THREE WOMEN AND A BABY DADDY...
“A trio of eccentric women and the city of New Orleans come vividly alive in this diverting debut!...Quirky, irreverent and irresistible.” —Publishers WeeklyYou just know a book titled green eyes delivers all the good stuff--seduction, envy, Southern charm with all the accompanying treachery (Scarlett O’Hara had them); and shopping. You heard right—we did say shopping— in Darby Cooper’s case, for the perfect human studhorse, a man who can pass along the gene that gets you into grad school along with the prettiest emerald orbs in Louisiana. Who wouldn’t want that for her kid?
If you're a fan of Too Jewish, you’ll remember Darby as the smart, sad kid from the royally messed-up Cooper family, the only daughter of a Holocaust escaper.
Now that it's the 70’s, she’s grown up to be a hoot— still shy and depressed, still baffled and reclusive, in truth still pretty much a trainwreck, but for all that, a woman who knows her way around a sardonic turn of phrase and who dares to become a single mom before it's cool. The good news? Meet Darby’s precious baby daughter, precocious, green-eyed Honor.
And the bad? Oy vey! That’s in the book too.
It’s the perfect read for any woman who’s ever felt ignored, rebellious, under-appreciated, and a little bit green-eyed—hmmm, shall we just say any contemporary woman?
Who in particular will like it: Those who enjoyed the movie “Trainwreck” and perhaps identify a bit too much; fans of Lena Dunham and other screwed-up outsider heroines; everyone who loves New Orleans! And women (men too) partial to dark humor, Jewish fiction, family dramas, and slyly humorous literary fiction. Because the humor here is subtle, the characters sharply drawn, the prose razor-honed; the laughs chuckles rather than guffaws.
So...not a fun chick lit romp. Those craving “a quick, easy read” or other mental vacation should probably look elsewhere. (We’re not being condescending—just trying to help you make a good decision. For fun chick lit romps, we recommend choosing from our very own booksBnimble website!)
One more tip: Green Eyes was originally published by Viking Press as The Exact Image of Mother; and it was also briefly called Too Jewish: The Next Generation. If you've read either of those, great news--you can move right on to Book Three in the trilogy. Do Not Open For 50 Years, The final volume of the Cooper Family Saga, is now available.
AUTHOR’S NOTE: Green Eyes, was first published in 1991, almost a quarter of a century before its prequel, Too Jewish. I wanted to tell more of the Cooper family’s story, which meant it got sandwiched between a prequel and a sequel. So it's a bit different-- I was quite a bit less experienced. But it’s the first novel I ever wrote, so please be kind! –-Patty Friedmann
PUBLISHER'S NOTE: I was a fan when it first came out and I still am. Take a chance on it! -- Julie Smith, booksBnimble
