Better Luck Next Time: A Novel by Julia…

Better Luck Next Time: A Novel (original 2021; edition 2021)

by Julia Claiborne Johnson (Author)

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Fiction. Literature. Historical Fiction. HTML: "Do you want to read something funny? Let's say, a novel set at a divorce ranch in Reno in the 1930s? A book with memorably eccentric characters, sparkling dialogue, a satisfying plot twist, and some romance and sex? A feel-good literary comedy/western? Here it is, then, the book you've been looking for: Julia Claiborne Johnson's Better Luck Next Time."�??Julie Schumacher, author of Dear Committee Members and The Shakespeare Requirement The long anticipated second novel from the bestselling author of Be Frank with Me, a charming story of endings, new beginnings, and the complexities and complications of friendship and love, set in late 1930s Reno. It's 1938 and women seeking a quick, no-questions split from their husbands head to the "divorce capital of the world," Reno, Nevada. There's one catch: they have to wait six-weeks to become "residents." Many of these wealthy, soon-to-be divorcees flock to the Flying Leap, a dude ranch that caters to their every need. Twenty-four-year-old Ward spent one year at Yale before his family lost everything in the Great Depression; now he's earning an honest living as a ranch hand at the Flying Leap. Admired for his dashing good looks�??"Cary Grant in cowboy boots"�??Ward thinks he's got the Flying Leap's clients all figured out. But two new guests are about to upend everything he thinks he knows: Nina, a St Louis heiress and amateur pilot back for her third divorce, and Emily, whose bravest moment in life was leaving her cheating husband back in San Francisco and driving herself to Reno. A novel about divorce, marriage, and everything that comes in between (money, class, ambition, and opportunity), Better Luck Next Time is a hilarious yet poignant examination of the ways friendship can save us, love can destroy us, and the family we create can be stronger than the family we come f… (more)

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Member:	rglossne
Title:	Better Luck Next Time: A Novel
Authors:	Julia Claiborne Johnson (Author)
Info:	Custom House (2021), 288 pages
Collections:	Your library
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Better Luck Next Time by Julia Claiborne Johnson (2021)

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The book starts with an interview by Dr. Howard Stovall Bennett, III (Ward) who reflects back on the days when he was working as a cowboy at the Flying Leap ranch in Reno, Nevada in 1938, during the Depression. His job - like the other men - was to assist women staying at the ranch who were broken hearted. Reno was one of the few places at that time where women could file for a divorce and it took six weeks for them as residents to make the claim. As the reader can easily guess, this cowboy not only helped one lady with her shopping, there was also romance in the picture. The historical novel presents itself well with the times and gives the reader lots to think about from those days. When Ward gave the interview in 1988, he said, "divorce isn't a big deal anymore." Let's hope it stays that way with women's rights. (

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Jacsun | Jul 16, 2023 |

In 1938 Wade dropped out of Yale when the family money was lost in the Depression, and went West to work. Handsome and friendly, he ended up on the Flying Leap dude ranch in Reno, Nevada. The ranch catered to wealthy women needing to establish the six weeks residency requirements for divorce.

All went well for Wade until Nina, an heiress who pilots her own plane and has come for her third divorce, and childlike and spoiled Emily who is trying to make it through her first, arrive and become friends. Wade takes them on trail rides, chauffers them to town, and breaks the hardfast rule not to become personally involved with a guest.

I had trouble settling into this and thought it boring for awhile. The description of it claims it is hilarious but I didn't think so. There are amusing moments, but it isn't comedy. I did like the ending but didn't think I'd make it that far. Wade returned to Tennessee and a lifetime later gives a poignant summation of what happened to the three and to the beloved owners of the ranch once they were seperated. (

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clue | Jun 20, 2023 |

Outside Reno in 1938 a young man works at a ranch for well off women spending the 6 weeks in Nevada to establish residency for devorcing under that state's laws. Two young women, one returning for the third time, catch his particular attention, partly for their interactions with him, partly for the connects between them and partly for themselves. The author never quite manages to inflate the the 4 named but otherwise absent women who are resident at the same time, using only 2 of 6 to add in a bit of interaction outside the main characters, so that rather than a full constant mix of people in a small set there is a jarringly, clearly inaccurate sense that there is significant space around all the actors in every scene within the house. The book is very readable and not at all unpleasant, just not all that. (

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quondame | Nov 11, 2022 |

A very light read - something of a palate cleanser, if you need that. This historical story is set on a Reno ranch during the 1930s. The ranch is where rich women go to wait out their time before they can divorce (six weeks' residency in Nevada is required). The ranch employs handsome cowboys to keep the ladies amused--generally the innocent kind of amusement. The narrator is one of these cowboys, a 24-year-old trying to figure out his life. He befriends Nina, a feisty lady who seems like she stepped straight out of a Lauren Bacall movie to be in this book, and her roommate, Emily, who Nina is bringing out of her shell. Of course he falls in love. It ends up about how you'd expect. My main quibble is the author giving us a totally adorable horse named Dumpling and then killing him to bring about the resolution. Seems like a cheap shot. My favorite bit was the other cowboy having an affair with one of the estranged husbands. I don't think this book will be particularly memorable, but it was an easy read. (

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sturlington | May 18, 2022 |

Did this piece of historical fiction about quickie divorces in 1930s Reno break my HF curse? Read my full review here. (

)

joyblue | Jan 8, 2022 |

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Canonical title

Better Luck Next Time

Original title

Alternative titles

Original publication date

2021

People/Characters

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Epigraph

'A girl must marry for love, and keep marrying until she finds is.' - Zsa Zsa Gabor

'Marriage is a wonderful institution. But who wants to live in an institution?' - Groucho Marx

Dedication

For My Father, briefly the cowboy; and My Mother, always the doctor.

First words

Yes, you have come to the right place.

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(Click to show. Warning: May contain spoilers.)

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▾Book descriptions

Fiction. Literature. Historical Fiction. HTML:

"Do you want to read something funny? Let's say, a novel set at a divorce ranch in Reno in the 1930s? A book with memorably eccentric characters, sparkling dialogue, a satisfying plot twist, and some romance and sex? A feel-good literary comedy/western? Here it is, then, the book you've been looking for: Julia Claiborne Johnson's Better Luck Next Time."�??Julie Schumacher, author of Dear Committee Members and The Shakespeare Requirement

The long anticipated second novel from the bestselling author of Be Frank with Me, a charming story of endings, new beginnings, and the complexities and complications of friendship and love, set in late 1930s Reno.

It's 1938 and women seeking a quick, no-questions split from their husbands head to the "divorce capital of the world," Reno, Nevada. There's one catch: they have to wait six-weeks to become "residents." Many of these wealthy, soon-to-be divorcees flock to the Flying Leap, a dude ranch that caters to their every need.

Twenty-four-year-old Ward spent one year at Yale before his family lost everything in the Great Depression; now he's earning an honest living as a ranch hand at the Flying Leap. Admired for his dashing good looks�??"Cary Grant in cowboy boots"�??Ward thinks he's got the Flying Leap's clients all figured out. But two new guests are about to upend everything he thinks he knows: Nina, a St Louis heiress and amateur pilot back for her third divorce, and Emily, whose bravest moment in life was leaving her cheating husband back in San Francisco and driving herself to Reno.

A novel about divorce, marriage, and everything that comes in between (money, class, ambition, and opportunity), Better Luck Next Time is a hilarious yet poignant examination of the ways friendship can save us, love can destroy us, and the family we create can be stronger than the family we come f

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