Written very honestly from the protagonists view . Full of raw emotion , intimate and real thoughts, genuine feelings. A wonderful , engaging storyline that draws you in and makes you turn page after page to get more and more of it. You don’t want it to end , but rather , want to keep reading and have it continue on and on. Really enjoyed!
I was drawn to the story of Emily, a young wife and a mom like myself, from the first page.
I love the way the author mixed sad, fun and even sexy episodes throughout the book – It certainly make the book super easy and fun to read.
I recommend this book to anyone, if you are a women you will love this book from the start, and if you are a man, beside the fun of reading you will get a free peek to women thoughts.
The story went along and at its dramatic climax just ended. The editing was bad and made it harder to read. Another 20 - 50 pages and clean up the editing would be better.
This story is complicated, and it makes you think all the time and does not leave you indifferent. I really loved this novel, it touched me deeply.
This is chick lit at its very best! I loved the characters and couldn't stop reading. highly recommended
The book is very interesting. One of the anjoybale stories I've read recently! The main character is fascinating in her complexity and the writer has been very sensitive to illustrate her dilemmas and the complexity of life.
Israeli author Ela M. Shmuely is a Cognitive Behavior Therapist and works with underprivileged high school students – a very strong foundation and vantage from which she offers her debut novel. Ela’s short stories have been published in journals and she has also succeeded in having one of her plays performed. Her insights and wit are evident in this excellent first novel, THE WRONG SIDE OF THE BED.
Focusing on family dynamics, Ela writes with exceptional fluidity, able to spin her tale with grace and sensitivity as is evident from the opening passages – ‘Eventually, my father died, it took him two years to realize he was tired of having all that cancer and things weren’t about to improve. Since he was the type of person who detested when others made decisions for him, he swallowed all the valium that had been sitting by his bed ever since the surgery. During the year before that, my older sister, Sharon, had to fly back and forth across the ocean. Each time she would contemplate about when to book her next flight, and then, after having landed here, deliberate about how long she should stay…Our trans-Atlantic conversations were taxing…’ Family interactions, and the entre to a very fine novel.
The well-paced story is concisely condensed in the synopsis: ‘Emily, a young married woman and the mother of two children, runs a small neighborhood café together with her husband, and firmly believes people must stand behind the choices they have made in life. Except she had not taken into account that some things in this world are beyond her control: her beloved father is dying at home, begging for help in putting an end to his agony, the business she and her husband manage is treading water, and the problems in their marriage are beginning to surface. Amidst this chaos, Guy, the love of her youth, makes his appearance, looking for closure, or actually, for an opening. It’s all up to her now. Emily is facing a major dilemma: Should she stick to the choices she once made or give a fair chance to a new beginning?’
Rarely has a novel explored all aspects of family – parents, siblings, spouse, children, ‘affairs…’ - been so seamless woven as Ela has accomplished in this novel. Each character is readily accessible to identify as participant in the scope of the story because of Ela’s fine sculpting technique. For a first novel THE WRONG SIDE OF THE BED is a sparkling notice that a fine new author has arrived on the literary scene. Recommended. Grady Harp, November 19
The Wrong Side of the Bed by Ela M. Shmuely is a wonderfully written and richly descriptive novel, with brilliantly drawn characters driven by an unexpected encounter and the choices that follow. The author weaves a well-crafted emotional drama that will captivate the reader from the first page to the last. Skillfully constructed, it’s a story that emphasizes no matter how much in control we think we are, some things that happen in this world are beyond it.
The book description gives a sneak preview: ‘Emily, a young married woman and the mother of two children, runs a small neighborhood café together with her husband, and firmly believes people must stand behind the choices they have made in life.
Except she had not taken into account that some things in this world are beyond her control: her beloved father is dying at home, begging for help in putting an end to his agony, the business she and her husband manage is treading water, and the problems in their marriage are beginning to surface.
Amidst this chaos, Guy, the love of her youth, makes his appearance, looking for closure, or actually, for an opening. It’s all up to her now.
Emily is facing a major dilemma: Should she stick to the choices she once made or give a fair chance to a new beginning?’
Now, if that’s not enough to get your curiosity juices flowing, I don’t know what will. But if you want to find out what happens, you’ll just have to turn the pages for yourself! However, I will say it was well worth the read. It’s my first time reading this author and I must say I was very impressed.
The story had every element a good story should have. A solid plot, attention to detail, but best of all fleshed out, well-written and well-rounded character development. There’s an abundance of well-illustrated scenes that make you feel like you are right there in the story, and that’s something I really look for in a good book.
I enjoyed the story, character development, and dialogue. There were plenty of plot twists that I didn’t see coming and that added to the book’s mystique. When I stopped reading to work, I found myself wondering what happened in the book, and replaying parts of the novel in my head to see if I could figure more out. It has been a while since I enjoyed a book this much.
This was a fascinating and captivating read that had me immersed from the beginning. The story flowed from scene to scene with ease, and the author shows exceptional ability when it comes to storytelling. There are plenty of attention-grabbing moments in this page turner that will take the reader on a truly mesmerizing journey. Five stars.