Saturday Review: “A Wry Exploration of Middle-Aged Womanhood” a review by Heather Bell Adams forthcoming in NCLR Online Winter 2025 of Julia Ridley Smith’s Sex Romp Gone Wrong
Heather Bell Adams reviews Julia Ridley Smith’s humorous and heartfelt collection of short stories, writing, “In its interrogation of the roles women play, the collection is at once irreverent and charming, thoughtful and perceptive.” According to Adams, Smith’s prose “crackles with wit and wisdom,” and she exemplifies these qualities in several of the book’s stories. Smith explores elements of womanhood in Sex Romp Gone Wrong, and “the collection cuts to the root of how women in or approaching middle age can feel at once invisible and invincible.”
With Smith’s twelve short stories featuring various narrators, the reader can appreciate numerous interpretations of womanhood. “These women are navigating the ups and downs of relationships, ranging from friends, children, spouses, and, yes, sexual partners. When it comes to sex, the stories remind us how the act can be awkward and uncomfortable, even funny under certain circumstances.”
Read the entire review here now! Order Sex Romp Gone Wrong from the publisher, Blair.
