Product Description
From a thrillingly talented 28-year-old newcomer - the Anne Tyler for a new generation, yet with a distinctive voice and quirky sensibility all of her own - comes a contemporary novel that brings to life a few of the 'good people of New York' and renders them in all their neurotic glory. When Roz Rosenzweig, self-described spitfire and loud n' proud New York Jew, meets Edwin Anderson at a party in the 1970s in her friend's Manhatten apartment, she has trouble believing that the earnest and soft-spoken Nebraskan is for real. But Roz is quickly attracted to Edwin and is more happy than stunned when their improbable courtship results in marriage. The unexpected good fortune of Roz and Edwin is punctuated with the birth of their daughter Miranda; and yet, as Miranda grows, it becomes clear that Roz's love for her is so fierce, so protective and so singularly focused that it might crowd out anything else in her life - including her marriage. The ties that bind Roz and her daughter together threaten to strangle Miranda as she enters her teenage years, and yet the eccentric group of friends they attract, their powerful love for one another, and the brilliant sense of humour that runs in the family, allow Roz and Miranda - along with Edwin, who remains in their lives - to somehow stay sane, even as they fight one another for room to grow. In this luminous first novel from the author of an acclaimed short story collection ("Out Of the Girls' Room" and "Into the Night") Thisbe Nissen proves that hers is one of the most genuinely charming, witty and accomplished literary voices to emerge in quite some time.
--This text refers to an alternate
Paperback
edition.
From the Back Cover
With wonderfully eccentric characters this debut novel about the lives of New Yorkers, penned by a true native, is a great read' OK Magazine
When Roz Rosenzweig, a bright, brash and impulsive New York Jew, meets Edwin Anderson at a party in the 1970s she has trouble believing that the soft-spoken Nebraskan is for real, but is more happy than stunned when their improbable courtship results in marriage. But when their daughter Miranda is born, Roz's love for her is so fierce that it risks crowding out anything else, even her husband.
The ties that bind Roz and Miranda threaten to strangle the growing teenager, and yet their comedic chemistry is also a great attractor - drawing to them a wonderful, eccentric, and constantly changing cast of characters who enter Roz and Miranda's universe at their own risk, with both unhappy and hilarious results.
'A phenomenal debut from a talented young writer' Booklist
'Nissen's descriptions of life in New York in the '70s and '80s are spot-on...Astute characterizations and smart, snappy dialogue anchor an honest, funny portrayal of an inevitably heartbreaking but loving relationship' Publishers Weekly
'Her sense of humour is wonderful...You feel you've lived with her characters and grown up alongside them' Ann Beattie
--This text refers to an alternate
Paperback
edition.
