Juliette Fay

Thanks to Book Club Cookbook and publisher Gallery Books/Simon & Schuster for a copy of this book. My thoughts and opinions are my own.

Loved this! Telling the fascinating story of the early days of Hollywood through the various experiences of three friends was an excellent way to transport readers back to the early 1920's. The glamorous and gritty accounts of the budding film industry form the backdrop for author Juliette Fay to write a memorable, realistic, and touching story of the bonds show more of friendship. Each chapter begins with a quote from an actual person of that time period, and is related to the events that happen in that chapter. I admired Fay's ability to skillfully weave the Hollywood facts of events and people with the fictional story to create a novel I couldn't stop reading. show less

Janie LaMarche is suddenly widowed at age 38 after seven wonderful years of marriage. Her husband Robby, out riding his bike, was hit by an older driver. She has two children, Dylan, 4, and Carly, who is only 8 months old. Janie is sad, angry, and fearful. Into this house of emotional land mines comes Tug Malinowski, a 45-year-old contractor previously hired by Robby to build Janie a screened-in porch. Tug doesn’t know the man who hired him is dead; he offers to tear up the contract, but show more Janie decides that if Robby wanted it, she should go through with it.

But this isn’t a straight-forward predictable romance. There are a lot of other issues added to the story. Janie feels abandoned by her mother, who took off for Italy rather than helping Janie through this period of mourning. Janie has a twin brother Mike, but he has Asperger’s, and is not someone from whom she can get emotional sustenance. Her best friend and neighbor now has a boyfriend, and is moving away to be closer to him. Janie turns to the young parish priest, Jake, who insists on visiting her weekly, and with whom Janie gets dangerously close. Through it all, including numerous angry outbursts from Janie, Tug hangs in there, helping quietly in the background. Eventually Janie thinks there might be a path to happiness for herself, but like many people in her position, she is afraid to be happy; afraid to betray the memory of her husband, and afraid of risking more loss.

Evaluation: This is a good “women’s lit” book, with perhaps too many issues thrown in (some problems of contemporary Catholicism also come into play, such as pedophilia, celibacy, and holiday Catholics; as well as conflicts with relatives and urban crime), but then again, life is complex in just that way. The author does a good job of keeping the reader’s sympathies with Janie, despite Janie’s petulance and emotional volatility. show less

There aren't enough well-written romantic dramas around anymore (everyone seems to want to write suspense), so I'm grateful to Juliette Fay for providing me with a well-written, engaging one. Cass is a pregnant alcoholic. Scott is an emotionally scarred journeyman baseball player. They have nothing in common except Ben, the father of Cass' child and Scott's brother, who died of alcohol poisoning. Scott reluctantly let Cass move into his house temporarily, and she promises to sober up for the show more sake of the baby. Cass is fragile and insecure, but after a short stay in a rehab facility she is determined to change - attending meetings, finding a sponsor, and making a few unexpected friends along the way. But her sobriety is tested numerous times, and her relationship with Scott is confusing to say the least.

Cass' mother died when Cass was a teenager, leaving her to fend for herself in foster care. She's always been poor, barely scraping by on low-wage, short-term jobs. She loved Ben, but their relationship was based on drinking, being hungover, or finding the next drink. It's easy to root for her recovery and understand how alcohol remains such a temptation when she is stressed. I appreciated the evolution of her relationship with the family next door and her attempts to help another friend who is also trying to get sober. Scott is a bit of an uncommunicative jerk sometimes, but he also had a traumatic childhood, and he demonstrates his support and generosity in many ways. As much as I dislike the "heroine falls in love with former lover's brother" trope, in this case it didn't bother me because the relationship develops very gradually, to the point where I wondered if it would happen at all.

The outline of the book may sound cliched, but Juliette Fay fills in the story with nuanced characters and dynamics, turning a long novel into a compelling, page-turning read.

ARC received from Net Galley in exchange for objective review. show less

I sank into this novel as into a featherbed, & didn't want to get up. The story covers most of the year when Janie is left with 2 young children after the untimely death of her husband. I'm surprised at how much I enjoyed Janie's anger, since I am not expressive of anger. It was refreshing to read. I loved her joking relationship with her cousin Cormac. Poor Carly seems to be just an appendage--except when Janie complains of having spent the morning keeping her from crawling up the stairs we show more mostly see Carly being hauled around. But this fits with the story, and Janie's belated realization of how much of Carly's life she's missed. I sort of wonder why men wanted to be around her, given her attitude. All I can figure is that she was exceedingly beautiful, & that men assume that all that fiery passion will carry over to bed. Not that there was much sex--we're talking Catholics here. show less