Little Earthquakes
by Jennifer Weiner 
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Bestselling author Jennifer Weiner creates a tale of romance, forgiveness, and extreme sleep deprivation, as four very different women navigate one of life's most wonderful and perilous transitions: the journey of new motherhood. Rebecca Rothstein Rabinowitz is a plump, sexy chef who has a wonderful husband, a restaurant that's received citywide acclaim, a beautiful baby girl and the mother-in-law from hell. Kelly Day's life looks picture-perfect. But behind the doors, she's struggling to show more balance work, motherhood and marriage, while dealing with an unemployed husband who seems content to channel- surf for eight hours a day. Ayinde Towne's already on shaky ground, when her basketball superstar husband breaks her trust at the most vulnerable moment in her life, putting their marriage in peril -- and thrusting their new family further into the public eye. Then there's Lia Frederick, a Philadelphia native who has left Los Angeles behind, along with her glamorous Hollywood career, her husband, and a tragic secret. With her trademark warmth and humor, Weiner tells the story of what happens after happily ever after. show lessTags
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Member Reviews
As the first chapter started, I was sure I was going to regret this. I really have no sympathy for tales of the rich & Beautiful People, and I thought I was the wrong demographic for a story of pregnancy & new motherhood. But Weiner deftly interests us in the developing friendship and the emotional struggles of 4 new mothers. For a good part of the book I was scolding Kelly to just talk about what's really happening, what she's feeling, with her friends and her husband. Becky was the one I admired the most, for her warmth and perception of other people's needs, tho I think I'm supposed to admire her for her positive self image. It does have a fairy tale ending, which was too pat, but I like this book enough to consider recommending it show more to my daughter.
Would Weiner's book have sold as well if she had made the same characters middle class instead of actor's, sports-star's-wife, and entrepreneurs?
2012 review show less
Would Weiner's book have sold as well if she had made the same characters middle class instead of actor's, sports-star's-wife, and entrepreneurs?
2012 review show less
A funny, sincere, endearing book about friendship, pregnancy, loss and grief. Weiner's characters are believable and because they are placed in largely realistic situations, you can't help but care for them and root for their lives to turn out happily. Well, except for the evil mother-in-law that is...
SPOILERS Parts were great. I even managed through all the birth scenes. Becky seemed the most like author and was strongest character, though Kelly's arc was also strong. Two main issues with it: ALL of the dads were clueless?? None of them truly contributed because the moms were breastfeeding and it all went from there?? I guess Becky's husband contributed some. If the characters had just communicated ... Second, Ayinde: not a good example of a black character written by a white writer. Did not ring true in many ways. And the clichés of the Black husband as from a sad background, an athlete, and a cheater? Nope.
If you have ever known anyone who was pregnant or been pregnant yourself, this book will have you laughing in no time. A slice-of-life with a gaggle of mothers-to-be, Weiner takes aim at all of the predictable opportunities for humour in one of humankind's most awkward and beautiful condition, and finds some new crannies to examine under the light of honesty and compassion. Note: if you are pregnant this book might make you pee a little (laughing so hard, you see).
Why did I buy this book at a thrift store? I don't even like chick lit! And this book reminded me why.
It's well-written, covering the travails of a cluster of impending mothers and how they cope during their babies' first year. The author is indeed witty and makes some good observations. It's just... they annoyed me (Kelly especially). Their experience was nothing like my experience in becoming a mother and I had difficulty relating to some of their problems. There were so many brand names dropped in this book I wondered if the publisher was getting kickbacks. I can see why this was a bestseller and why many enjoyed it, but it's just not for me.
It's well-written, covering the travails of a cluster of impending mothers and how they cope during their babies' first year. The author is indeed witty and makes some good observations. It's just... they annoyed me (Kelly especially). Their experience was nothing like my experience in becoming a mother and I had difficulty relating to some of their problems. There were so many brand names dropped in this book I wondered if the publisher was getting kickbacks. I can see why this was a bestseller and why many enjoyed it, but it's just not for me.
Good points: thoughtful exploration of motherhood from a variety of vantage points and a cast of characters with distinct and interesting voices
Bad point: a happily-ever-after ending that comes together a bit too easily.
Bad point: a happily-ever-after ending that comes together a bit too easily.
One of the most important strengths of this book is that Weiner has created four distinct primary characters and has had the wisdom and foresight to introduce them individually rather than opening with a group scene in which they are all together and, within three pages or so, the reader is expected to take in the names, appearances and major character traits of each one. The way Weiner does it, it's easy to keep track of whose who throughout and care about each of the four main characters. She doesn't stop there, either. She manages to introduce the right number of secondary characters at the right time, as well. I don't think I was confused even once about who was who and what their relationships to each other were. That's saying a show more lot. (I'm easily confused.)
Weiner writes from the third person perspective for three of these women, but from the first person for one. In this sense, Lia (Lisa) is the heroine. But I question whether that is really the case. I actually wonder about the author's choice in this respect. Not that I don't think it worked but I don't quite understand why she did it. It's also interesting that Weiner chooses the first person "I" for Lia rather than Becky. Becky, the big,tongue-in-cheek Jewish woman, is likely the character most like Weiner and most like Weiner's previous heroine's, yet in this novel, Becky, like Ayinde and Kelly, is a "she" rather than an "I". Lia, on the other hand, has had success as a Hollywood actress and her baby boy has died (traits which as far as I know, Jennifer Weiner does not share [N.B. I am far from an expert on Weiner and know nothing about her beyond her Wikipedia bio]. Though I am curious about this choice of perspective, I am not claiming that it doesn't work.
