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Title: A Perfect Arrangement: A Novel by Suzanne Berne ISBN: 0-452-28322-1 Publisher: Plume Pub. Date: 30 April, 2002 Format: Paperback Volumes: 1 List Price(USD): $13.00 |
Average Customer Rating: 3.31 (29 reviews)
Rating: 5
Summary: Excellent read for the summer - or any time of year
Comment: I buy too many books and lately have tried to borrow more from the library. The borrow can save me a good $20 or so. This time, I wish I'd bought instead of borrowed. There were pages and pages I wanted to highlight. Oh well. I'll just have to buy it and read it again.
This book perfectly captures the mounting and messy pressures we voluntarily assume with marriage, work and family; how these pressures can overwhelm us and lead -- as Berne says -- to a life "guided by hurry, guided by hope, counting on other chances for every chance" we take. This book tells the story of a likable, flawed and very real couple, Mirella and Howard, a married lawyer and architect couple who, by outside appearance, seem to have it all. But "it all" comes with a big price tag -- two very imperfect, difficult children and a juggling act that threatens to fall apart at any moment. And fall apart it does, starting with the hiring of nanny Randy, who -- like Mirella and Howard -- ostensibly looks perfect. Randy has both a dark side and a dark past which Berne tantalizingly reveals bit by bit. And Randy isn't the only one with secrets to hide. But, don't worry, the news isn't all bad.
Many have written about the constant duel of tension and satisfaction inherent in the "have it all" battle, but never so well as here. Berne is a wonderful writer. I was mesmerized for the entire book and went to sleep way too late, unwilling to put it down. Berne's writing is entirely fresh, un-cliche'd and breezy, suspenseful and profound, all at the same time. A rare find; well worth the read and the price.
Rating: 4
Summary: certain things not explained
Comment: I enjoyed A Perfect Arrangement, but there were a couple of issues I felt were not explained enough. For one, how did Mirella find out her husband had an affair? Did she get a letter? Did Randi say something? It was never explained. Did I miss something?
Second, what was the deal with Randi? I know she was getting overly attatched to Jacob, but I thought before the story ended I would get some sort of explanation as to why she acted that way. Seems like there was more to Randi that never was explained.
Rating: 1
Summary: I Was Highly Disappointed in This Book
Comment: I wasnt expecting blood and gore or anything as dramatic as in the movie "The Hand That Rocks the Cradle", but I was expecting something that would keep me interested enough to keep turning the pages: I didnt find it.
The characters in this book are two dimensional at best. the author never really gives us enough "meat" about the characters.. nothing to grip onto.
What the author does manage to do is waste time giving us details about things that really have no relevance to the story or to the main characters in the book; I really dont care what the details are of Mirellas latest legal case.. after all, the book is not about courtroom drama. the authors time would have been better spent enriching the characters and creating a better plot with a little more depth to it.
Partway through the book, there are hints that lead you to beleive that you know where the story is going; of course, most books have the same types of hints, and usually what happens is that rather than being predictable, you begin to relish where you think the story is going to go, and more often than not, you are wrong, because the plot often takes an unexpected twist that makes the stoy even better than you thought it was going to be...
This book does just the opposite. the story does not end up going where you think it will.. it ends up leading down a dull, flat road where the scenery is about as interesting as a stretch of barren interstate.
You can pick up your local newspaper and read real-life stories that are ten times more interesting than this book. I kept hanging on, turning the pages, hoping that maybe the next chapter would finally contain the heart of the story, that maybe the main players would finally come to life, but I was left frustrated by characters and a story that were as lifeless as old paper dolls.
The only positive thing that I can say about my experience with this book is that I am grateful that I didnt spend one thin dime on it.. I borrowed it from the library. still, reading it was a pitiful waste of time.
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Title: A Crime in the Neighborhood : A Novel by Suzanne Berne ISBN: 0805055800 Publisher: Henry Holt & Company, Inc. Pub. Date: 15 July, 1998 List Price(USD): $13.00 |
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Title: Coming Back to Me : A Novel by Caroline Leavitt ISBN: 0312305540 Publisher: St. Martin's Griffin Pub. Date: 01 September, 2003 List Price(USD): $13.95 |
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Title: A Trick of Nature by SUZANNE MATSON ISBN: 0345444566 Publisher: Ballantine Books Pub. Date: 30 October, 2001 List Price(USD): $12.95 |
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Title: The Center of Everything by Laura Moriarty ISBN: 1401300316 Publisher: Hyperion Press Pub. Date: 02 July, 2003 List Price(USD): $22.95 |
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Title: I Loved You All: A Novel by Paula Sharp ISBN: 0786886153 Publisher: Hyperion Pub. Date: September, 2001 List Price(USD): $13.95 |
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