You might love this book if 1) you are a celebrity groupie sort of person...can’t get enough of other people being able to sweep off the Caribbean when life lets them down, or 2) You are a sycophant for New York City and all things New York...it is is the center of the world and it would be better to be in a tiny brownstone there than a palace somewhere else. Otherwise, you might be like me and find it a bit lacking in depth.

I am a sister, and I did not find this sisterly relationship realistic. One of these women is just too extraordinary to believe and one is just too good to believe. By the time I was supposed to see the “other side” of the wealthy, beautiful, talented (use any adjective of this ilk) one, I just didn’t care. The plot took a long time developing, the struggles finally emerged, and then she resolved them all, wrapped it in cellophane, and tied a bow.

I am a fan of Quindlen, have liked her other books that I have read and truly loved Blessings, but this one just wasn’t my fare. Not that it was hard to read or to understand what she meant to be examining, just that it had so little that could be labeled as having meaning and being realistic. I suppose one of the things I have liked most about her writing is that it is, even when improbable, patently realistic. Right up to this book.

I have another of her books that I have not gotten to yet sitting on my shelf. It will sit a while longer, because this one has thrown me off her for a while. ( )

I really didn't like either of the sisters and found myself waiting for the story to get interesting and improve. It didn't. Overall I would give it a 2.5. ( )

I was very interested in and cared about these characters. I also liked very much that New York City was such an integral part of this story. And now that I am trying to educate myself regarding the history of systemic racism it was interesting how much that was discussed even before it became a hot topic in the general community. I do wish that the book did not have to rely on a tragedy to have a positive conclusion. ( )

This is the story of two New York sisters – Meghan Fitzmaurice is America’s favourite breakfast television anchor, while younger sister Bridget is a social worker, trying to help women from the Bronx projects find a better life. The sisters are good friends, and life seems to be coasting along nicely – until the day that Meghan, not realising that she is still on air, swears on live television and her career and personal life both go into freefall. The fallout affects not just Meghan, but her husband Evan and their teenage son Leo.

Narrated by Bridget, the story takes in not just the aftermath of Meghan’s error, but is also a love letter of sorts to New York, and a history of the two sisters’ lives as well as their relationships with the men – and other people – in their lives.

I wasn’t too sure what to make of this book. On the one hand, I definitely think Anna Quindlen is a talented writer and I found myself reading large chunks in one go which is always a good sign (a bad sign is when I put a book down after a few pages and look for something else to distract myself). On the other hand….I felt slightly removed from the action. This was not one of those books where you feel excited to find out what will happen next and neither did I really care about any of the characters. Although the on-air gaffe was entirely unbelievable, the incredible over-reaction to it was not so much. I didn’t warm to Meghan much at all, and possibly this was because the story was narrated by Bridget – even though Bridget is possibly her sister’s biggest supporter. I think it was an interesting idea to have the sister as the narrator, but it would have been quite nice to see Meghan’s point of view, even if perhaps they alternated chapter narrations.

From other reviews I’ve read it seems that fans of Quindlen’s other books were largely disappointed with this one. For me, this was actually the first book of hers that I’ve read and I would probably be interested in trying another on the back of it. ( )

Not my favorite Quindlen, but very well-written as always. ( )