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Please note: I was given an e-copy of this book by NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. This is no way influences my opinions for this review.
Synopsis (From GoodReads):
The morning of her niece’s wedding, Margo Just drinks a double martini and contemplates the many mistakes she’s made in her fifty-odd years of life. Spending three decades in love with a wonderful but unattainable man is pretty high up on her list of missteps, as is a long line of unsuccessful love affairs accompanied by a seemingly endless supply of delicious cocktails.When the young bride flees—taking with her a family heirloom and leaving behind six hundred bewildered guests—her mother offers Margo fifty grand to retrieve her spoiled brat of a daughter and the invaluable property she stole. So, together with the bride’s jilted and justifiably crabby fiancé, Margo sets out in a borrowed 1955 red MG on a cross-country chase. Along the way, none of what she discovers will be quite what she expected. But it might be exactly what she’s been seeking all along.
Review:
Reading books can be a hit or miss proposition. Lately, I have read several books that I wasn't overly fond of. Add this to the stress of this time of year, and I was getting burnt out. I needed a fun book to remind me that reading is supposed to be entertaining. I found that book when I got approved to read The Bette Davis Club from NetGalley. It is fun, fast-paced, and fabulous!The fun begins as Margo attends the wedding of her nineteen year-old niece, Georgia, to a much older, nerdy fellow named Tully. Margo's movie producer, half-sister, Charlotte, is in a panic because the bride has gone missing (and taken several valuable items with her). Charlotte hires Margo to bring Georgia (and the stolen items) back to Malibu. Margo won't fly in a plane and she doesn't drive, so Tully accompanies her, first to Palm Springs, and then across the country in pursuit of the runaway bride. The chase is on!
The story moves quickly from one locale to another. It's a long road trip, but it never gets boring. The people Margo and Tully meet along the way include lesbian dance competitors, entitled party girls, and mobsters, all after their own version of a dream. When you think you've figured out what was really taken from Charlotte, there's a new twist to the story, a new angle, that keeps you wanting to read further. I loved it!
The fabulous part is in all the wonderful details, from the classic cherry red MG car they drive in, to the couture fashion Margo "borrows" from her sister. This is a universe that is all about style. It is also about trying to tell the difference between style and substance (a tricky thing to do in Hollywood). Which is more important? Do you want to linger in the dream, or work with the reality?
The terribly tragedy of this book is that the superb author, Jane Lotter, passed away in 2013. What a glorious storyteller! Oh, the further books she could written, the tales she could have told! I hope her family revels in the fact that this one and only book Jane Lotter created is a marvelous tale. And it is not just a fluffy piece of literature. This book has a great balance between screwball comedy and sober introspection. When life's expectations clash with reality, do you face it or do you cling to the illusion? This is a book that I hope many people will read. Perhaps a deal with Hollywood can be reached? This would make a marvelous movie!
Rating:
Release Date: December 8th, 2015
Source: ARC from NetGalley
Format: E-Book
Recommendation: A fun story with entertaining characters.
Would I read another book from this author? Yes, but sadly the writer has passed away.
I've seen ads for this book around and thought about it, but I didn't know the author died in 2013. Sounds like a good book, and a that's a loss to the literary world.
ReplyDeleteI think she wrote a column in a newspaper in Seattle, prior to writing this book. It is so sad that she is not around to see her book widely published. I hope it is really successful and I think her family must be so proud of her!
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