If I had to identify a one-word theme for this book, I would say "understanding". We see this particularly in the closing chapters where Becky comes to greater understanding of her mother-in-law, Kelly and her husband gain greater mutual understanding of each other and Ayinde gains greater understanding of the woman with whom her husband cheated. Lia, perhaps standing a little apart (and maybe this is why she is different and written from the first person perspective) in turn seems to gain greater understanding not of someone else but simply of events, of life. And perhaps in her case the better word would be "acceptance" than understanding.
In any case, we see definite growth and some sort of resolution on the case of each of the four women. Which is one of the major strengths of the novel.
Is this book chick lit? Weiner is linked to the genre and I definitely felt as though "Good in Bed" qualified as chick lit, though I might not feel the same way about now that there has been such an explosion of the genre and the category seems to be epitomized by lighter reads that are primarily intended to be enjoyed during the act of reading but have little staying power.
This book reminds me more of reads like Divine Secrets of Ya-Ya Sisterhood and Olivia Goldsmith's Young Wives, which I suppose are more "contemporary women's fiction" than chick lit, per se.
I think some of the elements I discussed above are those that take a book beyond chick lit and into something with a little more staying power: multiple main characters who are well-defined; a third person perspective; an overriding theme; a demonstrating of true growth in the characters; a cast of secondary characters who are also rich and multi-layered.
A well-done novel. show less
Weiner writes from the third person perspective for three of these women, but from the first person for one. In this sense, Lia (Lisa) is the heroine. But I question whether that is really the case. I actually wonder about the author's choice in this respect. Not that I don't think it worked but I don't quite understand why she did it. It's also interesting that Weiner chooses the first person "I" for Lia rather than Becky. Becky, the big,tongue-in-cheek Jewish woman, is likely the character most like Weiner and most like Weiner's previous heroine's, yet in this novel, Becky, like Ayinde and Kelly, is a "she" rather than an "I". Lia, on the other hand, has had success as a Hollywood actress and her baby boy has died (traits which as far as I know, Jennifer Weiner does not share [N.B. I am far from an expert on Weiner and know nothing about her beyond her Wikipedia bio]. Though I am curious about this choice of perspective, I am not claiming that it doesn't work.
If I had to identify a one-word theme for this book, I would say "understanding". We see this particularly in the closing chapters where Becky comes to greater understanding of her mother-in-law, Kelly and her husband gain greater mutual understanding of each other and Ayinde gains greater understanding of the woman with whom her husband cheated. Lia, perhaps standing a little apart (and maybe this is why she is different and written from the first person perspective) in turn seems to gain greater understanding not of someone else but simply of events, of life. And perhaps in her case the better word would be "acceptance" than understanding.
In any case, we see definite growth and some sort of resolution on the case of each of the four women. Which is one of the major strengths of the novel.
Is this book chick lit? Weiner is linked to the genre and I definitely felt as though "Good in Bed" qualified as chick lit, though I might not feel the same way about now that there has been such an explosion of the genre and the category seems to be epitomized by lighter reads that are primarily intended to be enjoyed during the act of reading but have little staying power.
This book reminds me more of reads like Divine Secrets of Ya-Ya Sisterhood and Olivia Goldsmith's Young Wives, which I suppose are more "contemporary women's fiction" than chick lit, per se.
I think some of the elements I discussed above are those that take a book beyond chick lit and into something with a little more staying power: multiple main characters who are well-defined; a third person perspective; an overriding theme; a demonstrating of true growth in the characters; a cast of secondary characters who are also rich and multi-layered.
A well-done novel. show less
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Author Information
51+ Works 36,846 Members
Jennifer Weiner grew up in Simsbury, Connecticut. She attended Princeton University, where she studied with John McPhee, Toni Morrison and Joyce Carol Oates. She is currently a reporter/columnist at the "Philadelphia Inquirer" and a contributing editor at "Mademoiselle". Her short stories have been published in "Seventeen" and "Redbook". Her show more freelance work appears in Salon.com, "Time Out New York", "Animal Fair", the "Columbia Journalism Review" and "Seventeen". She lives in Philadelphia and appears regularly on "Philly after Midnight," Philadelphia's local late-night television show, as a commentator. (Publisher Provided) show less
Jennifer Weiner is a LibraryThing Author, an author who lists their personal library on LibraryThing.
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Common Knowledge
- Canonical title*
- Lichte aardschokken
- Original title
- Little earthquakes
- Original publication date
- 2004
- People/Characters
- Becky; Ayinde; Kelly; Lia
- Important places
- Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA; Pennsylvania, USA
- Epigraph
- "What is REAL?" asked the Rabbit one day, when they were
lying side by side near the nursery fender, before Nana came to
tidy the room. "Does it mean having things that buzz inside you
and a stick-out handle?"
... (show all) "Real isn't how you are made," said the Skin Horse. "It's a
thing that happens to you. when a child loves you for a long,
long time, not just to play with, but REALLY loves you, then
you become real."
"Does it hurt?" asked the Rabbit.
"Sometimes," said the Skin Horse, for he was always truth-
ful. "When you are Real you don't mind being hurt."
&mdash Margery Williams
The Velveteen Rabbit - Dedication
- For Lucy Jane
- First words
- I watched her for three days, sitting by myself in the park underneath an elm tree, beside an empty fountain with a series of uneaten sandwiches in my lap and my purse at my side.
- Last words
- (Click to show. Warning: May contain spoilers.)In my dream, in my arms, my baby opened his eyes and smiled.
*Some information comes from Common Knowledge in other languages. Click "Edit" for more information.
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