BLACK OLIVES By Martha Tod Dudman

It starts out in a grocery store, as Virginia sees her ex-boyfriend walk in. She's in a panic - trying to look natural, hoping she looks good, wondering if he's seen her. Eventually, she manages to walk out without being seen. But as she walks to her car, she sees his Jeep. And for some unknown reason, she gets in his car! As she sits there thinking of him - Surprise! He walks out of the store, and heads for his car! Not knowing what to do, she covers herself up and hides in the back seat!

We spend the entire day under the sweaters in the backseat with Virginia. She wonders how she's gonna get out of her predicament. She ponders their relationship from start to finish. She recounts their break up on New Year's Eve, and how she's coped miserably without him for the past nine months. She imagines what he felt while they were together; what he's been doing since they've been apart; what she should have said when he broke up with her; what she'd say to him now - all the while, going back and forth between her thoughts of the past and wondering how she'll escape. And you really feel like you're in her head, feeling her memories, thinking her thoughts. The writing style was sometimes choppy and scattered - but it's great because she speaks her thoughts just like we think our thoughts - choppy and scattered!

You get a whole picture of what's in her heart and mind as she thinks - and over thinks - the whole thing. I sometimes felt she was selfish and self absorbed, and sometimes I thought she was absolutely right about him. We wonder - will she finally show herself and shock him? Will she be able to escape without being seen? She considers the various things she should do. If you've ever been dumped and been left wondering what in the world happened, you will most undoubtedly relate. In the end, I believe she finds closure. Throughout the book we feel that we've gotten to know her so well, that we think we can predict what she'll finally do...but she surprises us.

This was kinda like reading someone's diary!