My Latest GrievanceMy Latest Grievance
Title rated 3.65 out of 5 stars, based on 33 ratings(33 ratings)
Book, 2006
Current format, Book, 2006, , No Longer Available.Chafing under the claustrophobic care of her liberal parents, Frederica Hatch finds her snug world transformed by Laura Lee French, a new college dorm mother who had once been married to Frederica's earnest and unglamorous father.
Chafing under the stifling and claustrophobic care of her liberal parents, Frederica Hatch finds her snug world transformed by Laura Lee French, a new college dorm mother and wannabe former Rockette who had once been married to Frederica's earnest and unglamorous father. By the author of The Inn at Lake Devine. 30,000 first printing.
Chafing under the care of "the most annoyingly evenhanded parental team in the history of civilization," Frederica is starting to feel that her life is stiflingly snug. Into this cozy world, comes Miss Laura Lee French - a wannabe former Rockette and the new dorm mother at the college where Frederica's parents teach and live. Laura Lee proves to be the enthralling and glamorous antithesis of the Hatches, whose passion for liberal political causes is all-consuming - even Frederica's Barbie dolls have been anatomically corected. Lipman turns this seemingly routine faculty hire into a catalyst for havoc and hilarity. For it happens that Miss French - in the distant past - was married to none other than Frederica's earnest and distinctly unglamorous father.
Almost nobody writes serious entertainment with more panache” than Elinor Lipman, wrote the Chicago Tribune. From her debut novel, Then She Found Me, which in the words of the Washington Post revived the art of screwball comedy for the newly dawned nineties,” to her most recent, best-selling The Pursuit of Alice Thrift, which the Philadelphia Weekly hailed as the most perfect piece of prose writing to come along in quite a while,” Elinor Lipman has set the gold standard by which other comic novelists are judged.
Now her pitch-perfect new novel, set in 1978, introduces us to the beguiling Frederica Hatch. Born and raised in the dormitory of a small women’s college, and chafing under the care of the most annoyingly evenhanded parental team in the history of civilization,” Frederica is starting to feel that her life is stiflingly snug. I had no intention of blending in. I wanted to be who I’d become, the Eloise of Dewing College, the full-time residential expert in an institution that others occupied only fleetingly.”
Into this cozy world comes Miss Laura Lee French a wannabe former Rockette and the new dorm mother at the college where Frederica’s parents teach and live. Laura Lee proves to be the enthralling and glamorous antithesis of the Hatches, whose passion for liberal political causes is all-consuming even Frederica’s Barbie dolls have been anatomically corrected. As Frederica says, The timing was excellent . . . Just as I was craving more attention, along came Laura Lee French, dorm mother without a day job, single, childless, and ultimately famous within our gates.”
Like an inspired alchemist” (New York Times Book Review), Lipman turns this seemingly routine faculty hire into a catalyst for havoc and hilarity. For it happens that Miss French in the distant past was married to none other than Frederica’s earnest and distinctly unglamorous father.
As in her previous novels, Lipman writes in a delicious style that is both funny and elegant” (USA Today), rendering serious subjects through a lens of humor and hope” (Boston Globe). The results? Vintage Elinor Lipman delightful, memorable, and touching.
Chafing under the stifling and claustrophobic care of her liberal parents, Frederica Hatch finds her snug world transformed by Laura Lee French, a new college dorm mother and wannabe former Rockette who had once been married to Frederica's earnest and unglamorous father. By the author of The Inn at Lake Devine. 30,000 first printing.
Chafing under the care of "the most annoyingly evenhanded parental team in the history of civilization," Frederica is starting to feel that her life is stiflingly snug. Into this cozy world, comes Miss Laura Lee French - a wannabe former Rockette and the new dorm mother at the college where Frederica's parents teach and live. Laura Lee proves to be the enthralling and glamorous antithesis of the Hatches, whose passion for liberal political causes is all-consuming - even Frederica's Barbie dolls have been anatomically corected. Lipman turns this seemingly routine faculty hire into a catalyst for havoc and hilarity. For it happens that Miss French - in the distant past - was married to none other than Frederica's earnest and distinctly unglamorous father.
Almost nobody writes serious entertainment with more panache” than Elinor Lipman, wrote the Chicago Tribune. From her debut novel, Then She Found Me, which in the words of the Washington Post revived the art of screwball comedy for the newly dawned nineties,” to her most recent, best-selling The Pursuit of Alice Thrift, which the Philadelphia Weekly hailed as the most perfect piece of prose writing to come along in quite a while,” Elinor Lipman has set the gold standard by which other comic novelists are judged.
Now her pitch-perfect new novel, set in 1978, introduces us to the beguiling Frederica Hatch. Born and raised in the dormitory of a small women’s college, and chafing under the care of the most annoyingly evenhanded parental team in the history of civilization,” Frederica is starting to feel that her life is stiflingly snug. I had no intention of blending in. I wanted to be who I’d become, the Eloise of Dewing College, the full-time residential expert in an institution that others occupied only fleetingly.”
Into this cozy world comes Miss Laura Lee French a wannabe former Rockette and the new dorm mother at the college where Frederica’s parents teach and live. Laura Lee proves to be the enthralling and glamorous antithesis of the Hatches, whose passion for liberal political causes is all-consuming even Frederica’s Barbie dolls have been anatomically corrected. As Frederica says, The timing was excellent . . . Just as I was craving more attention, along came Laura Lee French, dorm mother without a day job, single, childless, and ultimately famous within our gates.”
Like an inspired alchemist” (New York Times Book Review), Lipman turns this seemingly routine faculty hire into a catalyst for havoc and hilarity. For it happens that Miss French in the distant past was married to none other than Frederica’s earnest and distinctly unglamorous father.
As in her previous novels, Lipman writes in a delicious style that is both funny and elegant” (USA Today), rendering serious subjects through a lens of humor and hope” (Boston Globe). The results? Vintage Elinor Lipman delightful, memorable, and touching.
Title availability
Find this title on
MeLCatAbout
Details
Publication
- Boston : Houghton Mifflin, 2006.
Opinion
More from the community
Community lists featuring this title
There are no community lists featuring this title
Community contributions
There are no quotations from this title
There are no quotations from this title
From the community