Content area
Angst, nostalgia and a thirtynothing crisis are not for him, for [Matt Beckford] has a career and Elaine, the girl he's going to spend the rest of his life with. Until it all falls apart.
Suddenly Matt is faced with a break-up and the need for a new life. Leaving New York, his job and Elaine, Matt returns to Birmingham and a refuge in a crisis - his parents.
Matt Beckford thinks he has the whole "turning 30" business sorted out.
Angst, nostalgia and a thirtynothing crisis are not for him, for Matt has a career and Elaine, the girl he's going to spend the rest of his life with. Until it all falls apart.
Suddenly Matt is faced with a break-up and the need for a new life. Leaving New York, his job and Elaine, Matt returns to Birmingham and a refuge in a crisis - his parents.
Just as Brussels sprouts and maternal solicitude are driving him mad, Matt is saved by his friends.
Not just any old friends, but the return of "the magnificent seven", old school mates he hasn't seen since he was 19 - Gershwin, Pete, Bev, Katrina, Elliott and, of course, Ginny - his former on- off girlfriend.
As the countdown to his birthday begins in earnest and just as everyone seems happily reunited after a decade apart, things start to get complicated.
Since when have married men, affairs and death become a part of his friends' daily lives, he muses.
But then Matt learns that turning 30 means nothing is simple as it used to be. Along the way, there are things to be learnt about parents, friends, love and not going to the pub unless there is somewhere to sit down.
Written in a punchy, first-person style, Turning Thirty captures the essence of a time when you realise how much gravity life actually has.
Copyright Century Newspapers Ltd. Feb 26, 2001