This One is Mine

This One Is Mine by Maria Semple tells the story of Violet Parry, who is living a life of luxury in L.A. with her successful husband and a darling little girl. Yet she is terribly unhappy and is about to risk losing it all when she meets a shabby bass player named Teddy Reyes. Violet's husband, David, doesn't have a clue that his wife is so unhappy. He just wants her to keep the household running smoothly--whatever her problem is, he would rather she get over it because it's interfering with his 'life as usual' routine. Still yet is David's sister, Sally, who wants what Violet and David have and has a plan set into motion to get it. What she finds isn't quite what she bargained for.

This book took me out of my comfort zone of cozy mysteries and historical fiction but I am glad to have read it. Maria Semple takes on the lifestyle of the L.A. rich in a contemporary setting of keeping up appearances, and the shallowness of that existance and contrasts it with those in considerably less appealing circumstances. I thought she did this well--not only with thought provoking passages but also with wit and humor. My life is so low-key and simple, it was hard for me to relate to the characters in the story. I wanted to shake them by the shoulders and tell them to get over themselves--which to my mind is the sign of a good writer and storyteller--she made the characters real.

This One Is Mine is due out in paperback later this month (around March 24th) and I do recommend it to those who like contemporary lifestyle fiction.

Thank you to Gigi and The Hachette Book Group for my courtesy copy of the book. ( )

this one is MINE by Maria Semple
Published by Back Bay Books/Little, Brown and Company
ISBN: 978-0-316-03133-2
At the request of the author's friend, a PB copy was sent, at no cost to me, for my honest opinion.
Synopsis (from back of book): Violet Parry has a picture-perfect life: a beautiful house, a successful husband, a darling daughter. Violet can speak French, quote Sondheim, and whip up dinner from the vegetables in her garden. She has everything under control-except her own happiness. All it takes is a chance encounter with Teddy Reyes, a roguish small -time bass player with a highly evolved sexuality to open Violet's eyes to what she's missing and upend her life completely
My Thoughts and Opinion: This week I asked advice for getting out of my reading slump because I felt that I just couldn't and didn't want to pick up this book and read. And then today, in my google reader, another book blogger/reviewer answered my question. Alayne from The Crowded Leaf, posted her review of this very book and made me realize why the slump. She could not finish it. I read 90 pages and did not like, nor could I relate to any of the characters. This is my opinion, and only my opinion but without giving away a spoiler to the plot, I had a hard time with the story line. I have read other books with a similar theme but this book was difficult to read in the way it was presented. Unfortunately, I had to set this one aside and place in the DNF pile.
My Rating: 1 ( )

David and Violet Parry are supposed to be living the good life. He is a successful music executive, and Violet is now a stay-at-home mom after years of being a successful television writer. They have a lavish lifestyle, a beautiful toddler and a gorgeous home that Violet has just finished re-modeling, but both are deeply unhappy. Violet, once a witty and well-read take-charge dynamo, has sunk into a deep depression and only wanders out of her fog long enough to start making self destructive decisions and to find herself in a relationship with often down and out musician Teddy Reyes. David acts out by belittling his wife and lamenting the fact that all of his needs aren’t being fully met to his demanding expectations.Meanwhile David’s diabetic sister Sally is living her life on the margins of her brother’s success and pines for the days when he was a doting brother. In her mid-thirties she is desperate to get her life in order, and for her that means getting a man. Always scheming, she thinks that the best way to go about it is to meet and marry someone who is on the verge of of being a breakout success. When she meets Jeremy, a sports writer who has become known for being able to predict the winner of sports matches, she thinks she’s found her man, but gets a lot more than she ever bargained for in a relationship.I really loved this book, and I think that’s in large part because of the compassionate way that Maria Semple treated and lovingly developed her characters who are quite frankly, obnoxious. As I started reading the first chapters, and was introduced to Violet and her co-horts I was appalled. They were self-absorbed, prejudiced, snobs or social climbers, or social climbing snobs whose decision making and actions were completely reprehensible. They have too much, think too little, and take everything for granted; and just as I was wondering if I would be able to stand these people for the course of the book a very strange thing happened, I started rooting for them. I wanted them to be able to work through their issues and make their family lives work and for them to communicate, and for their relationships to be stronger.Everyone was so interesting and complex that one moment I would be totally down on them and in the next instant I would gain some perspective on where they were coming from and be on their side. I railed at David on Violet’s behalf and then turned around and totally wanted Violet to get herself together so she wouldn’t lose the man who still loved her, no matter how flawed that love had become. I alternated between hoping Sally would land herself a husband and thinking that she didn’t deserve one. Teddy, Violet’s sometime lover, is both repulsive and utterly charming and all in all I felt like he was, along with the rest of them, doing the best that he possibly could. It’s wonderful when you have enough depth to really get a handle on a character and to like them though they may be very, very flawed.One of the other great things about this book is that you really get a chance to see the flavor of L.A. and some of the communities and people that can be encountered. The house and property descriptions, Violet buying excessively expensive chocolates and Hermes scarfs to gift to sales people, the over the top yoga retreat which David attends to find himself, and the independent child classes Violet attends with her daughter are all humorously exposed and explored. The situations are hilarious and absurd, but also representative of a certain lifestyle. I liked to see the characters moving within their different environments. Semple also peppers her stories with every day problems and illness which have to be dealt with such as diabetes, Asperger’s, drug use and depression to name a few.This book and its characters are memorable ones and they still continue to stick with me and come to the top of my list of books that I recommend, especially if you like great characterizations and drama. It had a bit of mystery as well because I wanted to see how they would all end out and there were a variety of possibilities that I would have been okay with, which is nice. But I like the one I got too! ( )

