Norma Ever After

By Nancy Baxter

Book Overview

Once upon a time, specifically our time, there lived an ordinary commoner named Norma Dale. Hovering near thirty, Norma no longer expected passion, or even romance. Not since puberty and the... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0345479149
• ISBN13: 9780345479143
• Release Date: August 2005
• Publisher: Ballantine Books
• Length: 304 Pages
• Weight: 0.55 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.7" x 5.3" x 8.0"

Customer Reviews

One of my favorite books from 2005

NORMA EVER AFTER by Nancy Baxter March 11, 2006 Rating: 5 Stars NORMA EVER AFTER by Nancy Baxter was one of my favorite books from 2005. I call it a modern fairy tale of a woman whose life never really started until the day she decides to get rid of her husband (when she finds him in bed with another woman). It was no loss, as she was never in love with him, but this was the last insult of a marriage filled with insults, and it was time for Norma to move on. Norma travels to Scotland, inspired by the childhood stories told to her by her father, mainly about a puffin named Tammie Nories. Norma wanted to find these puffins, the last link to her deceased father, a man she always admired and looked up to. She takes with her the stuffed puffin given to her by her father when she was only 4 years old. And with that puffin, she brings with her a dream that her life would become something different from the way others thought her life would turn out to be. NORMA EVER AFTER is a delightful story of a woman who is in search of something new in her life, not really knowing what she is looking for. She meets people on her trip to Scotland that change her outlook on life, going from introverted to somewhat of a risk-taker. It is a journey of a lifetime for Norma Dale, and what she finds at the end of her trip is almost as good as a happily-ever-after.

Fascinating and Real

This is a unique story. The setting takes on a life of its own, which I thoroughly enjoyed. Norma is fascinating--a bit maddening at times--but altogether this is one of them best women's fic novels I've read.

Awesome read!

I can't wait for the author's next book. I was so moved by this story and couldn't put it down.

strong character study

In the Midwest lives Norma, who blames her mother for her boring name unlike those of her older and younger sisters; everyone knows Norma is the aging spinster aunt. Nearing thirty Norma believes that her chances to find passionate love is nearing an end, but has no prospects. She is a genealogist whose excitement relies on other people's pasts. Norma has been unhappy with her bland life for years. In fact she thinks back to childhood when Ken and Barbie were her ideals and her father told her exciting tales of trips around the world. Just before dying he gives her a key to his merchant marine chest. Inside, she finds money and an escape plan. She also finds a toy that make her believe her father's stories about the Isles of Orkney and Tammie were real. She heads to the Orkney Islands where she makes friends and enemies and soon finds herself attracted to a gloomy artist, an upbeat visiting Texan and especially a math professor who does not trust women after his ex cuckold him. Though somewhat like Cinderella enters the chick lit lane, NORMA EVER AFTER is much more because her sisters and mother are not nasty souls, just people who care and wants more from the underachieving heroine. It is in the isles just off Scotland that Norma begins to find herself, but who will she be with if anyone once midnight strikes still worries her especially when malevolent girlfriends and kindhearted grandmothers intercede. Fans will appreciate this strong character study hoping for Norma to have a happily ever after. Harriet Klausner

Unique and Simply Brilliant!

There is a new, witty, refreshing and bold author with a unique voice and startling imagination on the scene. She will keep you enthralled as you fight between the desire to quickly finish Norma Ever After so you know what happens -- or to slow down so you're able to savor her wonderful word pictures. Norma is like a lot of girls who, growing up, just don't seem to fit in anywhere. They might be gawky, unsure of themselves, or just different in some way that doesn't 'fit in' with the 'group.' Yet, like those girls and all others, Norma dreamed dreams and yearned for the passions of her heart, only to be disappointed when fate steps in every time and 'screws' it up. When Norma's father dies, he gives her a sea chest filled with cash and an old, beloved stuffed animal: a puffin she had when she was a little girl. She takes the bird as a sign and travels to what she thought was a mythical place her dad made up stories about: the Orkney Islands. There she discovers that puffins are real, women who don't fit in, can, handsome men are in abundance (and they like her) and fate can take a vacation (perhaps permanently), if you really believe in happily ever after. I laughed, I cried, I rooted for Norma, Brian, Colin, and even Fiona. But I didn't root for a man named Trey, who I want to believe got what he deserved in the end. Fate, you know. Armchair Interviews says: Norma Ever After by Nancy Baxter is simply delicious. It makes you want to bravely throw caution to the wind and seek your own puffin.