Originally published: 23 June 2022

Author: Laura Lexx

Published by: John Murray Press

Genre: Humour

Length: 304 pages

Reading dates: 21-24 June 2022

Sometimes life throws you a curveball . . .

58-year-old Jackie Douglas thinks she has everything she wants – kids, grandchildren, and a comfortable retirement with her husband, Steve. Until one afternoon she comes home to find Steve packing a bag and her comfortable life suddenly moves out of bounds.

Her best friend Ros, a law firm boss with an appetite for life, laughter and (just the right amount of) wine, immediately leaps in to help Jackie back to her feet but soon finds herself feeling second best to Jackie’s other priorities.

Their barmaid/friend/wine protégé Jay is back home with her mum at nearly 30. Brilliant. After losing her job in London she’s returned, working in the pub job she thought she’d left behind at 18.

In tipsy search of something – anything – new, they wind up the leaders of a ramshackle, barely functional netball team: The Skids.

Facing confusing exes, divorce, betrayals, financial woes and more, Jackie, Ros and Jay are about to discover that finding your team might just be the key to turning things around…

Jackie is a 58 year old woman whose biggest problem is choosing a new shoe rack, when she comes home to find her husband Steve with his bags packed, telling her he is leaving her for another woman. Jackie is in shock – she had no idea it was coming and is amazed to find that without a husband to look after, she has very little else in her life. Her two sons are grown up and don’t need her to look after them. Luckily her best friend Ros is on hand to support her and encourages Jackie to throw all of Steve’s golf clubs in the sea, which is brilliant (and is something I wish I’d done!)

To begin with Jackie doesn’t know what to do with herself – she suffers several hangovers after nights out with Ros and mopes around the house. But then in a moment of madness she goes along to try her hand at netball and despite being terrible at it, along with Ros and barmaid Jay, decide to start a netball team which they call “The Skids”.

A bit like The Way Back to You which I read in June, this book’s primary characters are older than the characters I usually read about (and are closer to my age too!) I had huge sympathy for Jackie whose husband Steve treats her atrociously and I loved Ros who is there for Jackie every step of the way. The netball team was a great group of women who all find they need each other and become good friends.

With humour and a little romance along the way, Pivot was a fun and easy read which I enjoyed. It also reminded me what a horrible game netball is to play!

Thank you to Grace and John Murray for inviting me on the Bookstagram tour sending me a proof copy of the book. Take a look at the other great bookstagrammers talking about this book below.

About the author:

Laura Lexx is an award-winning comedian, actor and writer who lives in Brighton, with her husband and Jack Russell, Maki. Laura has had four critically acclaimed solo stand-up shows at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival. Her most recent two, Trying and Knee Jerk, both received multiple 5* reviews and won her Best Performer in the Comedians’ Choice Awards two years in a row. She has also appeared widely on TV and radio, from Mock the Week and Live at the Apollo and Hypothetical to Roast Battle and Radio 4 Extra’s The Comedy Club. She published her first book, Klopp Actually, in 2020.

Twitter: https://twitter.com/lauralexx
Website: https://lauralexx.co.uk/