Olivia Goldsmith (1949–2004)

Frothy comedy about second chances, second weddings, and second childhoods.

Phyllis Geronomous, facing 70 and more years of widowhood than she thinks she can tolerate, decides to uproot herself from the Florida retirement community her late husband insisted on, and to move back to New York, where she can keep a better eye on her adult children, none of whom has lived up to her expectations.

Meanwhile, the children, on learning of her plans, fly into various panic modes. None of them wants Mom show more meddling in their lives at this point, and none can take on the expense of supporting her without dire consequences to their own careers.

The obvious solution, then, is to marry Mom off to some rich old geezer who will keep her happy and occupied. And, with the plot firmly set up, it is expertly manipulated and milked by Goldsmith, who keeps the one-liners coming and stirs hit-and-miss matchmaking together with a cast of delightfully-drawn characters. Most readers will see how all the resolutions tie up into neat bows long before the package is really wrapped, but nobody cares.

It’s a fun read. show less

A dishy and delightful romp through the publishing world. With overdrawn characters and a quickish pace (though the book itself is much too long) this book is light, easy and fun.

I cheated by accident and watched the film long before I read the novel, but not on purpose. I didn't even know that the film was based on a book!

Irregardless of any differences between the two mediums and plot changes, I highly enjoyed both. The film is a bit more comedic - largely due to the actors - and the book has a more wide-ranging revenge plan, but they are both centred around themes of female empowerment and the age old adage "a woman scorned..." I hope that this book is able to act show more as an inspiration for women who didn't grow up with my liberal ideas about male-female relationships, because no woman should be used and abused by a man (or anyone for that matter). show less

Some of this was good and some of it was just preposterous. Only in fiction could two totally different women switch their lives. And Marla only wants what she thinks marriage is. When she finds out what it’s really like, she isn’t so sure. She’s a totally helpless idiot when it comes to doing anything remotely domestic. I’m not an expert but this chick is a complete moron. Laundry mystifies her. Cooking becomes a quest for the perfect table setting. And the once pretty immaculate show more house of Sylvie’s descends into chaos.

Meanwhile, Sylvie has to deal with Marla’s foot massage clients. Luckily Marla rescues her before she has to paint a man’s toes pink. The client didn’t notice and neither did Bob when he came over that night. He’s decided after being with the Sylvie-Marla woman, that he loves her and will leave his wife for her. Sylvie is elated and crushed at the same time. Altogether, she’s pretty pathetic. Marla is trying so hard to be liked that she gets on my nerves.

One character I did like was Sylvie’s mother Mildred. What a great chick. No illusions. No BS. No wrong steps. Her husband (and Sylvie’s father) cheated on her too, but she hung in there and hung onto her marriage. She encourages Sylvie to do the same and thinks the switching thing is barking mad, but agrees to help it along. Bob is truly unlikable. One minute he’s bragging about Marla and the next he’s calling himself a world-class asshole and saying that he doesn’t deserve Sylvie. A whining, arrogant baby. Just what the world needs.

In the end, I’m sad to say, Sylvie forgives Bob after he drives his fully restored, antique BMW Roadster into their swimming pool (a stunt Sylvie pulls after she finds out that Bob gave an identical car to Marla too). By this insane action, he proves he loves her enough to sacrifice anything. That reminds me, most of the references to BMWs were bogus. A Z2 convertible indeed. show less