I've included all of the covers of this book, because I approached it with trepidation and part of the reason was the cover. The cover I had was the one on he left - woman in a green dress. Bit wet, no? I actually really love the second cover, featuring the New York brownstone, but in the book they live in an entirely different style of building (one with a doorman and an awning). Anyway, enough about the covers (except... which is your favourite?).
My other reasons for trepidation were a) that I had Elizabeth Noble's The Reading Group (which I haven't read) mixed up with Karen Joy Fowler's The Jane Austen Book Club (which I have read and didn't like). I also read some mixed reviews on Amazon including a giant spoiler. So that'll teach me (it won't).
The book is about a group of very different people all living in an apartment block on the Upper East Side of Manhattan. English Eve Gallagher has moved there with her husband because of his job. She knows no-one and is having trouble settling in. Also English, but much older, Violet's lived in the building for years. Jason and his wife are having problems, not least because of his enormous crush on Rachael next door, who seems to have the perfect life. There's also blue-blooded Trip, who falls fast for super-fit Emily and romance novel-addicted Charlotte. And you know their lives are going to intertwine, etc.
If you're thinking of Marian Keyes's The Brightest Star in the Sky or Lisa Jewell's 31 Dream Street, you wouldn't be far wrong. I really enjoyed it. I loved all of the characters and the descriptions of New York. The relationship between Jason and his wife Kim was brilliantly drawn, I thought, and I found it very emotional reading. It's a curl up with a cup of tea book, so it was a perfect read while we were snowed in. I'll definitely be reading more Elizabeth Noble.
I like the brownstone cover the best.
Posted by: Stella | 18 January 2010 at 06:42 PM
I loved this one too, nobody does a "weepy" liek Elizabeth Noble!
Posted by: Chloe @ chicklitreviews | 23 January 2010 at 08:34 PM