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Elinor Lipman - The View from Penthouse B: Not my favorite by a long shot (too far-fetched and too trite at once). #cursorybookreviews #cursoryreviews ( )

Digital audiobook performed by Mia Barron
3.5***

Gwen-Laura Schmidt was unexpectedly widowed when her beloved husband suffered a massive heart attack. Her older sister, Margot, invites her to move into Margot’s luxurious Greenwich Village apartment. Margot was divorced amid scandal and then lost her money to a Ponzi scheme, so this is a chance not only to help her sister in her grief, but to make ends meet. Margot also takes in another boarder – handsome, loves-to-bake, Anthony.

What a charming comedy of manners, reminiscent of Jane Austen, but updated to the 21st century. The scenarios and the characters are believable and relatable. Their dialogue sparkles. I love how they support and encourage one another through thick and thin. And trust me, there’s considerable thin here. And many complications relationship wise. But all these plot twists are handled with grace and humor and compassion and delight. I want to be friends with these people … all of them. I want to have dinner with them on a Wednesday night and hear about their adventures and what they think about the latest political scandal, and whose kid got into a good school, and what they’re reading lately, and whose sister is getting divorced.

Mia Barron does a fine job of narrating the audiobook. There are a lot of characters to handle and she’s up to the task. ( )

I always like Elinor Lipman, even when they're just fun and light. Maybe because she is funny but never mean or snarky, or because she doesn't try too hard. They're well done, and after reading one I feel as if I had just the right amount of dessert--never too much (or god forbid, none!).

Really, it deserves a 3.5. Goodreads, can you please add half stars????? ( )

I recently criticized a book because it had no plot; and this one doesn't really have much of a plot either but I liked it much better. The characters were quirky and endearing. The down-but-not-out residents of Penthouse B include owner Margo, who after her divorce from a wealthy gynecologist, had lost all her money to Bernie Madoff; her recently widowed sister Gwen; and Tony, a gay, unemployed Wall Street type.

These three move in together to share expenses and put their lives back together. I didn't catch on that the book was supposed to be a memoir about two years in the life of Gwen, from whose point of view the story was told. Maybe, that was meant to be a surprise at the end. It's not a quick-moving or especially memorable story, but I really enjoyed it. ( )

current day NYC — widow + her divorced sister team up to live — learn how to approach things differently — Ok — Easy Read

Unexpectedly widowed Gwen-Laura Schmidt is still mourning her husband, Edwin, when her older sister Margot invites her to join forces as roommates in Margot’s luxurious Village apartment. For Margot, divorced amid scandal (hint: her husband was a fertility doctor) and then made Ponzi-poor, it’s a chance to shake Gwen out of her grief and help make ends meet. To further this effort she enlists a third boarder, the handsome, cupcake-baking Anthony.