2013 book 147

J. Courtney Sullivan's Engagements
Sullivan's latest--after Maine and Commencement--is another book that straddles the line between literary fiction and women's fiction, and is just as satisfying as her first two. This one has five separate storylines (it's not clear how they fit together until the end), all involving marriages/engagements in some way. My very favorite was the one involving Frances Gerety and her work with an advertising agency on DeBeer's--she basically singlehandedly created the engagement ring industry! I had intended to compare her to Mad Men's Peggy Olson until the acknowledgements clued me into the fact that Frances was REAL and was really that awesome--so really, Peggy Olson is modeled on Frances, and not vice-versa. The other storylines are strong too--I also really liked the most current one, involving an anti-marriage woman helping with her (gay) cousin's wedding in 2012, and the story of a French woman scorned (though one of her actions immediately took away all my sympathy). There's also a woman in the 1970s dealing with her wayward adult son, but the flashbacks to her own youth are pretty powerful. I was less interested in the EMT with a struggling marriage and financial situation--also the only major male character, and I'm not sure what that says about me! Anyway, this is a great pick for summer reading, and I definitely recommend it. A-.

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A review copy was provided by the publisher. This book will be released on June 11th.