Evans, who proved herself expert at plumbing midlife issues of self-doubt and self-discovery in 2003's Stanley, California
, tackles similar ground in her third novel, which begins at a funeral and ends with a cleansing meteor shower, and, in between, charts a woman's belated emotional flowering. When Peg Malone's husband, Emmett, dies of a heart attack at 45, a paper trail leads her to the discovery that while Emmett has been neglecting the house, the car and the emotional needs of his wife, he has exhausted the family funds on a townhouse and red sports car for his mistress. "What had he been about, that husband?" Peg wonders, and then gives herself a "liberating haircut" with a pair of pinking shears. After nearly 25 years of timid subservience to Emmett, Peg must now learn how to program the VCR, file a tax return and phone AAA on her own. It doesn't take long for the sense of liberation to set in. With her sexy and independent daughter, Amy, as a model, Peg steamrolls her insecurities on the road to empowerment. The cookie-cutter suburban neighborhood she once maligned becomes her treasured support network, as do the friends she makes at her new job at the local cable company. This familiar story of a woman's spiritual journey back to herself is redeemed by the honesty and accessibility of Evans's writing. (Jan.)
