Friday, Jul 24, 2009

Book Review: I’m So Happy For You by Lucinda Rosenfeld

Author:           Lucinda Rosenfeld

Publisher:       Back Bay Books

                    Hachette Book Group

ISBN #:          978-0-316-04450-9

Type:             Fiction:Women’s

Pages:            288 Trade Paperback

Publish Date:  July 29, 2009

Website:         HERE

Purchase:      $10.28 (HERE) 

The Story

“What if your best friend, whom you’ve always counted on to flounder in life and love (making your own modest accomplishments look not so bad), suddenly starts to surpass you in every way?

Wendy’s best friend, Daphne, has always been dependably prone to catastrophe. And Wendy has always been there to help. If Daphne veers from suicidal to madly in love, Wendy offers encouragement. But when Daphne is suddenly engaged, pregnant, and decorating a fabulous town house in no time at all, Wendy is…not so happy for her. Caught between wanting to be the best friend she prides herself on being and crippling jealousy of flighty Daphne, Wendy takes things to the extreme, waging a full-scale attack on her best friend-all the while wearing her best, I’m-so-happy-for-you smile-and ends up in way over her head.“

(Excerpt is from www.hachettebookgroup.com)

The Review

Women often have a difficult time finding a way to love and accept one another.  In my book, friendships are much different than “close acquaintances” and I primarily attribute that to the fact that your true friends love you with an unconditional heart.  Acquaintances, on the other hand, and no matter how close of one they may seem to be, maintain petty jealousies and will not honor your privacy.  They will often spill your secrets to other women or their spouses.  Why?  Attention-Seeking?  Insecurity-Ridden?  I have no idea!  But, it’s kept me away from developing closer relationships with women for a long time.

I have a small number of TRUE friends and can count them all on one hand.  And, I do love each and every one of them truly and wholy.  Their secrets are mine and vice versa.  On the other hand, I can claim a bit more close acquaintances.  If I’m being bad and being a bit of a gossip, I still try to remind myself to say the minimum possible and to also say positive things about them (along with juicy story I may be leaking).  But, I know that I fall short and I’m sure I’ve said things that I shouldn’t have.  It makes me think about men.  Men spend so much less time with the gossipy dynamics and relate to one another, pretty much, on face value.  I wonder if their friendships last longer…???

This book is about those things you say behind your friend’s back to your husband or to your other girlfriends.  This book is about those jealous thoughts you have in your head  when your best friend has everything you wish you did (because you’d never be so petty to admit them aloud).  Our heroine in this book learned, the hard way, just how these words and thoughts could easily injure, if not destroy, a relationship.  For me, this book was about jealousy being the downfall of friendship and how insecurity will send you into a useless orbit.  If anything, this book reminded me just how precious my friendships really are to me.

The Rating

This book was a hybrid of Women’s Fiction and ChickLit.  You had a bit of each in here, but I felt that it’s overall feel was more Women’s Fiction.  The book starts out strong and it takes you a few chapters to get into a rhythm, but once you do, it’s a seamless read.  I appreciated the multiple characters that the author provided and how they were intertwined with Daphne and Wendy.  I loved the ending of the postscript of the book where I was able to discover the endings to each of the primary characters’ lives.  I found the ending to be predictable, however it didn’t disappoint and I was pleased with the way that it unraveled. On Sher’s “Out of Ten Scale,” I would rate this book a 7.5 out of 10.

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