Around the Next Corner:

by Elizabeth Wrenn

Book Overview

A mother of three with a stale marriage and a soon-to-be-empty nest volunteers for K-9 Eyes for the Blind and finds someone to guide her out of the darkness. This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0451218426
• ISBN13: 9780451218421
• Release Date: June 2006
• Publisher: New American Library
• Length: 312 Pages
• Weight: 0.65 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.7" x 5.3" x 8.0"

Customer Reviews

Ms. Wrenn does a beautiful job demonstrating both the joy and the heartache in raising guide dogs.

Like many housewives, Deena Munger spends her days doing chores and taking care of her family which they take for granted. Somewhere along the way, she lost any semblance of being an individual. Hopes, dreams, even her personal preferences have all taken a back seat to the needs and desires of her family. Deena realizes that she's become non-existent as an indivdual and is desperately unhappy. Who'd have guessed that an afternoon eating corn pops and watching Oprah would be the catalyst that changes her life as well as the lives of those around her? Heloise is a yellow Labrador puppy. She's only ten weeks old when she comes to live with Deena and her family. Heloise is little more than a ball of energetic fur with the honor of having been selected to be part of the K-9 Eyes for the Blind program. For approximately fourteen months, Heloise will live with the Mungers in their neat orderly world and ensure that life will change for them all in ways they never expected. While Deena is trying to retrieve their Persian cat from the pots and pans cupboard she begins to wonder how her life turned out this way. She's a dog person, so why is she living in a cat world? She's even scrubbing the floor grout with a tooth brush. Sex has become a Saturday morning scheduled event, which she now has no interest in and does her best to avoid. Deena's disappeared, in her place is a shell of a woman who caters to the whims of her husband, children, and even the cat. However, none of them ever return the favor. Her feelings do not matter in the big scope of things, or do they? She couldn't forget the episode of Oprah she'd watched about `using your life.' After yet another day of ceaseless demands and the mundane existence that her life has become, Deena made a decision. She spent some time researching about getting involved in the K-9 Eyes for the Blind program, and even interviewed for raising a dog - all before telling any of her family about her desire to do so. None of them are pleased, it will disrupt their lives and they all know it. For once Deena is going to satisfy her own desires, and the family will just have to accept her decision. Will Deena's decision be the final straw in Neil and Deena's already crumbling marriage? Maybe it will provide a stepping stone to help breach the walls they've built between them. I am so impressed with Elizabeth Wrenn's writing. She alternately had me laughing and crying all the way through AROUND THE NEXT CORNER. It's a poignantly sweet tale and many married women will be able to relate to Deena. Yes, Deena is menopausal, but I am not and I can easily see myself in her shoes. The chaos that seems to rein when Heloise joins the family is absolutely hilarious. I have visual images of this overweight cat living on top of a refrigerator and this puppy gleefully terrorizing it. Ms. Wrenn does a beautiful job demonstrating both the joy and the heartache in raising guide dogs. In the midst of all the p

A Generous Story of Transformation

Once you start reading AROUND THE NEXT CORNER, you won't be able to put it down unless you're lucky enough to have your own puppy to walk, cuddle and love on. Elizabeth Wrenn's novel is a wonderful read, rich with insights about dogs and human nature--self-absorbed teens, a workaholic husband, and a woman at midlife finding her way back to her own big-hearted, fun-loving self. Wrenn is a great stylist, and her one-liners, such as "Middle-aged women were the Maseratis of emotion" contribute to a finely woven plot. I cried at heroine Deena's emotional predicaments, and yukked it up over the hilarious absurdities in raising Heloise, a yellow lab for K-9 Eyes for the Blind. Mostly I was riveted by Wrenn's gift for telling a generous story of how love, courage and a sense of humor effect transformation--personal, family, and canine.

An amazing and fun book to read.

A friend gave me this book to read because I had just gotten a yellow lab puppy. Reading the book was like re-living those first few days with the puppy. The author really makes you experience the fun and the work of having a new puppy. The characters in the book were well-drawn -- I believed in the mom who was feeling as though she had given up her own life for those around her, and suddenly found herself feeling not noticed and not important. For her, getting a seeing eye dog puppy to take care of is a step in the right direction, and as she grows to learn to take control of her puppy, she also learns to take control of her own life.

Terrific Book

This book should be read by all women 45 and up. A very insightful look at middle age. This book really made me think about how I deal with my children. The character is a stay at home mom who does everything for her family. Her emotional growth is fantastic. Her family learns from her. I had tears in my eyes many times during the book.

An Enchanting Read

I truly loved this novel. The protagonist is Deena, a mother of three who is going through a rough patch in her marriage; an underappreciated Coloradan housewife with a husband who seems to value his doctor's practice more than his family. With their soon-to-be empty nest Deena embarks upon a whole new career by volunteering to raise a puppy for K-9 Eyes for the Blind. This is the medicine she has been seeking to heal and find her self. The book is full of different emotions... I laughed, but, then as Heloise's imminent time for departure arrives the tears just kept coming... Buy it now... you won't want to put it down...