Love and Biology at the Center of the Universe

by Jennie Shortridge

NAL Accent, $14

Mira Serafino thought she built a life strong enough to keep her real self – the conflicted and dissatisfied one – under wraps and out of sight. But it turns out that not her husband, her daughter, her family, or her job are reason enough to stay in Pacifica, Ore. when things get rough.

Mira is busy with her usual flurry of activities, cooking cannoli and fisherman’s stew for large family get-togethers, teaching biology at the local high school, loving her husband Parker, and trying to find a way to relate to her grown daughter Thea, when she discovers the unfathomable: her husband is having an affair. Without much looking back, Mira drives away, landing in Seattle when she’s out of gas.

Mira takes a job at the Coffee Shop at the Center of the Universe, and that’s when it gets interesting. She is plunged into freedom, and it’s not necessarily exhilarating. It’s unnerving and a little unreal for Mira, who initially clings to the shell she’s spent a lifetime constructing. But as the layers shed, a new – and much happier – Mira emerges. She buys a pair of bell bottoms, meets new people, bridges the gap between the truth of her past and what she’s wanted to believe, and best of all, she cuts loose.

Shortridge has ensured that Mira’s growth isn’t too dramatic. She’s written a realistic portrait of a middle-aged woman remembering who she was and who she wants to be. Mira has enough flaws to make her believable, and she changes enough that you are proud of her by the novel’s end. Mira realizes an important lesson: if you worry too much about fulfilling roles that are expected of you, it’s very likely you’ll lose yourself.

Shortridge’s last novel, “Eating Heaven,” was deliciously more layered than this book, but she still writes about the nuance of relationships and how we fit into our own complicated families. “Love and Biology” is not categorized as chick lit, but it is probably best appreciated by a female audience. Shortridge speaks to issues that are particularly poignant for women: exploring one’s sexuality without the stigma of promiscuity, maintaining your sense of self while being a mother and a wife, and towing the line between what you desire and what is expected.

Jennie Shortridge will be reading from her new book, “Love and Biology at the Center of the Universe,” at Griffin Bay Book Store in Friday Harbor on Saturday, July 12 at 7:00 p.m.