Afbeelding van de auteur.

Ellen Meister

Auteur van Farewell, Dorothy Parker

12 Werken 763 Leden 106 Besprekingen Favoriet van 1 leden

Over de Auteur

Bevat de naam: Ellen Meister (Author)

Fotografie: Hy Goldberg, Visions Photography

Werken van Ellen Meister

Farewell, Dorothy Parker (2013) 236 exemplaren
The Other Life (2011) 188 exemplaren
Dorothy Parker Drank Here (1605) 84 exemplaren
The Smart One (2008) 62 exemplaren
Love Sold Separately: A Novel (2020) 36 exemplaren
The Wishing Cake (2012) 17 exemplaren
The Rooftop Party: A Novel (2021) 17 exemplaren
Take My Husband: A Novel (2022) 17 exemplaren

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Not bad. Nothing terribly profound or intricate, but relatively interesting even if somewhat predictable. The Dorothy Parker character is colourful, even if the idea of the poltergeist somewhat idealistic and convenient. The main characters have enough depth, though Nora was more naive or single-sighted than I would have liked. the book kept my attention well enough for what it is.
 
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LDVoorberg | 16 andere besprekingen | Dec 24, 2023 |
This novel provides a heart-warming story enlivened with witticisms from the ghost of Dorothy Parker. The main character, a shrinking violet movie critic, picks up a book at the Algonquin that unleashes the ghost of Dorothy Parker who then begins to get involved in Violet's life. The idea is clever and well-executed. The flow of the book is also noteworthy. Although I was afraid it would be just a form of chick lit, I found myself enjoying the book.
 
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M_Clark | 42 andere besprekingen | Apr 18, 2023 |
Note: I received a digital review copy of this book from the publisher through NetGalley.
 
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fernandie | 1 andere bespreking | Sep 15, 2022 |
Author Ellen Meister set out to wanted to write a book about "a happily married woman who wants to kill her husband" and was assured by her agent that it would be "relatable to nearly anyone who lived through the pandemic in close quarters with a significant other." Indeed, it is. For decades to come, sociologists will be studying the various ways in which COVID-19 lockdowns impacted individuals and families. Some couples, accustomed to spending most of their waking hours apart, found, when forced to remain at home together for days and days, that they were fundamentally incompatible. Others discovered they no longer had shared goals or dreams. Meister spent the lockdown with her husband and their three twenty-something children who were suddenly home all the time and by writing the book, she "worked out some demons!"

There is no mention of the pandemic in Take My Husband. Rather, fifty-two-year-old Laurel Applebaum is working at the local Trader's Joe because two years ago the toy and novelty store that her husband, Doug, took over from his father, failed. Since then, Doug has been unemployed, insisting that he can only accept a management position, in part because his bad back precludes him from working, as Laurel does, as a cashier or salesperson. He took out a second mortgage on their home in an effort to save the failing business and, since Laurel's income is insufficient to pay all of their bills, they are gradually draining their savings each month in order to make ends meet. Even so, Doug is not motivated to engage in a focused job search. And, understandably, Laurel resents it.

Doug does have health problems, including hypertension, diabetes, high cholesterol, and obesity. He also suffers from learned helplessness and complete dependence upon Laurel who, throughout their nearly thirty-year marriage, has babied and doted on him. Every morning, she retrieves the daily newspaper from the front porch and prepares Doug's breakfast before leaving for work. Doug lends no assistance with housekeeping or meal preparation, often calling or texting Laurel during the day requesting that she bring home his favorite junk foods. Laurel indulges him. She ensures that he remembers his medical appointments and even sorts all of his medications and supplements into the daily compartments of a weekly pill dispenser so that Doug can plop them into his mouth without even looking at them, much less taking any responsibility for his own well-being. Although they share a bed, they have not had an intimate relationship for several years. Laurel is an attractive woman, carrying just a few extra pounds, but she has ceased taking care of herself, deeming trips to the salon to camouflage the grey that now streaks her hair too expensive.

Their adult son, Evan, and his wife, Samara, are expecting their first child and there is nothing in the world Laurel wants more than to be present for the birth of her first grandchild. Samara is having a difficult pregnancy and may require a Caesarian section, so Laurel wants to spend time with them in their Los Angeles home, helping the new parents and getting to know her grandchild. Doug steadfastly insists they cannot afford to charge the cost of the flight on their credit card.

Laurel also cares for her mother, Joan, who suffers from anxiety and agoraphobia. Since Joan's marriage to Laurel's father dissolved in the 1980’s, she has been obsessed with collecting dolls. Her home is filled with them and she continues acquiring more. She only feels safe at home where she is surrounded by those midcentury, molded plastic figures, and depends on Laurel to deliver her groceries each week. Laurel longs to coax her mother out of the house for a nice lunch.

Laurel is frustrated, depressed, and inwardly seething about her circumstances, but she does not share her feelings with Doug or voice her own needs. Instead, she capitulates to his demands. Her best friend, Monica, has repeatedly encouraged her to "speak up," unable to appreciate why Laurel finds it so hard to do so. She once harshly called Laurel a cipher -- "one having no influence or value; a nonentity." But Laurel knows Monica is right.

And then with one phone call, something inside Laurel snaps. She is informed that Doug has been in a motor vehicle accident, but is provided no details about his condition. She immediately thinks the worst has happened and instantly blames herself for not realizing sooner how much she really loves her husband. En route to the hospital, she convinces herself that Doug is most certainly dead. And remembers that his life insurance policy has a value of $850,000 -- more than enough to solve all of their financial problems and permit her to buy a home of her own and decorate it in colors she loves. Without having to worry about Doug’s allergy, she can finally adopt the dog she has always wanted, quit her job at Trader Joe's, spend more time with her mother, go to Los Angeles for the birth of her grandchild and, most importantly, be free from all of the duties, obligations, and resentments that have weighed her down for too long. Laurel convinces herself that Doug's tragic death is the perfect solution to all of her problems.

