The Room-Mating Season

ISBN: 9780525947134

定价: 57.00

内容简介

From Publishers Weekly Looking for Mr. Right and loving Mr. Wrong brings three women together in friendships that last four decades in this by-the-numbers saga by veteran Jaffe (Class Reunion， etc.). She follows the lives of three women-Leigh， Cady and Vanessa-who meet as ingenues in New York City， fresh out of college in 1963. The trio， plus a fourth roommate， Susan， share an Upper East Side townhouse. Leigh aspires to become a casting agent， Cady teaches high school English and Vanessa is an airline stewardess (aka a "vending machine on legs"). Susan， a mousy， slightly eccentric receptionist with a desperate air， is disliked by the other three， who eventually ask her to leave (the last straw is a case of possibly contagious warts that the hapless Susan develops). But on the weekend Susan is supposed to move out， she dies in an apparent suicide. Her death casts an intermittent pall over the next 40 years as Cady and Leigh experience life-altering romances with married men while Vanessa's surprise pregnancy finds her heading to the altar. Jaffe speeds through these decades; her portraits of the women as adults are hurried and superficial， and world events get cursory， cliched treatment ("It was late winter of 1964.... It was， and would be， a year of change. The new hot group， the Beatles， was singing their innocent hit， `I Want to Hold Your Hand'"). The breezy romances keep the pages turning， but Jaffe's fans may feel that she's working on autopilot. Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information， Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title. From AudioFile Spanning decades in the lives of three women， this ambitiousnovel starts out with promise: Leigh， Cady， and Vanessa begin theirfriendship in 1963 as New York City roommates. The listener becomesfamiliar with each woman's dreams， ambitions， and flaws as the plotunfolds， especially when it comes to the love lives of three verydifferent personalities. As the years pass， the women pursue careersand men with varying results; however， they do little more thanthat. Even though Deborah Hall spends ample time with each character，each one remains a two-dimensional figure that partakes in clichéd，wooden dialogue and makes the same motions repeatedly. Hall offersadequate narration， although she， too， becomes a bit clichéd in herrendition of the women's voices. (The flight attendant sounds breathyand helpless， for example.).This novel is an easy listen and a fairdiversion， but that's about it. L.B.F. © AudioFile 2003，Portland， Maine-- Copyright © AudioFile， Portland， Maine --This text refers to the Audio CD edition. See all Editorial Reviews