Sweet Bitter Better: a Novel

Walk with Marjorie Prince down her path: from the role of the pillar of her family to an era flourishing as a community leader, pursuing her passions, and spreading her wings. Doing so means abandoning her comfort zone, enduring critique from her adult kids, and facing her broken relationship with her mother.It’s Marjorie’s moment. As a divorced mom, she’s devoted her life to supporting her three children. Now they’re independent, and it’s time for her to be selfish and prioritize herself. She’s not sure how to do this.Sweet describes Marjorie’s four grandchildren, her financial acumen, and her investment portfolio. It also describes her relationship with her adult kids, her best friend Debbie, and most importantly, the Lord. To the non-profit organizations and young adults, whom she helps using her money management expertise, she’s sweetness personified.Then there’s the bitter: her mother, Eunice, her ex-husband Richard and her brother, James, an addict who has decimated Eunice’s finances, leaving Marjorie trapped supporting them both. She resents being seen as a fountain of money for her brother to squander. All the while, Eunice derides her as stingy, judgmental, and self-righteous.Her married children expect her to be the backup babysitter,Her single daughter: a hand-holding therapist.Her mother sees her simply as a bottomless source of cash.And decades after her divorce, she hasn’t met a man to share her life with.Bitter is the paralyzing fear she experiences at the thought of leaving the safety of her State Government job even though it has become stale and unfulfilling.Marjorie has much to be grateful for but feels imprisoned by negative cycles and trapped by the expectations of her family.Enjoy her story as God reveals that He’s fighting with her when she feels weak, misunderstood, used, and taken for granted. He’s got the answers for her, but she must conquer the faith test.