Goodnight Nobody (1995)

CD ( )

If there is a more relatable character in current fiction than Kate Klein, I haven't found her yet. At times it seemed like the author was peering into my head and writing my thoughts. Okay, so I don't live in Connecticut, and I didn't stumble upon a quasi-friend's corpse, but I liked Kate, I understood her, and I enjoyed the wild ride that was this murder-mystery adventure. ( )

I'm not sure I like Jennifer Weiner's cozy mystery as much as I like her other work, but this book is still fantastic. What she does well, she does extremely well - the oversized, outsider narrator, the warts-and-all view of motherhood and marriage, the sympathetic narrator who nevertheless makes regrettable decisions, the subversion of the expected plot points (happily ever after, fat girl loses weight to get happily ever after, happily ever after must include man, smart woman gets into stupid scrapes by using her secretly delicate brain, etc...).

The mystery here is pretty well-constructed, and the denouement is surprising but believable. Weiner's picture of over-wealthy Connecticut suburbia is hilarious and cutting but also very real, and her narrator's sense of physical, emotional, and intellectual isolation in a world of play-dates and Stepford housewives and mommy-and-me classes is so compelling. Weiner's writing is very fresh, as is her perspective, and her characters are well-developed and compelling. It's easy to dismiss novels about women characters, moms, motherhood, and kids as chick lit or as "not serious" but I think Weiner's strength really is the way she treats these topics with a discerning, satirical eye and, in so doing, provokes serious thought about the image and role of motherhood while telling a really entertaining story. ( )

Chick lit mystery. Sometimes the commentary on surburbia is laugh out loud funny, other times the novel is a frustrating tale of a whiny woman who can't find joy in her life and blames her marriage. With no idea what she is doing, Kate barrels ahead, questions suspects, and puts her kids at risk to investigate a murder. Hard to believe and just so so ...... ( )

I will have to admit that when I first started listening to this book I didn't think that I would enjoy it. So I can honestly tell you that I think I enjoyed listening to this book more than I would have liked actually reading it. I try not to read too much light fiction, but the mystery aspect of this book held my attention.

It seems that Kate lives in the perfect suburb with her husband and three children. Kate finds herself wanting to fit in with the other mothers that she meets at the playground, but with their perfect bodies, children that could do no wrong, and spotless clean homes, she realizes that she could never be like them. When Kitty, who is beautiful on both the outside and inside, invites Kate over to her home, she jumps at the chance of friendship with an adult. Unfortunately, Kate arrives to find Kitty murdered in her home so the friendship was over before it began!

After the murder takes place, Kate takes it upon herself to find out why Kitty was murdered and by whom. Kate loves her children but is just not feeling fulfilled with her daily parenting activities. She finds that by focusing on trying to solve this murder case her life once again has more meaning and purpose. She also learns through her investigation that residents in the Upchurch community are not quite as perfect as they appear.

Kate calls on the assitance of her best friend Janie, who is a very interesting character. I couldn't help but laugh when Janie drops some Ecstacy into a drink at Kate's home, that happened to be consumed by Kate's mother. She was one of a kind but you got the sense that Janie would be there and do what needed to be done for her friends.

We also get a glimpse into Kate's past when she finds herself looking for help from a man that she never imagined that she would have to see again. When she gave him her heart years ago, only to turn his back on her, she really wasn't sure how a professional relationship would work with Evan today. As the attraction between Evan and Kate builds throughout the novel Kate begins scrutinizing her marriage and pondering whether her decision to marry was made in haste.

This was an interesting story and although the mystery was solved in a way that seemed reasonable, Kate was still sorting through her personal life at the end of the book and trying to figure out what direction to take. I think I would consider this book a 'cozy mystery', which I don't think I would have enjoyed actually reading, but it was a fun audiobook to listen to. ( )