Book Review: Absolutely Now!

Book: Absolutely Now! A Futurist's Journey To Her Inner Truth by Lynne Franks

Source: Borrowed from Publisher/NetGalley for an honest review

Publication: Available now

Description:

Lynne Franks is a legendary figure in international fashion and public relations and the inspiration for the outrageous and driven character of Edina on the cult television series, ‘Absolutely Fabulous.’ Yet at the pinnacle of her success, after building a world class public relations firm by working 20-hour days, spinning off new ideas and tracking trends for her clients at the expense of her personal life, she abruptly sold her company and reclaimed her life, embarking on a quest for meaning that took her around the globe.

Lynne Franks’ journey took her to the United Nations Women’s Conference in Beijing; a holy mountain in India; the sacred Celtic sites of Ireland, Scotland, and Wales; the Californian Redwoods; and trance dancing to African drums. She addressed conferences on ethical business and spent time with many of the world’s spiritual leaders, leading environmentalists and visionaries. This book recounts that journey. For entrepreneurs; for women and men doing far too much; for those interested in socially responsible business practices; and for anyone interested in simplifying life; Franks points the way to achieving a balanced, happy life with the same dead-on intuition that has made her one of the top trend-spotters of our time.



Rating: 2 stars

Review:

Question, who has watched an episode of Absolutely Fabulous? I have and it never occurred to me that the character Edina Monsoon was actually based on someone real. And it turns out to be the author of this book. Lynne Frank.

In this eye opening book, Lynne Frank details how her successful career in PR started. And how her high flying and very stressful career was becoming so in demand that it was starting to take it's toll on her life. Not only was she one of the "It" publicists but she was also a married with two children.

It wasn't until the death of one of her good friends (she died of cancer) whose life was as fast moving as hers for Lynne to stop and really look at where her life was going.

She was already doing alternative therapies and treatments and studied various spiritualties but as she started to re-evaluated her life, she wanted to slow down and simplify and they seemed to guide her in transitioning from stressed out executive to a more peaceful way of life. And after her divorce and selling of her high profile company (which she temporarily stayed on to work for two more years) she was more than ready to start her new life. As soon as she was truly free from her former company it gave her time to find a new way of life and get to know her children better.

Although the author said the character on the show was a satirized version of herself, this book does show how close the character and real person are with how she was very into trying alternative therapies such as crystal therapy and various others.

She also goes into detail as to why her relationship with her ex-husband started to fail. And after another one of her treatments it allowed her the chance to see what happened and to move on from those memories.

I noticed that she does seem to rely on various treatments and therapies for nearly all areas of her life.

The best part of the book for me were the bold passages at the end of each chapter. They pretty much sum up the message of each chapter which can sometimes dawdle a bit. I did find chapter 7: Plugging into the Future to be interesting. Since it's what seems to be impacting people with the overrun of tech and how the media can sometimes distort information.

Lastly, I found the writing to be very dull and boring and for a person who has lived such an interesting life, it hard to imagine why this book is so blah.

Absolutely Now! may not be my cup of tea but I think those interested in New Age/alternative medicines and therapies may enjoy reading how the author gained a more positive and peaceful life as well as transforming her life into the one she wanted.