Sensitive and knowing exploration of the trickiness—and value—of meaningful relationships.
Two sisters with very different lifestyles come together, then fall apart, when they team up to try and lose weight.
Anxious to shed pounds after the birth of her first child, New Jersey stay-at-home-mom Stephanie Cunningham recruits her New York restaurant critic sister Meredith to go on the Zone diet with her, figuring they can support each other, as they always have. City gal Meredith, who, unlike her sister, has been heavy her whole life, is anxious to slim down, especially after seeing an ex-flame whom she suspects dumped her because of her weight. But this quest is especially daunting for Meredith, who loves—and needs—food so much. She is, after all, very good at her job. The two begin well enough, but issues much bigger than dieting rear their head after Stephanie discovers that her enviably handsome and athletic husband Aubrey has a prescription drug habit. Devastated by this information, but not ready to share it with the somewhat self-absorbed Meredith, Stephanie has a falling out with her sister. This hiatus forces both to face stark realizations about themselves. Stephanie wonders if, even after rehab, she can still love her husband, and Meredith discovers how her type-A habits and unrealistically high expectations have been exacerbating her loneliness. Stephanie also goes on Weight Watchers, while Meredith adopts a remarkably soulful little dog and asks out her equally adorable new yoga instructor Gary. That Gary is a far cry from the lawyers and “junior tycoons” Meredith has long hoped for feels less important than finding someone who accepts her as she is. That the girls cannot stay estranged forever is a forgone conclusion, but it is still gratifying when “perfect” older sister Stephanie admits that she is anything but, then reaches out to her long-time confidant. Shot through with the melancholy of having to make adult choices, Pace’s latest (Pug Hill, 2006, etc.) has its share of bright spots.
Sensitive and knowing exploration of the trickiness—and value—of meaningful relationships.Pub Date: Aug. 7, 2007
ISBN: 978-0-425-21561-6
Page Count: 304
Publisher: Berkley
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 15, 2007
Entertaining and thoroughly engrossing.
Another reboot of Jane Austen?!? Hadlow pulls it off in a smart, heartfelt novel devoted to bookish Mary, middle of the five sisters in Pride and Prejudice.
Part 1 recaps Pride and Prejudice through Mary’s eyes, climaxing with the humiliating moment when she sings poorly at a party and older sister Elizabeth goads their father to cut her off in front of everyone. The sisters’ friend Charlotte, who marries the unctuous Mr. Collins after Elizabeth rejects him, emerges as a pivotal character; her conversations with Mary are even tougher-minded here than those with Elizabeth depicted by Austen. In Part 2, two years later, Mary observes on a visit that Charlotte is deferential but remote with her husband; she forms an intellectual friendship with the neglected and surprisingly nice Mr. Collins that leads to Charlotte’s asking Mary to leave. In Part 3, Mary finds refuge in London with her kindly aunt and uncle, Mr. and Mrs. Gardiner. Mrs. Gardiner is the second motherly woman, after Longbourn housekeeper Mrs. Hill, to try to undo the psychic damage wrought by Mary’s actual mother, shallow, status-obsessed Mrs. Bennet, by building up her confidence and buying her some nice clothes (funded by guilt-ridden Lizzy). Sure enough, two suitors appear: Tom Hayward, a poetry-loving lawyer who relishes Mary’s intellect but urges her to also express her feelings; and William Ryder, charming but feckless inheritor of a large fortune, whom naturally Mrs. Bennet loudly favors. It takes some maneuvering to orchestrate the estrangement of Mary and Tom, so clearly right for each other, but debut novelist Hadlow manages it with aplomb in a bravura passage describing a walking tour of the Lake District rife with seething complications furthered by odious Caroline Bingley. Her comeuppance at Mary’s hands marks the welcome final step in our heroine’s transformation from a self-doubting wallflower to a vibrant, self-assured woman who deserves her happy ending. Hadlow traces that progression with sensitivity, emotional clarity, and a quiet edge of social criticism Austen would have relished.
Entertaining and thoroughly engrossing.Pub Date: March 31, 2020
ISBN: 978-1-250-12941-3
Page Count: 448
Publisher: Henry Holt
Review Posted Online: Dec. 22, 2019
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 15, 2020
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
Anyone who believes in true love or is simply willing to accept it as the premise of a winding tale will find this debut an...
True love flares between two people, but they find that circumstances always impede it.
On a winter day in London, Laurie spots Jack from her bus home and he sparks a feeling in her so deep that she spends the next year searching for him. Her roommate and best friend, Sarah, is the perfect wing-woman but ultimately—and unknowingly—ends the search by finding Jack and falling for him herself. Laurie’s hasty decision not to tell Sarah is the second painful missed opportunity (after not getting off the bus), but Sarah’s happiness is so important to Laurie that she dedicates ample energy into retraining her heart not to love Jack. Laurie is misguided, but her effort and loyalty spring from a true heart, and she considers her project mostly successful. Perhaps she would have total success, but the fact of the matter is that Jack feels the same deep connection to Laurie. His reasons for not acting on them are less admirable: He likes Sarah and she’s the total package; why would he give that up just because every time he and Laurie have enough time together (and just enough alcohol) they nearly fall into each other’s arms? Laurie finally begins to move on, creating a mostly satisfying life for herself, whereas Jack’s inability to be genuine tortures him and turns him into an ever bigger jerk. Patriarchy—it hurts men, too! There’s no question where the book is going, but the pacing is just right, the tone warm, and the characters sympathetic, even when making dumb decisions.
Anyone who believes in true love or is simply willing to accept it as the premise of a winding tale will find this debut an emotional, satisfying read.Pub Date: Oct. 16, 2018
ISBN: 978-0-525-57468-2
Page Count: 400
Publisher: Crown
Review Posted Online: July 30, 2018
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 2018
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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