Tuesday 12 December 2017

Heartburn by Nora Ephron


I listened to this destined-to-be-classic. Nora Ephron brought us "When Harry met Sally", "Sleepless in Seattle" and "You've got Mail" - all of which revived the romantic comedy film industry. She also wrote "Julie and Julia", in which Meryl Streep depicted Julia Childs.

No small reputation - when you've invented lines like "I'll have what she's having" from Harry and Sally or "You make a million decisions that mean nothing, and then one day, you order take-out, and it changes your life" from Sleepless, then expectations are high. Very.



And then it's narrated by Meryl Streep. Herself. 

Oh, did I mention the expectations?

And Heartburn was, well, ok. Based on the author's own story of love and breakup, it was mildly amusing, fairly heartwarming and a jolly good read. But nothing like those movies, or even the lines from them. I also discovered that of Nora's other stories, only When Harry Met Sally is a book (the rest are unpublished screenplays).

Heartburn starts when Rachel is seven months pregnant and her husband leaves her for another woman, who has a "neck as long as an arm and a nose as long as a thumb". Rachel has a therapy group (of course) and writes cookbooks for a living, but mostly what she wants is revenge.

“I married him against all evidence. I married him believing that marriage doesn't work, that love dies, that passion fades, and in so doing I became the kind of romantic only a cynic is truly capable of being.” 

Read it for an entertaining diversion, with some recipes thrown in.

Enjoyable, not all that remarkable, here are some more snippets.

3 stars

ISBN:  9780679767954

You may also enjoy Furiously Happy by Jenny Lawson , Blue Shoe by Ann Lamott or Fates and Furies by Lauren Groff.

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Friday 1 December 2017

Friday Books - Girl Unknown

It's Friday, so it's time to hook up with other book admirers and share excerpts from the books around us. We join Book Beginningshosted by Rose City Readerwhere you share the first line, and  a few thoughts about the book.







David is the one who spots this girl (David, the lecturer) - and she announces "'I think you might be my father . . .'



At Freda's Voice, you'll find the Friday56, where the excerpt comes from page 56 or 56% in your Kindle.





Karen Perry is the pen name of Dublin-based authors Paul Perry and Karen Gillece. I like the look of this one, even though I haven't read a word yet (except these snippets shared).

Enjoy your reading - leave me a comment and I'll visit you soon.