Book Review: Domestic Violets by Matthew Norman

Title: Domestic Violets
Author: Matthew Norman
Publisher: Harper Perennial
Publication Date: August 9, 2011
Paperback: 352 pages
ISBN: 978-0062065117
Genre: Fiction

From the Publisher:

Tom Violet always thought that by the time he turned thirty-five, he’d have everything going for him. Fame. Fortune. A beautiful wife. A satisfying career as a successful novelist. A happy dog to greet him at the end of the day.

The reality, though, is far different. He’s got a wife, but their problems are bigger than he can even imagine. And he’s written a novel, but the manuscript he’s slaved over for years is currently hidden in his desk drawer while his father, an actual famous writer, just won the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction. His career, such that it is, involves mind-numbing corporate buzzwords, his pretentious archnemesis Gregory, and a hopeless, completely inappropriate crush on his favorite coworker. Oh . . . and his dog, according to the vet, is suffering from acute anxiety.

Tom’s life is crushing his soul, but he’s decided to do something about it. (Really.) Domestic Violets is the brilliant and beguiling story of a man finally taking control of his own happiness—even if it means making a complete idiot of himself along the way.

My Review:

Domestic Violets by Matthew Norman is an excitingly funny, yet tragically realistic debut about Tom Violet, a married man in his thirties who is encountering what is probably best described as the onset of mid-life blues.  Norman captures many of the sentiments felt by men and women alike who are at points in their lives where they ask questions such as: How did I end up with this kind of life?  Perhaps it is troubles with marriage, or an identity crisis stemming from aspirations to be as successful as one’s parents, or a job that is unrewarding, or co-workers who just make going to work dreadful at times.  Though these are fairly common feelings to encounter, Norman has christened Tom with each of these afflictions.  Readers will delight in Norman’s humor as Tom navigates his various predicaments with a not-so-nimble step that is rarely fully morally grounded.  Told through Tom’s eyes, it is easy to laugh along with some of his actions and cry in other circumstances, and with characters in Tom’s life so well developed, there is a lot of experience for everyone to relate to.  This is a story where most everyone should feel as though they know what Tom is experiencing as his trials are those that most experience at some point in life in one form or another.  I recommend Domestic Violets to all readers.

About the Author:

Matthew Norman is an advertising copywriter. He lives with his wife and daughter in Baltimore. Domestic Violets is his first novel.

To learn more about Matthew Norman, please visit his blog at: www.thenormannation.com

For more reviews of the book, please follow the TLC Book Tour.

I received an arc of Domestic Violets by Matthew Norman from TLC Book Tours to be a part of this tour and offer my honest review of the book. Receiving a complimentary copy in no way reflected my review of aforementioned book.

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