Friday Focus: The Friday 56 and Book Beginnings #3

 

 It's Friday . . . time to share excerpts from one of my current reads with:

Book Beginnings on Fridays hosted by Rose City Reader, where bloggers share the first sentence or more of a current read, as well as initial thoughts about the sentence(s), impressions of the book, or anything else that the opening inspires.

The Friday 56 hosted by Freda's Voice, where you grab a book and turn to page 56 (or 56% of an ebook), find one or more interesting sentences (no spoilers), and post them.

 

This week's selection:

 

 The View from Penthouse B by Elinor Lipman

 

Beginning:

1

Fort Necessity

 

Since Edwin died, I have lived with my sister Margot in the Batavia, an Art Deco apartment building on beautiful West Tenth Street in Greenwich Village.  This arrangement has made a great deal of sense for us both: I lost my husband without warning, and Margot lost her entire life savings to the Ponzi schemer whose name we dare not speak.

 

This opening paragraph makes me curious about what the future holds for these down-on-their luck sisters.  Can they overcome grief and financial hardship to put their lives back together again?  I eagerly read on, taking up residence in one of my favorite New York City neighborhoods.

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Page 56:

"Anthony and I literally wrestle the phone from Margot's hand to keep her from calling Lenore and escalating the battle.  We pour her a drink and we agree: mean.  So mean."

   

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Overview from barnesandnoble.com:

Unexpectedly widowed Gwen-Laura Schmidt is still mourning her husband when her sister Margot invites her to join forces as roommates in Margot's luxurious Village apartment. For Margot, divorced amid scandal, then made Ponzi-poor, it's 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 Anthony. As the three swap money-making schemes and Gwen ventures back out into the dating world, the arrival of Margot's paroled ex in the 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. 

 

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One of the highlights of BEA this year was meeting Elinor Lipman and getting signed copies of The View from Penthouse B and I Can't Complain: (All Too) Personal Essays.  Ms. Lipman was genuinely friendly, and took several moments to chat individually with each person in line as she signed books.  It's no wonder that she is such a popular author.

 

Enjoy life with books...

Catherine

Follow me on Twitter: @bookclubreader

Friday Focus: The Friday 56 and Book Beginnings #3 was originally published by Catherine for bookclublibrarian.com. This post cannot be republished without attribution.