An odd little book about a woman who sees her life slide away, losing husband, kids, finances, home - and how her seeking of clean washrooms turned out...

It’s a book full of the understandable feelings of abandonment as life circumstances change, of the duplicity of friends who no longer want to be seen with you, of the grim reality of being alone in the middle of a huge city.

Jocelyn wields her Bryan Mawr education like a shield but not a very effective one, struggles to find her way, contemplates suicide.

What happens in the end? I’m actually not sure.

An interesting read and a good emotional discussion... ( )

When all's said and done, it's as fine a way to be passing your reading time, as your man, J.P. could devise. Mind, it'll take you two hours max to consume.

Synopsis: Jocelyn was raised to be a lady, so when her husband wanted a younger, prettier woman, she did not seek revenge, only a divorce. Without alimony, she quickly found out that she couldn't stay in her mansion in Scarsdale, New York. The money she makes from selling her house quickly evaporates when she entrusts it to an investment broker. She now finds herself with dwindling resources and no skills; she cannot get and keep a job. The bright spot in her life is going to art museums. Since her grandmother raised her to be a lady, she hunts for clean restrooms to use when she's away from home. One of her favorites is in an upscale funeral home. Unfortunately, she's used it often enough that she's afraid that the director has caught on and will tell her she is no longer welcome in this facility; to camouflage herself, she signs one of the remembrance books and goes in to sit with the corpse. She is alone in the room with the body for some time before she can sneak out and use the restroom. A few days later she is called to a lawyer's office, and although she is afraid she is going to be sued or arrested for some unknown crime, she is the sole beneficiary of the man who's book she signed. Completely befuddled with her good fortune, she goes home and contemplates suicide.
Review: The only reason the entire book wasn't one run-on sentence was because there were actually periods between words. The writing was annoying, and the character lost my empathy fairly quickly. Blah. ( )

Could have been *very* funny, but more profanity than I like. (Didn't finish...) ( )

The title of this novella by J. P. Donleavy, The lady who liked clean restrooms. The chronicle of one of the strangest stories ever to be rumoured about around New York gives an excellent indication of what to expect from this humourous, short work of fiction. Main character in the novel is a middle-aged woman, and if there is anything about a person in their name, then it must be in hers, as her full name is Jocelyn Guenevere Marchantiere Jones. As her character, it combines the high snobbishness with the ordinary.

Explaining more about the story might give it away. The lady who liked clean restrooms is a hilariously funny novella. ( )