A Big Storm Knocked It Over

4 Thoroughly enjoyed! but - it had a bit of an old-timey 1940s feel, just in the way the characters talked, but it could just be monied New Yorkers too. (a la Lillian Boxfish) I thought I remember it being set in the 80s?? so it definitely has an anachronistic feel: smoking indoors, a cringe-y womanizer boss (Sven, serial husband and philanderer), skirts and heels at work. In some ways it felt like a Hepburn movie in this regard. There are also some offensive terms used to describe Black people by the only Black character in the story - and also one of the best. In some ways it felt like a Hepburn movie in this regard. What I loved about it was that it was reflective rather than active. It pretty much shares the thoughts of Jane Louise show more (now) Parker and her new husband Teddy as they get used to being married and making that the center of their lives. They are also negotiating some challenging family dynamics with divorced and re-married parents, step siblings, and societal expectations. Jane Louise works for a publisher as a cover artist and loves her job and the people she works with, even creepy Sven. She also loves Teddy and luckily is free to love them both. Another favorite part was her friendship with Edie - they complete each other's sentences and talk about 20 times a day (now it would be texting!) But she is on the cusp of 30 and feels like she and Teddy should start a family, but also is very anxious about that, as well as steady work - the publishing house might get bought out, Teddy is a chemist developing chemical-free pesticides. There is a lot of enjoyment of simple things in life: good friends, good food, beauty, music. And it is very much about identity - who you become when wife and mother get added to your job description. Colwin's prose is a thing of beauty: "Love did not always scatter the barriers of private life. Teddy's thoughts were only party accessible to her. How eccentric people were! How unknowable and amazingly various they were! People suffered, rejoiced, fought wars they never spoke about...they had past love lives and personal histories. They were positively rich with living." (42) While watching a meteor shower together: "This really was some big deal. Above her was the amazingness of outer space and meanwhile, she was a container for the miracle of inner space. The enormity of it made her tremble." (150) A good fit for fans of Marissa de los Santos. show less

The 80s by Laurie Colwin: all sexual harassment and anxiety disorders and so much class envy. She writes a nice sentence, and Janey and Edie's snarky banter is charming, but otherwise, ugh. I enjoyed the bits of vintage publishing detail -- apparently Bembo used to be hard to get -- but Jane Louise's neuroses felt like a weight I wanted to get out from under.

I didn't enjoy this one as much as Colwin's other novels I've read; the wit is sparkling as usual, but all the sexual harassment gets to be rather a bit much.

A couple, no longer young and both coming from unstable childhoods, find themselves married and contemplating parenthood. Told in Colwin's breezy prose, the novel represents the triumph of optimism and faith over the uncertainties of life. While it breaks no new ground from Colwin's early novels, it's a pleasant story with likable characters and wise observations.

I tried my best, I made it to page 197 and then I just couldn't take it any longer.

1/50