Still reeling from her recent divorce, Christine, the beloved protagonist of Dora Heldt's uproarious Life After Forty, is sure that yet another birthday is the last thing she needs. But here it comes nonetheless, the big 4-4, in all its lonely midlife glory. Making matters worse is Christine's fear that she has always relied too heavily on the support of her girlfriends. As the big day nears, she begins to think that none of those women can understand just what she's going through. Alarmed by Christine's growing despair, her best friend and sister hatch a plan to prove her wrong: They will gather together all of Christine's old friends from the various stages of her life and throw a surprise party the likes of which she has never seen. Of course, finding all of those women turns out to be easier said than done The final result proves to be a priceless gift, a moving and laugh-out-loud funny portrait of one woman as told through the stories of her friendships.

Inseparable

Literature & Fiction

Heldt, Dora

Contemporary

BRILLIANCE AUDIO ^

Ever since discovering her lifelong best friend was sleeping with her (now ex) husband, Christine's trust in other women has been a little shaky. Sure, she has a few close friends, but she's also fiercely independent and shies away from sharing too much with them. When Ruth, one of her colleagues, hears Christine saying that she doesn't feel the need for a best friend, she wishes she could show her how enriching a good female friendship really can be. She embarks on a mission to find Christine’s old girlfriends in time for her forty-fourth birthday, and plots to bring them together for the surprise party of a lifetime. Of course, finding all of these women turns out to be easier said than done, but in the process, Ruth and the others helping her not only find out more about Christine's past friendships, but about their own too. Meanwhile, Christine, who has no idea of the search taking place, has some personal challenges of her own and may soon need the support of her girlfriends more than ever. This is a loving and laugh-out-loud funny portrait of one woman’s life, told through the stories of her friendships.

Life After Forty

When Christine’s husband of ten years dumps her over the phone while she watches a Hugh Grant film she is sent spinning on a cathartic, self-medicated journey to the land of self-acceptance and self-reliance. Surrounded by her sister and a strong support group of friends, Christine learns how to deal with the horrors of dating, finding new appliances, and the exhilarating feeling of shopping without consequence.An uproarious look at the suddenly single life of a divorcee, Dora Heldt’s first book to appear in English captures the zeitgeist of the new millennium with searing insight while never deigning to take itself too seriously. Sparkling dialogue and unforgettable characters create a vibrant world of sardonic, take-no-prisoners women who hold their own in a world geared toward acceptance of their younger selves. Not since Bridget Jones’ Diary or Sex in the City has anything like Life After Forty so accurately and thoroughly expressed the modern female point of view with such startling clarity.

When Christine’s husband of ten years dumps her over the phone while she watches a Hugh Grant film she is sent spinning on a cathartic, self-medicated journey to the land of self-acceptance and self-reliance. Surrounded by her sister and a strong support group of friends, Christine learns how to deal with the horrors of dating, finding new appliances, and the exhilarating feeling of shopping without consequence. An uproarious look at the suddenly single life of a divorcee, Dora Heldt’s first book to appear in English captures the zeitgeist of the new millennium with searing insight while never deigning to take itself too seriously. Sparkling dialogue and unforgettable characters create a vibrant world of sardonic, take-no-prisoners women who hold their own in a world geared toward acceptance of their younger selves. Not since Bridget Jones’ Diary or Sex in the City has anything like Life After Forty so accurately and thoroughly expressed the modern female point of view with such startling clarity.

When Christine’s husband calls her during a girls’ night in with her sister and asks for a divorce, she’s devastated. And bewildered. Admittedly, her marriage was in a rut, but at least she had someone, and an idea of how her future would be. Now, in the run-up to her fortieth birthday, she has to start over. With the help of loyal girlfriends and her courageous decision to move to the city, she gradually starts to find her feet on the ground again ― and begins to make a new life for herself. Heartwarming, bittersweet, and deliciously witty, this novel will make you realize it’s never too late to find happiness ― and that it’s not always where you thought it would be.

Thirty years have passed since Christine and her father, Heinz, vacationed together. It was such a disaster ― an exasperated Heinz left the moody teenager at a gas station to teach her a lesson ― that Christine vowed never again. But now her mother is insisting that Christine and her best friend, Dorothea, take Heinz along on what is supposed to be a relaxing girls’ trip to the beach. And she’s not taking no for an answer.   Suddenly Christine and Dorothea have a chaperone, though high school is long since over. From commandeering a friend’s business renovation to joining the islanders’ hunt for an escaped con artist to sabotaging his daughter’s budding romance with a handsome stranger, Heinz’s “father knows best” routine quickly wears thin. But when an unexpected turn of events shows him in a different light, Christine realizes she may not be too grown up to need her father after all.

Chaperoned

Genre Fiction

Amazon Crossing

To Christine, her Aunt Inge and Uncle Walter are reliable fixtures in the family, dependable and destined to be together forever. So when she spies Inge in the company of a man who is most certainly not her husband, life as Christine knows it takes a turn for the unexpected. Suddenly, what began as a blissful vacation with her gorgeous boyfriend on her native island of Sylt has morphed into a family drama of epic proportions—and a rude wake-up call for Christine. Because compared to the newfound passion with which sixtysomething Inge is tackling each day, Christine’s supposedly fabulous life seems downright dull. Christine decides it’s time to make some drastic changes…but will she ruin the great life she already has in the process?

Tidal Shift

Humor & Satire

See the best price to sell, buy, or rent books by Heldt, Dora. BookScouter helps to compare book prices from 25+ online bookstores and 30+ buyback vendors with a single search.

Books by Heldt, Dora

See the best price to sell, buy, or rent books by Heldt, Dora. BookScouter helps to compare book prices from 25+ online bookstores and 30+ buyback vendors with a single search.

Inseparable

Inseparable

Life After Forty

Life After Forty

Life After Forty

Life After Forty

Chaperoned

Chaperoned

Life After Forty

Tidal Shift