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More copies of this ISBNThis title in other editionseBook editionsOther titles in the William Abrahams Book series:Le Divorceby Diane Johnson
AwardsNational Book Award Finalist
Synopses & ReviewsPublisher Comments:Imagine the heroine of Henry James's The Portrait of a Lady sporting a stylish haircut, miniskirt, and sunglasses, and you have Isabel Walker, the irresistible heroine of Diane Johnson's incandescent novel.
Le Divorce follows this smart, sexy American abroad as she arrives in Paris to visit her stepsister Roxy, a poet whose marriage into an aristocratic French family has assured her of a coveted place in Parisian society. But all is not as it should be in the Persand household: Roxy's husband has just left her for the Czechoslovakian wife of an American lawyer. Could "le divorce" be far behind? Here is the bestselling novel hailed by critics and readers alike — a delightful comedy of manners and morals, money, marriage, and murder, as wickedly funny as it is deeply insightful. As lingering as a French kiss, Le Divorce is Diane Johnson at her most sublime. Review:"[A] delightfully urbane social tragicomedy....Johnson's control of her material is impeccable. The world of American expatriates is fertile territory for her ironic wit, which is both subtle and sharp. Everything here delights the reader..." Publishers Weekly Review:"An excellently observed social and moral comedy....Diane Johnson treads — very consciously and cleverly — across the ancient and hallowed turf of the 'international novel'...a fresh burst of wonder." The New York Times Book Review Review:"A modern collision of French and American mores begins in near farce but ends in tragedy in Johnson's bright, unsparing novel....A shrewd, carefully detailed portrait of the ways in which Americans and the French continue to romanticize, denigrate, and misapprehend each other, contained in a well-paced, believably dramatic narrative." Kirkus Reviews Review:"It's hard to sympathize with any of the heartless characters profiled in this complex morality tale, in which everyone is, to some degree, corrupt. Nonetheless, Johnson seems to be having a great deal of nasty fun satirizing both American and French cultures....Cold and clever." Joanne Wilkinson, Booklist Review:"Le Divorce is thick with frank observation...of the kind that illuminates all of [Johnson's] work, and it lifts the novel high above those of most other mid-career American writers....She's a treat to read....Le Divorce is a banquet marred only by its final course — a hasty and overblown ending that feels as if it belongs to an entirely different book. No matter. We're too busy digesting what's come before to be bothered by a final jolt of strangely spun sugar." Dwight Garner, Salon.com Review:"A thoroughly modern comedy of Americans in Paris....Alluring...deftly composed." Boston Sunday Globe Review:"Delightful....A tasty feast Ms. Johnson surely had fun cooking up. She knows Paris from gutter to rooftop; she knows the natives as well as she knows the cozy community of expat Americans....[A] highly entertaining culture clash." New York Observer Review:"Social comedy at its best." Los Angeles Times Book Review Review:"Witty and compelling." The New Yorker Review:"Diverting....Diane Johnson [has a] deft comic touch." The Wall Street Journal Review:"An entertaining mix of circumstance....Diane Johnson is a smart and skillful novelist." The Washington Post Synopsis:In the grand tradition of Edith Wharton, "Le Divorce" delightfully recounts the adventures of two sisters from California who make a modern pilgrimage to Paris, the City of Light. "Sexy, graceful, and funny".--"New York Review of Books". Synopsis:Soon to be a major motion picture from Merchant Ivory productions starring Naomi Watts and Kate Hudson! Called "stylish...refreshing...genuinely wise" by The New York Times Book Review, Diane Johnson’s Le Divorce has delighted readers since its publication in 1997. This delightful comedy of manners and morals, money, marriage, and murder follows smart, sexy, and impeccably dressed American Isabel Walker as she lands in Paris to visit her stepsister Roxy, a poet whose marriage to an aristocratic French painter has assured her a coveted place in Parisian society...until her husband leaves her for the wife of an American lawyer. Could "le divorce" be far behind? Can irrepressible Isabel keep her perspective (and her love life) intact as cultures and human passions collide? "Social comedy at its best" (Los Angeles Times Book Review), Le Divorce is Diane Johnson at her most scintillating and sublime. About the AuthorDiane Johnson is the author of twelve books and is a two-time finalist for both the Pulitzer Prize (Persian Nights for fiction; Terrorists and Novelists for nonfiction) and the National Book Award (Lying Low for fiction; Lesser Lives for biography). She divides her time between San Francisco and Paris. What Our Readers Are SayingBe the first to add a comment for a chance to win!Product Details
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Related SubjectsFiction and Poetry » Literature » A to Z Fiction and Poetry » Romance » General
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