Review by Kirkus Book Review
A widow at 38, Elizabeth Fergusen is sheathed in ""emotional Plexiglass""; she's anxious, depressed, and (offspring of alcoholic parents) drinks too much; she's ""a stranger in a strange land, her skin didn't fit correctly."" So it's daughter Rosie, an eight-year-old of giant affections, with the kooky inventiveness of a Watergate plumber, who keeps Elizabeth getting up in the morning, cooking, chauffeuring, and loving until it hurts. Rosie is the first grade's Hot Shot, a wow at Show and Tell. (One day she brings in a black rock which, she explains, comes from the star that fell in the Fergusen back yard, killing Elizabeth's boyfriend--the latest boring one.) Her best friend is Sharon Thackery, whose mother Sybil makes swell stuff like tuna fish casserole instead of Elizabeth's ""disgusting gourmet slop."" But even Rosie can't singlehandedly cure Elizabeth's malaise: bright and attractive, she found most men boring till Andrew came along, the ""great good man"" with money, kindness, and faith. But then Andrew was killed in an auto accident--leaving Elizabeth enough money to drift in a San Francisco suburb, bored with her own boredom and drinking more, unenticed by jobs, Causes, or trends (like ""Personal grooviness Über alles""). So Elizabeth just ""embellishes"" herself to herself, while two good people do appear on the scene, adored by Rosie: weaver Rae, who beams a lot, eats like a vacuum cleaner, loves much, and lusts for a worm named Brian; and unpublished writer James Atterbury, so close to being a ""great good man""--with fire, humor, and kindness. James smokes, however; he's short and chews his food like a starving rodent. ""Love,"" says Elizabeth, ""is details""--as she skids but can't surrender. And only after some booms and blasts of reality--a dangerous drug trip, an obscene threat to Rosie, Rae's dumps, James' glooms, jealousy, rage, overwhelming love--does Elizabeth discover pockets of strength she didn't know she had. With more coherence and less of a tendency to dabble in playful verbiage than Lamott's Hard Laughter (1980) debut: a sunny, strong-backed novel--featuring great, good people and a rare bird in Rosie herself. Copyright ©Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
