“No,” said Lila, “it's not really relevant to the story So we go back to the apartment
and I notice that he's not acting tired but he's not talking either, which is unusual
for Hy. If he's not tired, ... The shaking was”—she searched for a metaphor—”like
high speed on the blender. ... And it's no secret that I married to be comfortable.
Author: Paula Marantz Cohen
Publisher: St. Martin's Press
ISBN: 9781429902991
Category: Fiction
Page: 288
View: 139
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It is a truth universally acknowledged that a nice Jewish widower must be in want of a wife. Jane Austen centered her classic novels of manners around "three or four families in a country village." So does Paula Marantz Cohen in her novel, a witty twist on Pride and Prejudice--except this time, the "village" is Boca Raton, Florida. Eligible men, especially ones in possession of a good fortune and country club privileges, are scarce. When goodhearted meddler Carol Newman learns that the wealthy Norman Grafstein has lost his wife, she resolves to marry him off to her lonely mother-in-law, May. The novel charts the progress of May's love life as well as that of her two closest friends: the strong-minded former librarian Flo Kliman and the flamboyant Lila Katz. If there weren't confusion enough, Flo's great-niece Amy, a film student at NYU, suddenly arrives with a camera crew determined to get it all on tape. Will May and Norman eventually find happiness? Will Flo succumb to the charms of the suavely cosmopolitan Mel Shirmer? Will Amy's movie about them win an Academy Award--or at least a prize at the NYU student film competition? Complications and misunderstandings abound in this romantic and perceptive comedy of manners.