Friday, April 06, 2007

The Ladies' Man by Elinor Lipman

Adele Dobbin found out she was not getting married when her fiance, Harvey Nash, failed to show up at their engagement party; no note, no phone call. Since then Adele has spent her life with her two sisters, not dating, and working at the public TV station in town.


Now, thirty years later Harvey shows up at her door wanting to make amends. Or does he? Being the chronic womanizer he is, Harvey can't seem to keep his eyes or hands off the women he meets, including Adele's sister Kathleen. His arrival pushes the sisters to reexamine their lives and search for their own self-worth.

The Ladies' Man is a fascinating study of characters. Harvey Nash is an insincere, self-centered, womanizer who sees nothing wrong with his life of no direction and non-commitment and takes no responsibility for any of his actions past or present. But, you can't help liking him. Adele Dobbins, at first glance, is a spinster who has wasted her life because of her broken engagement but soon you discover that this is not true at all. If you like novels with unique characters and snappy dialogue, you will like this.


KSS

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