An unwanted column from a mysterious writer…

Synopsis

In a small town in Oregon, everyone wants to kill the local advice columnist, Mrs Bambi. If only they knew who she was.

Mrs Bambi’s advice is so snarky that people have long since stopped asking for it. Instead she eavesdrops on conversations and writes the letters herself. The readers would lynch her, but no one knows who she is.

In fact, Mrs. Bambi is not a woman. The column is written by Richard, a quiet widower with a young daughter.
The uneventful part of Richard’s life is nearly over: he begins dating Pam, a well-known realtor and a sports addict. When people begin to learn the identity of Mrs. Bambi, Richard is threatened and humiliated in public. Despite the pleas of his editor, his friends, and Pam, he refuses to stop writing the column.
The only thing that can prevent disaster is for the town to finally learn the whole truth about Richard, which is much larger than the simple mystery of Mrs. Bambi.

Set in 1995, Chris Mason’s skillful storytelling brings a tale of humour and romance – and not a little peril – charmingly to life in the mind of the reader.

My review

No one in a small town in Oregon knows that Richard is the writer of the most hated column in their local paper. The community has even stopped writing for advice, but Mrs. Bambi, as Richard calls himself in his column, loves to eavesdrops and gives unwanted, rude advice.
In real life is Richard known as the quiet widower with a young daughter. And in a place where everyone knows everything, it’s not easy to date. And how could he possibly ever explain that he is the hated Mrs. Bambi?
But even when everyone knows Mrs. Bambi’s real identity and threats are being made, Richard doesn’t want to give up on his alter ego…
Because Mrs. Bambi is more to Richard than just a column… 

I have to say, I have never had the need to ask an Agony Aunt for advice, but I have always been curious what advice has been given.
So having a Mrs. Bambi offering her (unwanted) advice was for me a recipe for a book filled with many many laughter. 

Reading those bit were absolutely hilarious, seeing how Mrs. Bambi ridiculed everything and everyone, taking sarcasm to a whole new level.
But Richard’s story was the total opposite of the total fun of the columns… 

First of all I can only imagine how hard it can be to raise a child on your own… yet I admired Richard and the way he is always doing his best for his little girl. And the stories he makes up whenever she wants to hear how her parents fell in love, just warmed my heart. 

And then there is the fact that Richard wants to start dating again. But being out of the game for so long, and having his girl being the top priority (like it should be), and having a community knowing everything of you, doesn’t make things easier.
When he then finally meets Pam, there is the issue of him being Mrs. Bambi. Because how do you tell your love interest that you are the person that everyone seems to hate? 

The more I was reading into this story, the more I realized that Richard’s life isn’t an extraordinary one. Yes, he has a good heart and does amazing things. And when everyone knows about Mrs. Bambi, some terrible things happen to him.
But for me, it felt more like a tale of seeing a real life, where a person tries to find some peace and love, in the midst of chaos. 

I liked how the author added some heavier levels into this story, and turning them into something normal. Like it’s normal for Richard to have friends that are part of the LGBTQIA+ community. Why should it matter who his friends love? Because love is beautiful, in any form.
But also his determination to help a shelter for abused women… if only there were more people like Richard in the real world, it would make a great difference… 

This book may have started on a slower pace for me, but in the end, it turned out to be the perfect pace. It was a story that shows all the bits of life, the beautiful ones but also the bits where we are still searching our place in it, trying to find where exactly we fit in and how we can make a difference. And the author also shows us that finding yourself and love is not something that happens overnight; but it takes it time and trust. But with time and patience comes clarity and love…