Saturday, December 24, 2016

Class


Karen Kessler is a working mom in Brooklyn. She runs a non-profit, as does her husband. She deals with hunger, he with housing. Ruby their daughter is in elementary school and typifies that cute but spoiled winey voice that starts very young but the guilt ridden parents can’t quite squash it. They live in a hip neighborhood with an integrated school that thrilled them. At first. When a few behavior issues arise with children that may not have the supervision they need at home, Karen too quickly doubts her choices and second guesses her decision to live this bohemian life outside of the pricey private schools. With every parent she meets that switches to the less integrated version, Karen’s underlying jealousy lifts its ugly head. Deep deep down inside (it’s called the “truth”) Karen thinks she is not willing to sacrifice Ruby’s academic future or well-being socially to prove a point she is not even sure she is making anymore. At the same time this fortyish woman is questioning her relationship with her husband whom she is having a hard time identifying his good qualities. She is unquestioningly attracted to an old college friend’s success that she should not meet for another drink under the pretense he may be a donor to her non-profit. This fast paced, terrific story has one main underlying theme: Are we living as our true selves or who we would “like” that true self to be and is there a difference? Highly recommend this excellent read and look forward to more works by Lucinda Rosenfeld.

1 comment:

  1. I've had this on my 2017 watch list...glad to hear you liked it! May have to request a galley.

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