The Page Turner by Viola Shipman ~ my review

In The Page Turner, a novel by Viola Shipman, literary family, Phillip and Piper Page and young-adult daughters Jess and Emma, whip wits against each other—until they realize family loyalty is the only thing that will save them from ruin at the hands of a predatory villain. In the meantime, they argue with each other about the value of romance novels versus serious literature, the value of high society versus life’s simple pleasures, and their trust versus mistrust of various literary agents. Emma, especially, takes on her family over how women are portrayed in fiction, and the importance of protecting her grandmother’s literary legacy. Emma is repelled early-on by the oily contempt of eventually revealed villain, but it takes the rest of this novel for her to figure out why this slithering snake has the power to destroy her family.

 

Because the Page family are all in the publishing business, their arguments take readers inside today’s publishing practices and trends. I liked this aspect! Publishing details are sufficient to bore, however, if this is not an interest of yours. Another enjoyment for me was the setting. In the beginning of this novel, beach, bluffs, and lighthouse descriptions transported me to one of my all-time favorite places, South Haven, Michigan. Then on Page 60, I read: “These are sounds of a South Haven summer.” The Pages split their time between New York and Michigan, but whenever they were in Michigan, I felt right at home. Dialogue in The Page Turner is unrealistically clever, but being a word nerd, I decided to let the intelligentsia have their repartee while I simply relaxed and enjoyed the word play.

 

Eligible by Curtis Sittenfeld ~ my review

What an entertaining romp! Eligible, Curtis Sittenfeld’s modern retelling of Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice was mostly a delight to read. Yes, the Bennet family, Mr. and Mrs. and daughters, are alive and well and living mostly in Cincinnati. Mrs. B still fusses and cluelessly concocts superficial schemes to marry off her daughters. Mr. B continues to use dry wit to douse her schemes: “My dear,” said Mr. Bennet, “if a sock puppet with a trust fund and a Harvard medical degree moved here, you’d think he was meant to marry one of our girls.”

 

All five daughters with their romantic escapades and career challenges appear in the Eligible novel as well. As in Pride and Prejudice, however, the majority of the drama revolves around the oldest two: Liz and Jane.

 

Jane’s beau appears on a bachelor TV show called Eligible, and Liz’s Fitzwilliam Darcy is a neurosurgeon in Cincinnati. As in the Austen novel, Liz’s first impression of Darcy is arrogance, and the rest of the novel is the tension between them as she discovers her prejudice is due to her own pride.

 

Sittenfeld’s retelling of this classic is playful, sexy, fast-paced, and ultra-modern. Dialogue is crisp and loving, even when blunt. Toward the end of the novel, a few prolonged scenes, including out-of-control drunkenness, felt boring and unseemly for the character. But other than those scenes, I thoroughly enjoyed this novel. I found it hilarious. Its plot twists and humor surprised me at every turn.

 

I was not the kid who licked the knife

I was not the kid who licked the knife.

That’s not polite, my mother said.

When I lined up peas on the knife and

tilted it into my mouth, she did not laugh.

When I felt mushy-crisp pellets plop onto my tongue,

I laughed though. But then I obeyed.

And obeyed and obeyed and obeyed until

I got old. One day a dinner guest (gasp!)

licked her knife clean of chicken bits

and mashed potatoes.

Then she smacked her lips!

No embarrassment whatsoever.

I was embarrassed for her though.

Didn’t she know that’s not polite?

She came for dinner more often. Every time,

she licked her knife. I got to wishing I could

lick last buttery bits from

my knife, too. Why not? Not polite?

What isn’t polite is to

waste a chance for childlike play …

and peanut butter

just because it’s on your knife.

                                       ~ ju