Calling Invisible Women: A Novel

When I pre-ordered "Calling Invisible Women" some six months ago, I didn't know I was pre-ordering my own birthday gift. It arrived yesterday and I finished it today, which is, coincidentally, my 54th birthday. I take great delight in the fact that, as of today, I am the exact same age as Clover Hobart, the invisible protagonist of this charming new novel by Jeanne Ray. And as birthday gifts go, I couldn't have planned this one better. It's worth noting that though I'm a voracious reader, I don't usually pre-order books - at least not intentionally. (I've done it by accident once or twice.) But I did it on purpose this time, long before I had a clue what the book was about. That's because I trust Jeanne Ray. I will read anything she writes and I've been waiting - some might say "impatiently" - for her next book. In fact, several years ago, I MAY have made some haphazard attempts to locate an address with the vague intention of asking Ms. Ray if she's still writing and, if she said no, harassing her out of retirement. I would have been polite but firm about it because I need Jeanne Ray or, rather, her books. I use them the way other women use chocolate, or Prozac. She's my Go-To author when I'm having a bad day or a bad week, when I'm fighting cynicism or the flu and, especially, when I'm feeling invisible. For ten years I have been reading, rereading, lending and recommending Ms. Ray's books to my sisters and friends. Her books have seen us through divorces, hysterectomies, menopause (and its evil younger sister, perimenopause), professional disasters and reinventions, and the particular joys and tribulations of adult children who keep moving back into their old rooms - or never seem to leave them (a condition with which Ms. Ray's protagonists are often familiar). In these moments, I don't want another firm and feisty heroine in the bloom of youth. I don't want an ingenue or a sultry, fierce butt-kicker. I want a Jeanne Ray protagonist; a kind, funny, grownup sexy woman "of a certain age," a woman who doesn't always know what to do but ultimately knows her own worth, a woman who lives (mostly) comfortably in her own skin, who forgives easily and loves generously, whether or not the rest of the world can see her. Jeanne Ray provides her readers with all that, and the amazing thing is that she makes it look easy.

The premise of "calling Invisible Women" appealed to me: Clover Hobart, a 40-something mom, wife, reporter, suddenly becomes invisible. Not just in the way that some women feel when they hit a certain age, but LITERALLY invisible. However, the true center of the story is that NO ONE around her notices- not her beloved husband, not her children, not the people who see her every day. Only one close friend is able to recognize that Clover is no longer visible to the human eye. Clover decides to run with it, and see what happens. And thus, the story unfolds. It's sort of funny and sweet and a little frustrating as Clover goes about her adventures unbeknownst to the people around her. It emboldens her, it gives her a sense of awareness. But it's also a bit silly, to be honest, and not in the way that I could just jump into and get lost in. This book is brief and super-readable, but ultimately, it's not very satisfying. I felt that Clover's flexibility when it came to her family's treatment of her was maddening, in a lot of ways. I also felt, as a 38-year old woman, there's got to be more to a woman's sense of self than her physical appearance. As Clover began meeting with her support group (a group of women who had the similar affliction) there was a lot of bemoaning the fact that invisibility and being taken for granted were much in the same. I kinda wished all these ladies had a better sense of their own selves, instead of depending on the people around them (specifically the men in their life) to define it for them. The end is... strange. Very sudden. The book is paced so deliberately, and then within a few pages it's all sort of wrapped up. It was unsatisfying. Maybe if the ending had been paced similarly to the rest of the book, it would have made the story more satisfying. This is more like a novella than a regular size book. I recommend it, just know that this isn't some thought-provoking deep book about mature women and their function in society or anything like that. It's a fun, fluffy book about perception vs. reality.

What a hoot! Crazy ... yet.... don't we older ladies/ moms/ wives feel this way? We used to open doors with a smile. Even with our experience and wisdom, can we get anyone to listen to us now?? A fun, fast easy way to spend a few hours with a delightful story and get a few giggles when you're not nodding your head in agreement!

