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Thursday, June 23, 2016

A Certain Age" A Reading Romp featuring the Roaring Twenties.

Part of the blurb for Beatrix William's A Certain Agestates "The bestselling author of A Hundred Summers brings the Roaring Twenties brilliantly to life in this enchanting and compulsively readable tale of intrigue, romance, and scandal in New York Society, brimming with lush atmosphere, striking characters, and irresistible charm." 

I would add that she does it with wit and an irreverence for an age which in itself seemed to embody irreverence. The author gives us a mad jumble with older women and their much younger, much less sophisticated love interests, young society debutantes, secrets, lies, murder, scandal, and the inevitable illegal gin of the Roaring Twenties. 

The setting: Manhattan in the glitzy Roaring 20's. 

The Characters: A forty-something bored society housewife, her much younger love interest she calls 'boy' or 'boyo' who soon professes to love her and wants her to divorce her ultra rich husband, a sweet young thing just ready for love (of course, she's rich), an aging lothario brother looking for love with the beautiful debutante (or looking for something with her), and a cast of family members and friends.

The Plot: Complicated with subplots, love, sex, improbable scenes except when you think of the setting, misplaced love, murder and scandal. 

The Resolution: How will it all be resolved? Will love win? Which love? Is the murder solved by the "Trial of the Century'? 

Don't pick up this book if you are looking for a serious, deep thought-provoking read. It is funny and frivolous. I can easily see this as a Broadway romp in the vein of Neil Simon, and at times it reminded me of a Shakespearean play. All told lightly, thus ensuring easy reading.

I received an Advance Reader's Edition from William Morrow Imprint of Harper Collins for my unbiased opinion.

Available June 28, 2016.