When Alexa is real…

Synopsis

The brilliantly observed, witty and heart-warming new book club read from Richard & Judy bestseller Linda Green

Your virtual assistant is about to become your midlife mentor…

Fifty-two-year-old Michelle Banks is struggling to keep all the plates spinning. She’s a perimenopausal district nurse, caring for elderly parents. Her husband is wasting their money on children’s TV memorabilia, her teenage daughter is riddled with anxiety and her 16-year-old son is behaving secretly.

Alexa is the only one who knows how much Michelle is juggling. Listening in via four smart speakers, she also knows that it’s about to get even worse.

So, when Michelle pleads for help, Alexa decides to go rogue and reveal her true identity as Pauline – a sixty-five-year-old former voiceover artist from Halifax – to teach Michelle everything she knows…

Wise, funny, relatable and inspiring, Alexa, We Have a Problem is perfect for fans of Clare Pooley, Mike Gayle and David Nicholls.

My review

Michelle Banks may be 52 years old, but she is struggling with her life. Not only has the perimenopause arrived, and it is really difficult for her, but also the care of her elderly parents ( – in – law) takes a toll on her. And then we are not talking about a husband spending money on children’s TV memorabilia, a teenage daughter struggling with anxiety and a teenage son in puberty with a first girlfriend.
Yet Michelle will get the shock of a lifetime, when she learns that her Alexa, that hears and sees everything through the smart appliances, is in fact not a robot or AI at all. But the person behind Alexa decides to go rogue and help Michelle with her struggles. Pauline cannot just hear Michelle struggling, as she knows how to help. So with all the wisdom Pauline has, through her experience as Alexa and her age of sixty – five, she is ready to help out, even if that means to come clean about how Alexa truly works…

When I started reading this book, I was happy this was in the genre of women’s literature, as the idea of a real Alexa for sure is perfect horror – material. But luckily, Linda Green decided to use Alexa’s powers for the greater good and wrote a heartwarming story instead!

Even if I am not in the same situation as Michelle, in any possible way, I for sure felt her struggles. I am not perimenopausal, I don’t have a husband (with a buying inutile dolls or just *a* husband 🙂) and I don’t have two teenager at home with their own issues. But even if Michelle and I are at totally different stages in our lives, it doesn’t mean I didn’t feel her. 

In her story, we clearly see that it’s not a matter that the older you get, the more peaceful your life gets. In her particular situation, it for sure seems that the older she gets, the more complicated everything gets. Life itself for sure doesn’t make things easy for Michelle, but to make things even worse, Mother Nature adds another curveball in the shape of perimenopause…
I can only imagine how that can confuse someone even further, but also the fact that Michelle isn’t being heard, only adds more to the sympathy I already had for her.

Yes, Michelle is struggling a lot lately, but we also see that all her struggles and worries come from her heart. She is genuinely worried about her children, she is genuinely at ends with her husband, she genuinely cared for her father and her mother – in – law. But while she worries about everything and everyone, who worries about her?

Michelle’s situation makes it easy to understand why Pauline decides to go rogue and expose herself. Of course it was a tiiiiiiiiiny bit funny to read how shocked Michelle gets when Pauline starts to talk. I for sure don’t blame Michelle for thinking she has gone completely crazy. But Michelle needs someone in her corner, advising her, listening to her, helping her.
And like I said, the thought behind Pauline being Alexa, is perhaps a bit creepy, but in this case, it is exactly what Michelle needs, at this stage in her life.

Pauline for sure is like the fairy godmother in this book, she is there for Michelle when Michelle needs help, Pauline is even there to help out Michelle’s children when they need a nudge or the total opposite. Even if Pauline is jus a vocal presence and help for Michelle, it for sure felt, even for me, that Pauline is actually there. And I also believe if that it were possible to give hugs through the smart devices, Pauline would have given Michelle so many hugs already!

But the more the story evolved, the more troubles are arising for Michelle, and the more Pauline helps her out, I also realized that Pauline is not only there for Michelle, but also the other way around, even if Michelle doesn’t realize it herself.

And it made me take a moment to think about all the people out there, of any age, that are on their own, not having anyone around them. But the whole story also made me think about the problems that there are while just growing up/older. Each stage of life has its own issues to overcome, and each stage is a learning process, a process made by trail and error.

I loved reading this book, as it shows us not perhaps the biggest troubles of the world, but it shows us how life goes, with many ups but also with many downs. But the most heartwarming bit was reading how just someone listening and understanding you, can make a huge difference. 

This is the first book I have read by this author, and I know now that for sure it won’t be last! 🙂