Cousins by Rona Jaffe
Synopsis: Restlessness in her current relationship leads a NYC woman to wonder if her family’s legacy has doomed her to unhappiness.
Tag Archives: Chick Lit
The First Wives’ Club by Olivia Goldsmith
Synopsis: Three spurned first wives plot the ultimate revenge against their ex-husbands.
The Nanny Diaries by Emma McLaughlin and Nicola Kraus
Synopsis: The trials and travails of an Upper East Side nanny as the family she cares for repeatedly violates her boundaries.
I Don’t Know How She Does It by Allison Pearson
Synopsis: A working mother of two finds her life teetering out of balance as she struggles to succeed in finance without feeling guilty that the nanny is raising her kids. Review: I sometimes have anxiety dreams where I’m working. I’m either behind the counter at the video store I clerked at in grad school, or posting things in Moveable Type for my work blog, or reenacting a specific job (like an event I’ve planned) in what feels like real time. While the dream is going…
The Man of My Dreams by Curtis Sittenfeld
Synopsis: Snapshots in the life of a slightly depressed young woman with low self-esteem. Review: I loved Sittenfeld’s debut novel Prep, and had high expectations for this one. I was pretty disappointed. Hannah is passive and largely disinterested in life, and this just doesn’t make for a compelling main character, unless her passivity is what the story is about. But Sittenfeld doesn’t have a strong premise, nor has she engaged with some of the ideas that pepper the narrative. The book feels loose and disconnected,…
Switcheroo by Olivia Goldsmith
Synopsis: When a betrayed wife discovers that her husband’s mistress could be her (much younger) twin, she convinces the mistress that they should switch places and see how the other half lives.
The Wreath (Kristin Lavransdatter 1) by Sigrid Undset
Synopsis: Kristin Lavransdatter is a girl in 14th Century Norway, betrothed to one man but desperately in love with another.
Wish Upon a Star by Olivia Goldsmith
Synopsis: Claire is an unassuming secretary who’s never had an adventure. When a womanizing firm partner asks her to come with him to London, she surprises herself and everyone by saying yes – and really throws them all for a loop when she quits her job to stay.