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Tuesday, July 5, 2011

You've Read It Here: "Divorce Party" - A Good Summer Read

At the first take, Laura Dave's 2008 book The Divorce Party (Penguin Books) hardly seems like a perfect summer read - but mere titles can be deceiving. It's tight and easily written which fills one seasonal requirement. The other is that yes - Dave's tome is quite satisfying, so much so that it's just as possible the story will actually leave you better than before. After finishing it this morning, I can personally testify that it had just this same effect upon me.

Dave's novel follows the thread of two women one whom is about to be married and going to the groom's childhood home to meet his parents for the first time and a woman whose thirty-something year marriage has gone south. Everything comes to a head at a divorce party, which is planned by the elder to commemorate the last social event which will be held during a storm in the beautiful old Victorian family house in the Hamptons.

Having observed the closing of a similar life chapter in far more humble circumstances than Dave's characters in real time, I'll happily vouch for it's timeliness, depth and charm. Lastly, any author with such an able command of all three is worthy of a crisp salute and well worth an effort to explore. A+.

2 comments:

laura dave said...

A friend just pointed me to your review. Thank you so much for your kind words. I'm thrilled that you enjoyed!

warmly,
Laura

Lorraine Hart said...

A timely read indeed! How wonderful is it that you can write a review and receive a comment from the author!!

When a writer leaves enough room, in a crisply-told story, for a reader to feel their own journey; that's depth indeed.