Violet Parry an UNFORGETTABLE character. Violets life is perfect to the outsiders. Her husband who forgets what a relationship should entail seems insensitive. It almost seems like he forgets she is human and has feelings. I almost feel maybe Violet wasn't quite right either. I kept saying to myself "I would so not do that". Yet it was so realistic. Things that happen in this plot happens everyday. Sally was something in a class all her own. If you don't fall in love with this tiger on the prowl I don't know what would make you happy. I am still in shock as to the twist and turns of this one. I still don't know how I got there but I did. Like a whirl wind of twists which makes for a perfect plot! The witty, clever and LOL writing style was Powerful to make you stay attached. I really enjoyed this ride! I will continue to look for more of Maria Semple books in the future! I had a blast, Does my hair look OK after that ride??

From My Blog...

Well-written, descriptive with witty narrative This One Is Mine by Maria Semple has an interesting premise; two unhappy women looking for happiness, one longing for what the other has. Violet Grace Perry seemingly has a wonderful life and yet she is tragically unhappy, refers to mornings with her husband David as "revolting", wonders about the "indignities" forced on 50-year-old women who are single and work such jobs as selling real estate and believes motherhood, no matter how much a mother loves her child, is not only "boring" but "draining". Unfortunately, Violet neither grew on me nor became more likeable with time. Will her affair with Teddy Reyes, a bass player and recovering alcoholic be the answer she is looking for? Sally, the younger sister of Violet's husband David, recently turned 36 and believes she is absolutely stunning and further believes her best friend Maryam would flounder without her help and guidance as the "pretty one" in the friendship. Sally's goal is to hook up with a wealthy man, ideally the soon to be TV star named Jeremy White, and live a fairy tale life. Sally wants what Violet has, yet the grass is rarely greener on the other side. The parallel stories and exploits may be delightful for others to read, unfortunately I did not find them to be witty or interesting but rather superficial and I tired rather quickly of the descriptive sexual escapades. With that stated, Maria Semple's novel is well written and executed, her characters are developed and the story moves at a fast clip. Just because the genre was not for me is not at all indicative of the author's ability. Several times I saw references to similarities between This One Is Mine and Tolstoy's Anna Karenina, which happens to be my all-time favourite novel and the comparison threw me, certainly the wealth, power, and unhappiness, yet there are a lot of novels like that and I do not place these two books in the same category. I am curious if anyone saw similarities between Tolstoy's classic novel and This One Is Mine, and if so, what? While this novel was not to my liking, I strongly suggest reading other reviews before making a decision on this book. I do believe This One Is Mine would not only make an excellent book discussion group pick but would also create quite lively discussions. ( )