You have to suspend your belief in reality in order to fully enjoy this novel. It's an easy, fun read for women over 40, especially. Laced with threads of dark humor, it's also a cautionary tale about aging and our society's treatment of older women. As the novel opens -- with Clover's discovery that she is suddenly invisible -- I was reminded of Ray Bradbury's science fiction. While the plot/premise is a stretch for the imagination, that's half the fun of reading science fiction. When you get past the bizarre notion that a human being could become (literally) invisible, you realize that so much of what happens to the characters in this novel happens to mature women in real life -- their husbands and children fail to notice them, and other people often take them for granted. This novel will get you thinking. I found it very enjoyable.

Imagine being invisible, what would you do? What would you wear? And everyone's favorite question is it the super power you would choose. This is the intriguing premise that guides Calling Invisible Women by Jeanne Ray. While I was expecting along the lines of Fay Weldon's The Life and Loves of a She Devil, I was pleased to find that Jeanne Ray's Calling Invisible Women was more sunlit and less grim. I was also very pleased to find that this was a book which I picked up and could not put down until it was finished well past my bedtime. I am still thinking about this book and wondering if it was just a wonderful light chick-lit piece or if it was something deeper and more profound. Perhaps it delved into how we take each other for granted and fail to really look at those who we value most on a daily basis, because our lives are too involved and too busy, or maybe it was about the accountability of pharmaceutical companies or perhaps it was about how our personal stubbornness can prevent us from solving our own problems or may be it is about all these issues and more. And what makes this book truly a delight is that it does so in such an optimistic and fun manor. I loved Clover who suddenly found that she was invisible and her pediatrician husband and her college graduate son who returned home failed to notice it. I especially loved that at this point when another author might have used this opportunity to become cynical and vicious, Jeanne Ray kept it light and optimistic. I appreciate that Ray who was a nurse until retirement and didn't write her first novel until after she turned 60 used her experience as a nurse to describe the interworkings of a doctors office and the manipulation of a pharmaceutical company. Going to the beach, can't sleep at night, going to spend some time in a doctor's waiting room, take this book along with you. I'll bet you spend some time thinking about it afterwards.

This was a book selected for my book club and the title in itself is so intriguing. The story grabbed me from the get-go and I found it to be equally moving, entertaining, clever, thought-provoking and intelligent, so much so that I could not put it down. I challenge any woman over the age of 40 who has not felt invisible at one time or another. This is a story about self-discovery, reinvention and ultimately, redemption. I just loved it and trust that anything recommended or written by Jeanne will certainly touch the depths of my soul time and time again.

We're reading Calling Invisible Women in my Book Club, and I might not have finished it without that motivation. It was a perfectly nice little book, but, even with an intriguing concept, it never much challenged me. Like its heroine Clover, I'm a woman in her 50s, and I get it that we can all be invisible to others. But the depth of that conceit wasn't explored as well as it could have been, and the result was a bit shallow. The book is a lot like a made-for-TV movie. In fact, I kept thinking that this could easily show up on the Hallmark Channel one of these days. So, if you're looking for something that's very light, you might enjoy Calling Invisible Women. It had lots of potential (I loved Clover's superpowers), some of the writing was lovely, and it certainly won't offend anyone (unless you're an evil pharmaceutical company)... I just wanted more from the story.

I've often heard women of all ages speak of being invisible or at least feeling invisible. I've felt invisible myself. Ray has taken that feeling and made it a physical fact in her novel. She approaches her subject with humor and a startling dose of plausibility. If we are honest, most of us could be invisible for some time before anyone really noticed. Is this our own doing? Have we spent our adult lives trying so hard to be all things to all people that we've lost the spark that made us unique and worth notice? Do we let ourselves be taken for granted or are we the ones taking our value or what seems to be our lack of value for granted? In this book women are actually becoming invisible and there is a real cause. No spoilers here, you'll have to read the book to find out why and how these women come together to find their voices and fight to return to the world of flesh and bone.

Almost science fiction but so believeable. A very touching story of how easy it is for the women in our lives to easily become invisible both literally and figuratively. I dare you not to feel sorry for the characters in this story.

A sensible fantasy: clean, well written. Delightful. This story shows understanding and compassion for the invisible women of a certain age, then goes on to show us our beauty and power. Cleverly done.

The way in which women feel invisible was the premise for this book and the book had a lot of potential. It was slightly funny at times. A quick read for the deck in the summer. But not much depth. It seemed to go off the rails and ended oddly. Might have been a better short story. Seemed like some chapters were just "fillers." Not sorry that I read it but not a great book either.