Love the One You're With

Love the One You're With by Emily Giffin (2008), narrated by Kathleen McInerney

Ellen is married to a perfect man from a perfect family, the brother of her college best friend. Ellen is happy with Andy and with her budding career as a photographer. But one day on the streets of New York she runs into Leo, her ex-boyfriend, the one who got away. Leo is a journalist now and hooks Ellen up with a project-of-a-lifetime on which they work together. Even as Ellen and Andy decide to move to Atlanta to be near his family, she questions whether the life she chose is the one she should have.

As in her other novels, Giffin has created a likable protagonist who struggles with very real problems. The tone is light - this is chick lit after all - but her struggles are complex and potentially life-changing. What I always like about Giffin's novels is that they aren't predictable. I really did not know whether Ellen would end up leaving her husband or not. Part of this is because Giffin creates characters who are so realistic. There are no good guys or bad guys here. Leo and Andy are both good people and they both have flaws. Just like Ellen, her sister Suzanne, and her best friend Margo.

I love the audio versions of Giffin's novels because they are light enough to listen to on audio without missing a lot, but compelling enough to hold my interest. I recognized Kathleen McInerney from at least one other Emily Giffin audiobook, and I found her performance struck just the right tone for this first-person narrator.

I've read or listened to all of Emily Giffin's novels now (except the new one that came out just as I was listening to this one). While Love the One You're With maybe wasn't my favorite, it still compared favorably with her other books and made my daily commute much more enjoyable.

Where We Belong

Where We Belong by Emily Giffin (2012), narrated by Orlagh Cassidy

Marian is 36, a successful tv producer in New York, and has an equally successful boyfriend. But despite appearances, not all is perfect in her life. One night, after an especially strained conversation with her boyfriend about their relationship, her doorbell rings. Expecting it to be Peter, Marian is startled to find instead an 18-year-old girl she's never seen before. Except that she has....and now Marian's world is forever changed. I'll leave it at that, so as not to ruin the plot for you.

Chapters alternate between Marian and teenaged Kirby, two very different lives and very different perspectives. The characters were well developed and easy to visualize. Although I sympathized with Marian in the early parts of the book, I unexpectedly began to dislike her more and more as it went on. I have no idea if this is intentional or if I was just feeling especially judgmental. But it didn't matter because I really liked Kirby so much it more than made up for it. (And Marian gained much of my respect back in the end, so it's all good.)

Giffin has delivered another great story and although it was somewhat, but not entirely predictable, it was immensely satisfying. Unlike a lot of chick lit books, there was little romance. All the good stuff was in flashbacks, which didn't lessen the effect at all. But that's mostly not what it was about. It was more about the choices you make and have to live with, how they affect others, and the importance of honesty. I've consistently liked all of Giffin's books (I've read all but one so far); she's not afraid to tackle difficult problems, and she does a great job of capturing all the subtleties of real life. She doesn't tie it all up neatly in a bundle at the end, but still draws each story to a satisfying conclusion and leaves her characters irrevocably changed for the better.

I make a point to listen to Emily Giffin's books on audio if possible. They are just the sort of books I enjoy that way, and this one was no exception. Although there were a few times I thought she slipped into another character's voice a bit, the overall experience was satisfying. And! It turns out I've listened to this narrator before, more than once. I really need to start paying attention to these things. Orlagh Cassidy also narrated Beth Harbison's Thin Rich Pretty, which I KNOW I enjoyed way more than I would have if I had read it in print. Even more surprisingly, she was responsible for the beautiful performance of The Piano Teacher. I would never have guessed, since that voice was so British and classy-like. It also wasn't the sort of book I usually listen to on audio, and I loved it. This makes me feel better about my next audiobook choice, a crime novel which is coincidentally also narrated by Cassidy. She is just everywhere.

Audio or not, if you've liked Giffin's other books - or chick lit at all - then surely you will like Where We Belong. It's one of her best.

Baby Proof

Baby Proof by Emily Giffin (2006)

Claudia and Ben are the perfect couple - not only are they completely in love, but they both agree that they don't want to have children and each feels incredibly glad to have found a mate compatible in this most important way. Until one of them changes their mind. What do you do when the very foundation of your relationship suddenly changes? And how much are you willing to compromise for love? 

