Review: Not The Average Baby Boomer Problems
Rating: 4 out of 5
Date: 02 27, 2013
Kay and Robert are the type of dashing New Yorkers who lead a life that most of us would envy. Kay is the owner of a chic art gallery while Robert is retiring from a lifelong career with the United Nations. Despite their upscale lifestyle,the French born Robert and his 15 year younger wife still face the problematic transition that hits all of us at retirement: what's next? I think that for this couple, the transition is particularly painful because Kay is younger and not ready for retirement and because they are not bound together with children or grandchildren. My husband and I have been dealing with our own transitions into retirement recently, so A Hook In The Sky hit a nerve. The novel is very well written and was an interesting read but I found it difficult to relate to the problems that Kay and Robert faced. I found Kay to be very shallow and unlikeable. Robert was far more interesting and watching his segue into life after the job was compelling. Unfortunately, the problems that we, the average Americans face are quite different and far more painful than those encountered by Kay and Robert. Normal Baby Boomers don't have homes in France or Italy to escape to when the togetherness forced on us by retirement gets to be too much. Normal Baby Boomers don't have affairs and can't choose to remain abroad to pursue the dreams of our youth. We are tied together by children, grandchildren, and families that are intertwined after many ears of marriage. We deal with severely reduced incomes, often with serious health issues, with inadequate health insurance, with inflation, expensive repairs to our homes and cars. Many of us lack the discretionary income to travel extensively or to pursue additional education or expensive hobbies. I really did enjoy the book, and I found the information about art intriguing. I enjoyed the journey that this couple took as the embarked on this retirement phase but sometimes found myself wishing that I had their problems and that they had mine! In retirement, I am far better off than most but  am also quite aware that the problems that beset Kay and Robert, while similar in emotional challenges, differ significantly from the issues that challenge most retired Baby Boomers.