But Laurel is disappointed when she arrives at the hospital to find Doug has a bruised forehead and minor concussion from which he will quickly recover. Still, the dream of transforming her life does not dissipate, especially when she is spurred on by her friend and coworker, Charlie Webb, a widower in his seventies who regales her with ridiculous knock-knock jokes. He correctly guesses that Laurel was dismayed to find Charlie did not perish in the accident, and assures her that she is definitely not a terrible person. She is, rather, “an unhappy person” who does not "have to take such good care of" Doug. He insists it is time for her to "stop martyring yourself. Doug is a grown man. If he values his life, let him take some responsibility for it. And if not, well . . . you'll get the freedom you've earned."

Laurel and Charlie begin conspiring to bring about Doug's death, considering various modalities including withholding his high blood pressure medication, plying him with all of the unhealthy foods he craves, and even releasing mice in the basement of their home so that Doug with contract the incurable hantavirus if she can convince him to clean out the space. Laurel even lets Doug believe she is in love with another man to spur his irrational jealousy and feelings of rejection and drive him to take his own life. They scuttle that plan when Charlie convinces Laurel that life insurance policies contain an exclusion for suicide which will prevent her from collecting the proceeds.

Laurel is a sympathetic character. She assumed a defined role within her marriage nearly three decades ago, and was content when Doug was a successful business owner and she worked part-time at the family store while raising Evan. But, as so often happens, when the couple’s life style changed as a result of financial and other stressors, Laurel’s increasing discontent with her marriage grew exponentially. Now it has reached the breaking point that launched her into fantasizing about extricating herself . . . by eliminating Doug from her life. Laurel is absolutely convinced that Doug is devoted to her and would never be unfaithful, much less leave her. And that is a big part of the problem. Lacking the power to voice her concerns, and advocate for her own happiness and desires, she has established a pattern of swallowing her feelings. Now they are manifesting in the form of perverse, dangerous, but hilariously outlandish schemes.

Could she actually bring about Doug's death? Although she is fifty-two years old, Laurel is, in some respects, naive and trusting, except when it comes to Doug's overbearing, meddling, and overly protective sister, Abby. She tells herself repeatedly that she lacks the capacity to be a murderer, yet she goes along with Charlie's suggestions, confiding in him and leaning on him for unconditional support and assistance. Both Monica and her mother warn her that Charlie's feelings for her go beyond friendship and camaraderie. But Laurel sees him only as a lonely older widower with a big heart. Who is right?

Meister wisely recognized that story would not work unless her readers failed to “relate to Laurel and understand exactly why she snapped.” And to understand the depth of and reasons for Laurel’s distress, readers must get to know Doug. He is spoiled, self-centered, and unfocused. But he is very much the “monster” that Laurel, and his sister, Abby, created. Meister cleverly portrays him as a man who has arrived at a juncture in his life he never anticipated and for which he is unprepared. As the story progresses, it becomes clear that he is also unhappy and depressed, for reasons that mostly differ from Laurel’s. And he lacks the skills requisite to managing his own life, in part because he has never had to do so. He has been cajoled and placated so long he does not know how to fight for what he really wants. But he plainly loves Laurel – in his own way – and his fear of losing her is actually one of the things that both attracts and repels her, trapping them in a dance of codependence that many readers will recognize.

Ironically, the various means Laurel employs to resolve her problems have unintended results. And that’s the real strength of Meister’s surprising and surprisingly moving tale. For all of their faults, readers will find themselves cheering for both Laurel and Doug, hoping they can find happiness – together or apart – and extricate themselves from the emotional tug-of-war in which they are enmeshed. Neither of them is a villain. Rather, they are simply flawed human beings and Laurel’s outrageous scheming is an attempt to escape from pain – much of which is self-inflicted due to a lack of confidence and self-worth – that has become utterly unbearable.

Take My Husband succeeds because it is engrossing and entertaining. The story is punctuated by extremely dark, gallows humor and crisp, witty dialogue, as well as a cast of eccentric supporting characters that includes Joan, Monica, and Eleanor and Bob, about whom the less revealed the better. Charlie injects a dash of mystery and intrigue as Meister deftly brings his motives into question, and Luke is the sweet customer with whom Laurel shares a flirtation that helps bring her back to a much-improved version of her real self.

Take My Husband is also a slyly thought-provoking meditation on marriage, expectations, and complacency. And the importance of communication in any relationship, but especially an intimate partnership. Meister hopes that readers appreciate, by getting to know Laurel and Doug, and examining their relationship, how important it is to, as Monica urges Laurel, "speak up." “Your needs and desires are just as important as your partner’s,” Meister observes. “A good relationship cannot be based on the subjugation of one person’s needs for another’s.” If Laurel and Doug can figure that out, will they live happily ever after? Reading Take My Husband to find out is a delightful and emotionally satisfying experience.

Thanks to NetGalley for an Advance Reader's Copy of the book.
… (meer)
 
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JHSColloquium | 1 andere bespreking | Aug 31, 2022 |

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Statistieken

Werken
12
Leden
763
Populariteit
#33,346
Waardering
½ 3.5
Besprekingen
106
ISBNs
55
Talen
1
Favoriet
1

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