I am always a little skeptical of books about The Most Perfect True Love of All Time because I am nothing if not a cynic about romance, but then again this is chick lit and the ridiculousness of that genre is also what I love about it. Chick lit can be rather hit-or-miss, but I've listened to three of Emily Giffin's other books on audio, and liked them all. She is not only consistent, but has a talent for making you like characters who are doing things you strongly disapprove of. Particularly appealing about Emily Giffin's writing is that she adds minor characters who were major characters in other books. Here too, were two major players just mentioned off-handedly a couple of times (though one had a profound impact on the plot.) 

There are certain issues that I don't especially like reading about because I hold positions about which I feel, shall we say, a little sensitive. Not so much in real life, but just in books. Like, I'll talk about animal rights with people and feel totally comfortable, but I really put off reading Before You Know Kindness because I was afraid it would make me angry. So too with this book - I sort of dreaded it because of the main plot point. I am absolutely totally comfortable with being a child-free person and am fine talking to people about it, but nothing irks me more than a character in a book who is staunchly child-free until they realize that in fact they are just AFRAID of having children or have issues with their own mother and once they get past this they will totally change their minds and start producing offspring immediately. Obviously there are people for whom this is true, but can't there be a character who simply doesn't want to be a parent the way someone else simply doesn't want to be an accountant or an Evangelical Christian?

Anyhow (see how this kind of thing puts me on a tangent?) I am happy to report that as tense as I got during the course of this book, ultimately it did not make me angry. Say what you want about chick lit, but there are subtleties and nuances here that really do justice to an issue that could easily have been oversimplified. 

Somehow it wasn't quite as good as her other books that I've read, but it was still a good bit of fun. I'll definitely continue reading her stuff, though I'll probably go back to the audio since I've had such good experiences with her novels in that format. I do love some chick lit in the summertime.

Something Blue

Something Blue by Emily Giffin (2005)

(Spoiler alert! If you haven’t read Something Borrowed or seen the movie I am about to give away the ending!)

There may be nothing more satisfying than watching a shallow, self-centered, stuck-up woman get her comeuppance. We last left Emily Giffin’s cast of characters sorting out a love triangle that did not end well for Darcy Rhone. She found her fiance in his underwear in her best friend Rachel’s closet and, needless to say, the wedding was off.

Something Blue picks up soon after, with Darcy feeling as if everyone in her life has conspired to betray her. Never mind that Darcy was also cheating on Dex with his friend Marcus – that is obviously completely different! Having lost both her fiance and best friend, Darcy tries to move on making the most of her obviously doomed relationship with Marcus, at which point she accidentally gets pregnant.

Darcy has always had everything, and now she can’t even keep a guy she thought was beneath her, and she was pregnant to boot. The logical thing to do in this situation is of course to move to London without a work visa or viable plan, and stay with a friend who really doesn’t want her there. Darcy and Rachel’s mutual friend Ethan is a struggling writer living in a small flat in London, and clearly has little patience for Darcy’s drama and frivolity but grudgingly lets her come stay with him, and this is where the story really takes off.

Darcy is still shallow, self-centered and snobby (and the narrator in the audio version also made her sound whiny) and this book put me in the strange position of being inside the head of someone whose misery I was glad for. Darcy is incredibly demanding and annoying and deserved every bad thing that happened to her.

But it’s not quite that simple, thank goodness. As things go from bad to worse Darcy finally gets a wake-up call and realizes she needs to make some significant changes in her life if she doesn’t want to lose every friend she has, and she becomes much more tolerable from here on out.

For a new mother-to-be, Darcy spent remarkably little time thinking about her pregnancy and planning for motherhood, and a whole lot of time shopping and thinking about snagging her next boyfriend. But it is chick lit after all, and we are obliged to have some fun and shirk our responsibilities. Although it was a little too easy for Darcy to suddenly grow a conscience and turn her life around, I was relieved when she became a more sympathetic character. This isn’t a book to put much thought into since it just doesn’t go very deep, but it’s enjoyable for its surface appeal. I’ll probably grab another of Emily Giffin’s novels the next time I’m looking for an audiobook.

