Book Review: Warm Transfer

It’s been a while since my last real book review. I’ve been so busy that it’s been hard to finish a book lately and the last book I tried to read I just could not get in to. I got less than halfway through and I just had to give up because it was going to take me forever since I wasn’t that interested in it. But, the book I’m sharing today, Warm Transfer , was one that I got really in to and couldn’t put down!

Tamsen is a stay-at-home mom of 2 in her mid 40s. She grew up in a working-class Irish family in Chicago. After a successful 10 year career in publishing, she left the workforce to stay at home with her 2 kids with her wealthy and successful husband, Victor. Now she spends her days taking care of her house, kids, and volunteering her time for things like the Women’s Society.

When the book begins, Tamsen and Victor are separated and it’s clear that her husband controls her and has a scary grip on her life. He desperately wants to return to “normal” less so because he loves her and more because it looks bad for business. Tamsen clearly does not want to stay with him, but she is under his thumb and doesn’t want to risk hurting her children. While separated, Tamsen strikes up a relationship with her son’s guitar teacher, Whit, and through a series of events over the year she learns who she wants to be, her worth, and finds her voice again.

The book touches on a lot of themes of emotional abuse and finding your identity. I was hooked on the story from the get-go and although at times Tamsen really annoyed me, I think the story was really good and realistic. Why did she annoy me? I felt that sometimes she didn’t think things through and caused more trouble for herself. Yes, it seems like it’s easy to blame the victim and say it’s their fault they “got in trouble” with their husband, but what I mean is she knows how vindictive, cruel, and manipulative he can be so she should be thinking smarter and try to stay a step ahead of him. Instead, she’s often making choices/mistakes that he can use against her like missing her son’s talent shoe because she forgot to change her clocks for spring forward when she knows Victor is already trying to look like the better parent at school.

But, overall, the book is about realizing your self-worth and not letting anyone control you. You make your own choices and you’re responsible for your own life. You can make your dreams come true and forget the naysayers.

At one point in the book she looks down at a view of Chicago from the restaurant at the top of a skyscraper with Whit. They marvel at the lights down below and remark that it looks like a circuit board or map.

“A map of what, though” she asked, He paused a moment, looking out into the blackness toward the invisible horizon. “A map of conceivable things,” he said. “Of dreams and notions.” She understood, marveling at the human ingenuity that created everything they could see and beyond. “And potential realized,” she added.”

I really enjoyed this book and think it’s definitely worth a read!