Gettin’ dumped and doin’ something about it

Black Olives by Martha Tod Dudman
So you know how you wonder sometimes what your ex has been up to? How his absence has made a bigger impact on your life than you imagined and you just want him to feel the same way? So one day you see him in the grocery store, but he doesn’t see you, so you decide to hide in the backseat of his car and see where he’s going? Did I lose you on that last question? Well, that’s exactly what happens in Black Olives. Seriously. The main character, Virginia, hides in her ex-boyfriend’s car, under some blankets just to see what happens. It’s an interesting premise because it’s something we all imagine doing, or at least something we wonder about, but Dudman actually has a realistic character play it out. And if the plot isn’t jarring enough, it only takes a few pages to realize this is a middle aged woman. At first I figured it was someone in her twenties, crazy after her first love leaves her, but no. Little by little their relationship is revealed, as are some truths that Virginia must come to accept. It’s a short read but interesting, with a touching ending that let’s us know that everything is going to be okay.

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