Agatha Arch is Afraid of Everything

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Agatha Arch has many irrational fears, with #1 being beans of any kind. When she finds her husband in flagrante with the neighborhood dog walker, she snaps and starts wielding the first thing she sees -- a hatchet.

Agatha is a character who reminds me of a cross between Eleanor Oliphant and Bernadette Fox. Her levels of denial don't reach Eleanor's and her neuroses outpace Bernadette.

Agatha is neurotic but in a funny and charming way. She calls her therapist "shrinky dink" and lets herself be driven crazy by simple things like loudly ticking clocks. She swore off all beans at 17 when she saw The Silence of the Lambs because beans are the gateway drug to cannibalism (obviously). Since then, she's tacked on several more irrational fears.

Agatha's enemies are the dogwalker who stole her husband, the new "interloper" in town (a homeless woman), and the local moms' Facebook group. Agatha's antics are amusing at first, but the reader's patience will begin to wear thin as she becomes increasingly erratic. Bernadette Fox's antics in Where'd You Go, Bernadette? were much more normal and believable. Agatha's story screams fiction and not reality.

Eventually, Agatha must come to terms that her husband is gone for good. She needs to let go of her marriage and fears, and learn to embrace life as a single woman. She's hidden behind her husband for years and must change her ways, go out into the world, and make friends.

Soneela Nankani is a good narrator with a great sarcastic inflection for Agatha. She doesn't stumble over Agatha's made-up words like "fother mucking" that she uses so she won't cuss in front of her kids.

Recommended for fans of Where'd You Go, Bernadette? who can't get enough stories of suburban moms who are driven crazy by those around them.

Kristin Bair also writes novels under her full name, Kristin Bair O'Keeffe. She is a Pennsylvania native who lives outside of Boston.

Publisher: Dreamscape Media

Narrator: Soneela Nankani

Running Time: 10 hours, 59 minutes

Release Date: November 10, 2020

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I received an electronic audio recording of this title from the publisher through Netgalley in exchange for an honest review. As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases.