Book Review- Mona Awad's All's Well

Thank you to Simon and Schuster for providing me with a copy of Mona Awad’s novel, All’s Well, in exchange for an honest review.

Miranda Fitch’s life has been on a downward spiral ever since her promising thespian career was cut short by trauma suffered from a fall off of a stage during a performance. She suffers from chronic pain that no mainstream doctor or alternative form of therapy can cure. Miranda is addicted to pain pills and it doesn’t help that she drinks to excess. Her husband has left her and her job as a drama teacher at a small college is in jeopardy.

Against the wishes of her students, including Briana, a queen bee type who is always given the lead roles due to her rich parent’s donations, Miranda goes forward with mounting a spring production of Shakespeare’s All’s Well That Ends Well, rather than MacBeth. All’s Well That Ends Well was the play that ended Miranda’s career, and despite the continued escalation of her misfortunes, Miranda is hell-bent on making it work.

Just when it seems that all is lost and Miranda might have to cave to the wishes of her students, she meets three unusual men in a bar. After a night of heavy drinking, where she isn’t sure what exactly transpired, Miranda is seemingly cured of her ailments. Her boss announces that anonymous benefactors have donated a large sum of money to the theatre department, contingent on Miranda continuing with her production. And in a final bizarre twist, Miranda’s pain seems to have mysteriously transferred to Briana, who is now in such bad shape that the lead role must be recast. Miranda is elated, but in the back of her mind she fears that she might be mixed up in something quite sinister.

I love the theatre and even graduated from a performing arts high school. For these reasons, the premise of Awad’s novel carried a high appeal for me. One of the strongest elements is Miranda’s character voice. She’s punchy and sarcastic with off-beat observations both about herself and the world around her. I laughed out loud many times. The humor is excellent.

It has been a long time since I have read All’s Well That Ends Well and I felt like my lack of memory of the Shakespeare play might have led to me missing out on some of the jokes or other nods. I’m not sure if I actually missed anything, but I wish I had the play fresher in my mind.

Miranda is a highly unreliable narrator, which makes for a fascinating read. I was never sure if she was actually experiencing the events, if it was a dream, or if she was imagining them due to her injuries and/or drugged state. I suspect she had head trauma, in addition to her addition and other pain.

The flip side of this, is it meant that we spent the entire book living her nightmare, and personally, I found it occasionally difficult to keep engaged. I wasn’t very interested in her continued dive into an increasingly odd situation. The story turns eccentric fast. Towards the end, her journey turns into a hellish performance art piece, which made me tune out. I was trying to figure out why I felt this way and I think it’s kind of like when someone tells you about a dream they had and the way the actual dream is nowhere near as intriguing as the reasons behind the dream in the first place. I found the reason for Miranda’s mental decline far more interesting, than witnessing the decline play out.

This said, I would definitely recommend All’s Well. Awad created a unique premise with strong characters. Miranda’s dry humor is really fabulous. All’s Well is a wild ride for theatre and Shakespeare lovers.

The Denver Cat Company

On a blustery day in late October, Dan and I took a early-bird flight to Denver to check-out our potential new home. Dan had a job interview, which eventual turned into an offer, so the trip was both to meet with his would-be employers and for us to make sure that Colorado would be a place we could enjoy living.

My husband is brilliant. In an effort to make me fall in love with Colorado, he drove me straight from the airport to the Denver Cat Company.

The Denver Cat Company is an adorable cat cafe located in a charming suburb of the city. The main street reminded me of Stars Hollow from Gilmore Girls. I love cats, and this was my first cat cafe experience, so clearly I was already convinced that Colorado was the place for us.

We were among the first visitors of the day, and immediately, we were outnumbered by four-legged floof balls. They were everywhere. I could hardly contain my excitement enough to pay our ten dollar per person admission and get a hot chocolate.

The “cafe” element of the Denver Cat Company was limited at the time, and now with covid concerns, has been eliminated. I think you would be welcome to bring your own drinks, as they have suspended selling them.

The cats are very active in the morning and there are plenty of different kinds toys to play with them. The general rule is just to be respectful towards the cats. Don’t pick them up, especially if they are sleeping or hiding. They are all shelter rescues and some are skittish or shy. I found that just by sitting in one spot, cats would come to me. I had them on my lap or coming over for some pets. There were enough friendly ones, that there was an abundance of cat interactions. Some of the shyer ones even said hello, when they noticed that we were calm.

Shorty after making our move to Colorado, we went back to the Denver Cat Company and purchased a year pass. Unfortunately, Covid hit and they had to temporarily close. We let our pass lapse, but did feel good that our money went to a worthy cause. All of the cats in the cafe are adoptable. We tried to adopt one before covid, but the cats were already spoken for, which is why we ended up getting our Tom from a different rescue group.

I headed back to the Denver Cat Company this summer with my step-kids, Zoe and Felix. They have a cat back home in Sweden and our two kitties here, so they are also cat fans. Plus, we had taken them to the Orlando Cat Cafe and we knew the concept was a big hit. Here are a few pictures from our most recent visit.

The Denver Cat Company is a delightful place to visit. They are doing great work to find forever homes for cats in need and take a lot of care in making sure that the cats go to the right human. If you’re a cat lover, it’s a must-visit.

Give Blood!

About three weeks ago, my friend’s daughter, a kid whom I love very much, had a major spinal operation. Even though her father donate blood to be used in the operation, it wasn’t enough, and she needed many pints more than expected.

I was feeling far away and helpless. Everyone feels helpless to know someone they love is in pain, but I just felt extra since they are in California and i’m in Colorado. I couldn’t easily be there to drop off food or just help in any way they might need it. The blood issue stuck in my mind and I started to look up donating blood.

I’m ashamed to confess it, but I had not previously given blood. I was ( still am a bit) very nervous around needles and I was scared. I didn’t even donate when I worked at Universal Studios and had Dracula sneak up behind me and tell me that he wanted my blood and would give me a free pint of Ben and Jerry’s- a pint for a pint! The tie is was fabulous.

In any case, I went to our local blog bank site, a company called Vitalant and registered. I learned that only 3% of eligible people donate and that only 38% of the population is eligible. For example, my husband can’t donate in the US, because of he lived in England during a certain time frame. There is an urgent need for blood and those of us who can give, are not doing it.

To further simplify the process, I learned that my community, Sterling Ranch, was holding an upcoming blood drive. It couldn’t have been easier.

A few hours prior to my lunch time donation, I filled out a ten minute health survey. This must be done on the same day and it streamlines the process when you arrive to donate. I arrived fifteen minutes early and they took me immediately.

I didn’t know my blood type, but it only took a few minutes to find out. The nurse poked one of my fingers to get a few drops of blood- one quick prick, virtually painless. On a special piece of board she smeared drops of my blood to see if they would react with the chemicals, similar to a PH strip, I think. The section where my blood coagulated, would reveal my blood type.

I was an A negative, which is a rarer blood type. I was asked to switch my donation from whole blood to a “Power Red” or apheresis donation. If you have A Negative blood, this is more useful than a whole blood donation. It takes about ten-fifteen minutes longer, as a machine separates the red cells, and gives the doner back their platelets/plasma/white cells.

I agreed, but there were a few contingencies to make this happen. First, my iron count had to be high. Iron is tested prior to every donation and is done with the same finger prick that they used to blood type me. I was good to go.

My temperature was taken =good.

My blood pressure was taken = fail.

I had to sit calmly for a second blood pressure test, which I passed, barely. The nurses are only allowed to take it twice, and if you fail two times, you can’t donate on that day. However, this was a good reminder that my blood pressure has been running high for the past two years, and I need to start getting it under control before true health problems arise. Through my donation, I also got a read on my cholesterol levels, which were borderline high.

I moved over to the donation chair, where a hilarious nurse named Walt helped me out. He kept me laughing and walked me through the process. I would go through a cycle three times of blood going out and the platelets/plasma/white cells, going back into my body. When the blood was pumping out, I was to squeeze and release a squidgy ball, and when things were coming in, relax. When everything came back into my body, I felt slightly cold and had a slight tingling sensation in my mouth. Nothing hurt or was too unpleasant.

Here is the machine that separated the blood.

The actual donation took about thirty minutes and I felt fine after. I had none of the dizziness or light-headless that I was anticipating. There were cookies, juice, and other snacks for anyone who needed to replenish and we were encouraged to take it easy as our bodies were adjusting.

I can make a power-red donation up to three times a year, so I am just going to add this to my schedule. It was easy, virtually painless, and took less than an hour.

If you are eligible to donate, I encourage you to make an appointment asap. It’s a way that a person can actually impact someone else’s life, perhaps save a life.