Definitely Thriving by Kerry Clare

Reviewed by Pamela Sinclair

Clemence Lathbury is in her early thirties and has ended her ten-year marriage to Toad (real name Todd), returning to her hometown of Toronto after relocating from Seattle. She rents a sparsely furnished attic apartment she found online, signing the lease without viewing it first. The apartment is in a slightly run-down house in a west-end neighbourhood, which has thus far resisted total gentrification. Based on a mistaken assumption about Clemence’s name, her landlady, Mrs. Yeung, thought Clemence was a man when she applied for the lease. Mrs. Yeung is not happy to have been mistaken – she only likes to rent to men.

Clemence moves in nonetheless and aims to rebuild her life. Her goal – Eat, Pray, Love minus the sex (and the travelling). As the middle child of happily married parents, Clemence is the family member everyone worries about, but she can barely admit to herself that it is the role she plays. Both her sisters are happily married with children. Clemence has reconnected with her pre-marriage friends, who have busy lives with careers and families of their own. Clemence is ready for a reset on all counts; her career writing for a U.S. based bridal magazine’s online platform has ended. It was on that platform where she pitched her nuptials to Toad for career gain, only to find herself legally bonded to someone she struggled to have a conversation with.

In this slightly dodgy but charming apartment, surviving on her dwindling severance package, Clemence is living alone for the first time. She is having a delayed discovery of the independence and quiet solitude that having a room of one’s own can provide. She has stepped off the treadmill of modern life, giving her space to breathe and think. Furthermore, she begins to meet other people in her neighbourhood and discovers that the local corner grocery store and used bookshop are owned by the same tweed-clad, foul-tempered woman – Crampton Goldberg, who offers Clemence a job in her bookstore. She befriends a one-eyed cat she calls Bailey. As Clemence rebuilds her life, she weaves her way into the lives of those around her and builds a community. However, community does not come without drama, and she unwittingly becomes embroiled in a long-standing local issue when she volunteers to help with the annual church jumble sale.

With a delightful cast of characters, readers will be drawn to and maybe a little envious of Clemence’s opportunity to have a total life reset. With time to reflect on her past, Clemence’s character feels like a real person who is approaching the future with some regret, a little shame, but mostly with a desire not to repeat the same mistakes she has made before. A contemporary examination of the pressures of modern life and how anyone can make a bad decision. Clare has a unique ability to get to the very root of what it is to be human and examines the pressures and connections of contemporary life. Clemence’s story is utterly charming, funny, and surprising at every turn. Definitely Thriving is a great read that I won’t call women’s fiction (IYKYK). I highly recommend it.

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About the Author

KERRY CLARE is the author of the novels Asking for a Friend, Waiting for a Star to Fall, and Mitzi Bytes, and editor of The M Word: Conversations about Motherhood. Her essays have been nominated for National Magazine Awards. She edits 49thShelf.com, a website about Canadian books, and writes about books and reading on her longtime blog, Pickle Me This. Kerry Clare lives in Toronto with her family.

About the Reviewer

Pamela Sinclair is a writer and lifelong reader. She enjoys reading multiple genres, both fiction and nonfiction. She lives in Halifax, NS, with her husband, daughter, and a grumpy grey cat named Ben. Pamela is currently working on her first novel.

Book Details

• Publisher ‏ : ‎ House of Anansi Press

• Publication date ‏ : ‎ March 17 2026

• Language ‏ : ‎ English

• Print length ‏ : ‎ 312 pages

• ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 1487013930

• ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-1487013936