-spoken while Mona is not. He mimics how many men would certainly react to a dismal marriage and distant spouse. But, his openness and honesty with Mona make him just as endearing as she is.
For a feel-good, light-hearted read, I’d highly recommend ‘Becoming Mona Lisa’ by Holden Robinson. A true work of art, I give it 5 of 5 stars.
I received 1 eBook copy to do my review. No other compensation was provided. I wasn’t under obligation to write a positive review.