Heart of the Matter : a review

Heart of the Matter by Emily Giffin (2010)

What would you do if your husband cheated on you? Would you throw him out, or forgive him and try to patch up your relationship? This is the central question of this chick lit novel from the author of Something Borrowed, (soon to be released as a movie.) Tessa is married to pediatric plastic surgeon Nick, and lives in Wellesley, MA. Once a career woman, she gave it all up to stay at home with her kids, and is beginning to feel dissatisfied with her life. Her friends are of the Stepford Wife variety and she simultaneously likes and dislikes them, wants her kids to get into private school and opposes everything it stands for. Valerie is a single mom (and a successful corporate lawyer) in the same community. When her son Charlie is badly burned in an accident, Nick becomes his doctor and Valerie’s friend. Over the course of the novel their friendship escalates into something more.

The chapters alternated between Tessa and Valerie, Tessa’s chapters written in first person and Valerie’s in third. (Nick remained a mystery, which is appropriate since neither woman knew what the hell was going on in his head.) Unlike in most novels where there is spousal cheating, both Tessa and Valerie were likeable characters and I was unable to root for either of them at the expense of the over, nor was I able to predict the outcome. Tessa had a conversation about the cheating question with her friends early in the book, but of course it’s completely different when it is hypothetical. Tessa has spent a lot of time thinking about this topic because her father’s infidelity was the reason for her parents’ divorce. Late in the book she has a very interesting and influential conversation with her parents about this.

This certainly wasn’t a shopping-and-dating-and-drinking-martinis kind of chick lit book, but rather one that probes at a timeless issue with no easy answers. Comparing her situation to that of her mother and Eliot Spitzer’s wife, Tessa had to decide what to do in a situation in which the outcome of her life – and that of her children – would be forever affected. I thought it was handled fairly well and enjoyed the book the whole way through. As a sidenote, Tessa’s brother was Dex, a central character from Something Borrowed, which was a fun surprise, as were the allusions to Dex’s early relationship with his wife (and I won’t mention who that is, in the interest of not spoiling Something Borrowed for you).

I listened to the audio version on Playaway, my preferred audio format, while walking to and from work. I love chick lit on audio and, indeed, it seems to be the only genre I can handle in that format, but my library system sadly lacks playaways in this genre. Cynthia Nixon was a great narrator who managed to get the tone exactly right and make the voices different enough to recognize without making any of them sound fake. I really enjoyed listening to her read this book.

Something Borrowed : a review

Rachel has always been overshadowed by her friend Darcy. Darcy has always been the prettier one, the happier one, the bossier one, the one who got into the best college, got the ideal guy. Now she is engaged and Rachel is her maid of honor. But one drunken night just a few months before the wedding, Rachel sleeps with Darcy’s fiance, Dex. She decides to put it behind her and pretend it didn’t happen, but that is not so easy. Especially when Dex calls her and says he’s still thinking about her and wants to see her again…

This chick lit novel was fun and engaging, if not especially realistic. It was hard to understand why Rachel would ever want to be friends with someone like Darcy, even given their long history together, though she insisted that she valued their friendship. Dex began to lose his appeal as the story went on too, so I’m not entirely sure how I feel about the way it ended. But it was light and fun and kept my interest. I listened to the audio version and will probably listen to the next one too, as it was perfect for my walk home from work every day.

I listened to the book on playaway, which is a little MP3 player. My mind tends to wander a lot, so I struggle with audiobooks and tend to stick with very particular types of books: chick lit, young adult, and – for some odd reason – Anne Perry’s Victorian-era mysteries. The playaway is definitely my favorite format for audio now – no CDs to copy over to another device, nothing to download, and I can listen to it anywhere, easily. Just get the device from the library, add a battery if needed, and plug in my headphones. The only thing I don’t really like is the display. It counts down the time remaining in each chapter, so the clock is ticking backwards. This confuses me greatly when I’m trying to rewind or fast forward, so I try hard to not miss anything as I’m listening. Because it only counts down the current chapter I have no idea how far through the book I am, which is something I wish I didn't find so important. But that’s a minor quibble about something which is otherwise incredibly convenient. Do try them if you like audiobooks - I bet your library has them!