MIDWEST BOOK REVIEW: Be who you want to be. ("CHANGING SPACES" by Nancy King)-

“How is it possible that one minute I’m a wife

and the next I’m a discard?”

—Changing Spaces, Nancy King

MY MIDWEST BOOK REVIEW

Not since Marilyn French's 70s novel, THE WOMEN'S ROOM, has there been such a groundbreaking feminist novel. Nancy King tackles 180-degree life flips, divorce, women’s friendship and the healing power of New Mexico in her novel CHANGING SPACES. Just as in THE WOMEN'S ROOM, the central character (Laura) gets an "anvil" dropped on her head when her husband suddenly wants a divorce after a longtime marriage in which Laura has been deeply in love. That King has the couple coupling a few hours before this shocking news is testimony to how skillfully she lets readers know (a) older women can still have sex with their husbands and enjoy it and (b) men are dogs.

Okay, maybe not that last one.

In CHANGING SPACES, men are not so much "dogs" as they are "dogged" in their pursuits. Laura's husband has doggedly pursued a younger woman, thus resulting in his asking for the divorce. And after Laura disappears off the face of Oberlin, Ohio where they have lived their comfortable lives, The Cad regrets his error and tries desperately to learn where she is.

Where Laura "is" determines the trajectory of this story and beats like a heart liberated from its rib cage. CHANGING SPACES is about lost and found identity--specifically the identity of married women who identify so much as wives (even if they have careers such as Laura does) that they eventually lose sight of what they really want until they get the rude "stick in the eye" of their spouse announcing divorce plans.

INTERVIEW: NANCY KING (CHANGING SPACES) - "That was before I lost my life."

Title:   Changing Spaces
Author: Nancy King
Genre: Women's Fiction 

Published 2014 by Plain View Press 

ISBN: 978-1-891386-43-5
Author Web Site: Nancy King Stories
Available at Amazon:  Amazon: Changing Spaces

“How is it possible that one minute I’m a wife

and the next I’m a discard?”

—Changing Spaces, Nancy King

    Santa Fe author Nancy King’s newest novel (Jan. 2014, Plain View Press) about a Midwestern runaway soon-to-be-divorced wife who gets a “makeover” in Santa Fe could end up doing for New Mexico what Moby Dick did for whales.

     Changing Spaces grew out of three incidents. “First there was a woman who said to me, ‘That was before I lost my life,’” said King. “Her husband of 40 years had divorced her to marry a younger woman.” The following week, another friend “showed up in tears because her husband wanted out of their 40-year marriage so he could marry his secretary.” By the time Nancy King spotted an Op-Ed about the author of a book that touted the joys of being a stay-at-home-wife whose husband now wanted a divorce after 40 years—she knew she was on to something.

     Into this familiar scenario, King injected a “What if?”. What if a Midwestern 60-year old woman woke up as she always did, made love with her husband of 40 years, and several hours later, learned her husband had fallen for a younger woman and wanted a divorce—and what if—she hit the road and ended up in the healing bear-hug that is Santa Fe, New Mexico?

     As one reviewer put it: “Heartbreak turns to intrigue. A season of grief leads to a wig, a closet, a script, cookie recipes, new friendships, and a wide-open future.”

“Hey, ya got the Santa Fe idea. No need to be who you were.

Be who you want to be.” —Changing Spaces, Nancy King

    In 2001, King moved from New York City “and never looked back.” The decision to leave friends and job would have been bold for anyone, but since 1985, King has been living with a rare form of leukemia known as Hairy Cell. 

     “When I realized I had a chronic disease with no cure, I made the decision that it was not going to run or ruin my life. I focus on what I can do; not what I lost or what I used to be able to do. Even when I don’t feel well, I force myself to walk or hike or play tennis because I always feel better afterward.”

     The unsinkable Nancy King has trekked Thailand, hiked the Grand Canyon, and “run people 50 years her junior into the ground,” according to one friend. “She overcame the odds of a disastrous diagnosis.”

Laura tried on outfit after outfit, hoping to alter her personality

from the outside in. She practiced taking bigger steps…

—Changing Spaces, Nancy King

     Why Santa Fe? “The nature around Santa Fe is spectacular. Many people find it has a magical energy that renews and regenerates. Even those born in New Mexico talk about this area’s special energy, nature, culture.”

     It’s not unusual for newcomers to experience difficulties. “It’s as if Santa Fe were trying to spit them out. Those who manage to survive their initial problems often experience personal transformations that they couldn’t have articulated before coming.”

     Nancy King also authored the novels, Morning Light, A Woman Walking, and The Stones Speak, which was optioned for a film and won first place in the New Mexico Presswomen’s Communications Contest. She has facilitated international arts-based healing workshops, which she detailed in Dancing With Wonder: Self-Discovery through Stories.

  

   “If there is a theme that runs throughout my writing, it is an exploration of the need to reconnect with the disconnected Self after trauma,” King said. “I’m interested in what happens when characters realize their old lives and ways no longer serve them.”

     What helps the most when living with illness or a life out of balance? “Having a sense of humor about every aspect of life. And good friends.”

     Just as in her novel where Santa Fe women form a circle of care around the stranger in their midst, King’s friends have seen her through the best and the worst.

     “When a nurse expressed concern that I don’t have family here to support me while I undergo treatments, I told her. ‘Don’t worry. My friends are the best support network in the world.’”

==============

     Nancy King, Ph.D. lives in Santa Fe, New Mexico where she weaves, writes, and finds inspiration hiking in the mountains. She is a contributing writer for the online journal Your Life Is a Trip.


     To read more about Changing Spaces and check out early reviews, please visit:

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