Synopses & Reviews
Two sisters recover from widowhood, divorce, and Bernie Madoff as unexpected roommates in a Manhattan apartment Unexpectedly widowed Gwen-Laura Schmidt is still mourning her husband, Edwin, when her older sister Margot invites her to join forces as roommates in Margots luxurious Village apartment. For Margot, divorced amid scandal (hint: her husband was a fertility doctor) and then made Ponzi-poor, its a chance to shake Gwen out of her grief and help make ends meet. To further this effort she enlists a third boarder, the handsome, cupcake-baking Anthony.
As the three swap money-making schemes and timid Gwen ventures back out into the dating world, the arrival of Margots paroled ex in the efficiency apartment downstairs creates not just complications but the chance for all sorts of unexpected forgiveness. A sister story about love, loneliness, and new life in middle age, this is a cracklingly witty, deeply sweet novel from one of our finest comic writers.
“Her worldview? Her enthusiasm, her effortless wit? Just a few of the reasons we love Elinor Lipman.”-Boston Globe
Review
"More delicious than my cup of steaming cocoa…tender, funny…
The View from Penthouse B sparkles with wit." —
The New York Times Book Review "It's all wonderful fun. Lipman sketches her characters' foibles with amused affection and moves the plot forward with practiced ease…Lipman's fiction always honors an implicit contract to provide reader satisfaction." —Washington Post
"Sophisticated…Lipman dramatizes Gwen-Laura's dating with her usual tact and dry humor." —Wall Street Journal
"[A] shabby-chic fantasia…Lipman's milieu is gentle comedy, and her novels gravitate toward optimism: They're mischievous, sometimes wry, but hopeful of romance and redemption even in an emotionally messy world." —The Boston Globe
"A sly comedy of modern manners." —The Miami Herald
"Winning and often wildly funny…This novel, in fact, disappears faster than a red-velvet cupcake, even when you try to read more slowly because the diminishing number of pages means you're unfortunately getting closer to the acknowledgments." —The Seattle Times
"The View from Penthouse B mixes sisters, online dating, and Bernie Madoff's victims into a witty confection." —Parade
Review
“Kallos’s earlier novels, Broken for You (2004) and Sing Them Home (2009), have been widely praised, and her third deserves all of those kudos and more. This novel, masterfully plotted and written, is a wondrously beautiful story of love and loss, offering hope in the face of the harshest reality.” — Booklist, starred review
“Touchingly humane and impressive in scope . . . A voluminous novel exploring words and expression, parenting and letting go.” — Kirkus Reviews
“For me, it would be plenty if a novel was deeply felt, utterly absorbing, and full of wit. But in Language Arts, Stephanie Kallos goes further, throwing in a doozy of a twist that had me going back to page one to understand how she pulled off such dazzling sleight of hand. An all-around delight.” — Maria Semple, best-selling author of Where’d You Go, Bernadette?
“Language Arts was like yoga for my heart—my sentiments were stretched and strengthened, my imagination challenged and contorted, and when I finished, I felt grateful for this beautifully honest, lyrical journey. I loved this book.” — Jamie Ford, best-selling author of Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet
Synopsis
Two sisters recover from widowhood, divorce, and Bernie Madoff as unexpected roommates in a Manhattan apartment in the latest from Elinor Lipman, "the last urbane romantic" (Julia Glass).
Synopsis
"I love Ms. Kallos's work so much." --Anne Lamott, best-selling author of Grace (Eventually)
"For me, it would be plenty if a novel was deeply felt, utterly absorbing, and full of wit. But in Language Arts, Stephanie Kallos goes further, throwing in a doozy of a twist that had me going back to page one to understand how she pulled off such dazzling sleight of hand. An all-around delight." --Maria Semple, author of Where'd You Go, Bernadette?
Charles Marlow teaches his high school English students that language will expand their worlds. But linguistic precision cannot help him connect with his autistic son, his ex-wife, or his college-bound daughter, who has just flown the nest. He's at the end of a road he's traveled on autopilot for years when a series of events forces him to think back on the lifetime of decisions and indecisions that have brought him to this point. With the help of an ambitious art student, an Italian-speaking nun, and the memory of a boy in a white suit who inscribed his childhood with both solace and sorrow, Charles may finally be able to rewrite the script of his life.
From the best-selling author of Broken for You, Language Arts is an affecting tale of love, loss, and language--its powers and its perils.
" A] beautifully written, harrowing novel . . . Her vivid descriptions create a cast of memorable characters. She also delivers a huge shocker of a plot twist, one that may send you back to the beginning of the book as you wonder how this development could be possible." --Seattle Times
Synopsis
A novel that is "utterly absorbing, and full of wit with] a doozy of a twist . . . An all-around delight" (Maria Semple, author of Where'd You Go, Bernadette?).
Charles Marlow teaches his high school English students that language will expand their worlds. But linguistic precision cannot help him connect with his autistic son, his ex-wife, or his college-bound daughter, who has just flown the nest. He's at the end of a road he's traveled on autopilot for years when a series of events forces him to think back on the lifetime of decisions and indecisions that have brought him to this point.
With the help of an ambitious art student, an Italian-speaking nun, and the memory of a boy in a white suit who inscribed his childhood with both solace and sorrow, Charles may finally be able to rewrite the script of his life.
From the national-bestselling author of Broken for You, Language Arts is an affecting tale of love, loss, and language--its powers and its perils.
Synopsis
The new novel from the best-selling author of Broken for You spins the stories of a dedicated teacher, his enigmatic son, and a wartime survivor into an affecting tale of love, loss, and handwriting.
About the Author
ELINOR LIPMAN is the author of ten novels, including The View from Penthouse B and The Inn at Lake Devine; one essay collection, I Cant Complain; and Tweet Land of Liberty: Irreverent Rhymes from the Political Circus. She lives in Massachusetts and New York City.