"Jimmy's Girl"

Author: Stephanie Gertler
Genre: Fiction
Publisher: Penguin Group, 2001
Pages: 274
Rating: Recommend

This is my favorite Stephanie Gertler novel.

Synopsis (from the book jacket): Do you ever think back on your first love? This acclaimed debut novel explores the "what if" questions that live in every woman's heart.

Emily Hudson should be happy. She has achieved modest success as a painter and lives a good suburban life with her husband and four children. But one day, somewhere between the train schedule, orthodontist appointments, and bake sales, Emily stopped and remembered who she was when she found love with James Moran - the young man she kissed beneath her parents' Ping Pong table - the boy who made her Jimmy's Girl.

It's been thirty years since they went their separate ways. But Emily cannot stop herself from thinking about Jimmy nor can she resist using the Internet to find his address and telephone number and placing the phone call that will change both their lives forever.

When Emily and Jimmy decide to meet again, they risk the lives they've made for themselves and the happiness of their respective families. In one unforgettable weekend, the will learn what went wrong between them and find out together if it deserves a second chance.

Told from the perspective of both Jimmy and Emily, each in turn revealing their lies and their truths, this remarkable novel shows with tenderness and heart-rending accuracy the differences between what men and women say and what men and women hear. The debut of a writer of extraordinary talent, Jimmy's Girl is a novel for anoyone who ever left love behind and dared to wonder "what if?"

Review: This is a difficult review to write because it hits close to home, very close to home actually. I loved this novel and almost feel as though Gertler should have stopped writing once this debuted. It would be impossible to top with another novel. She came close with Drifting, but clearly this is the masterpiece of her career.

This novel didn't end the way that I wanted, but few ever do. It ended in the way that I dreaded it would which didn't make for a bad or even disappointing ending, but rather a difficult ending. On an emotional level. It ends the way it "should" though. Gertler does a good job of ensuring her characters stay true to themselves.

While I loved this book, the majority of those who gave their opinions on the tiny slip of paper attached to the last page of the novel for that very purpose, found it "too drawn out", "boring", and thought it "strayed from the plot". I wholeheartedly disagree with each of those opinions and of course have no idea who wrote them or their individual situations, but I find it hard to believe that anyone who ever wondered about a lost love or "what might have been" would find this drawn out or boring. I couldn't put it down.

And that is why I have a hard time rating this one. I loved it and would have "highly recommended" it had I not read the opinions in the back. When four of six reviewers didn't care for it, I hesitate to give it a "highly recommend" rating. Perhaps a reader has to experience a lost love situation such as this to fully appreciate all this novel has to offer. I would love for anyone reading this to weigh in with your own opinion.

Read reviews of other Stephanie Gertler novels:
Drifting
A Puzzle Barktree

"Drifting"

Author: Stephanie Gertler
Genre: Fiction
Publisher: Penguin Group, 2003
Pages: 258
Rating: Recommend

Synopsis (from the book jacket): Although raised by a loving father, Claire is still haunted by the absence of her mother, who abandoned her as a baby. Now a mother of two, she has made a life for herself in the coastal town of Drifting, Connecticut, where she and her husband, Eli, run a Victorian inn. With her children grown, her maternal instincts are reawakened when Nicholas Pierce and his blind seven-year-old daughter, Kayla, come to stay at the inn. As the young child's affinity for Claire begins to resonate within her, Claire finds herself drawn into a struggle to save Kayla when the dark truth emerges about Nicholas. Ultimately, the challenge to save Kayla unleashes Claire's desire to find her missing mother. It is only then that Claire embarks on a courageous journey to understand her past.

Fearlessly plumbing the depths of the heart, Stephanie Gertler has crafted a wise and moving novel that tests the bonds of mothers and daughters and their ability to transcend any obstacle.

Review: I read The Puzzle Barktree some time ago and liked it enough to want to read another Stephanie Gertler novel. Drifting was a page turner and I think it's a better storyline than that of The Puzzle Barktree, but both are good reads.

Drifting is a tear jerker at times and I did feel an emotional bond with the characters.

There was a lot going on plot-wise and one storyline did feel a bit like an afterthought, but somehow it works too. Gertler writes a solid novel that most will enjoy.

Read reviews of other Stephanie Gertler novels:
Jimmy's Girl
The Puzzle Barktree

The Starlite Drive-In

Author: Marjorie Reynolds
Genre: Fiction
Publisher: William Morrow and Company, Inc.
Pages: 282
Rating: Recommend

Synopsis: When land developers uncover human bones at the site of the old drive-in, Callie Anne Benton realizes that she alone knows the identity of the victim who mysteriously disappeared thirty-six years ago. In The Starlite Drive-in Callie Anne recalls the tumultuous summer of 1956. Nearly thirteen, she's stuck at home with her parents during a long, hot summer in rural Indiana. Her father, an angry, bitter man, runs the drive-in, and the only time she ever feels close to him is when they're in the projection booth watching movies. Her mother is an agoraphobe who hasn't left the house in five years, effectively trapping her husband in a job he's grown to hate. When a drifter named Charlie Memphis comes to work at the drive-in, the sweltering summer becomes more bearable. Both mother and daughter fall for Memphis's charms, but Callie Anne's father remains suspicious of his secretive past. A disastrous turn of events changes all of their lives forever, and it's up to the grown-up Callie Anne to unlock the secret of the decades-old mystery.

Review: The drive-in makes an interesting backdrop for this well-written story. I would have liked a few twists and an ending that was less predictable, but it was impossible to not identify with the characters, flawed though they were. I was drawn into Callie Anne's world and hated to leave it behind when the novel ended.

This excerpt, found on page 167, especially resonated with me:

"Didn't you ever think of marrying before?"

"Once."

"Why didn't you?"

He pondered for a moment. "Guess you might say she had expectations. Her daddy owned a big company in the center of town. Hell, her father owned the town. She got this idea of me working in this factory office he had, sorting through stacks of paper and making some sense of them. I tried to tell her I wasn't built like that, but she thought if I loved her. . .well, finally it began to occur to me a man don't love the way a woman does. He just loves.

That's a powerful line within the story, and one that has means something to me. It will stay with me for a long time, I'm sure.

It's a Wonderful Life, A Novel

Genre: Christmas novel / Fiction

Publisher: HarperPaperbacks, 1996

Pages: 152

Rating: Highly Recommend

Synopsis (from the book jacket): Few movies in history have succeeded at enchanting generations of moviegoers like Frank Capra's 1946 Christmas favorite, It's a Wonderful Life. Here is the timeless tale of George Bailey, a small town nobody who wants to make a difference without realizing that he already has. Seen and loved by billions around the world, It's a Wonderful Life is the bestselling Christmas video ever. It is a simple story that captures the heart and spirit of everyone who sees it, no matter how many times.

In celebration of the 50th anniversary of this perennial film favorite, here, for the first time is the novel, It's a Wonderful Life. Here are all the characters we know and love: George, his steadfast wife Mary, Zuzu, Tommy, Janie, Pete, absentminded Uncle Billy, Mom and Pop Bailey, Harry, Mr. Gower, Vi, and of course, Mr. Potter.

In its poignant and sensitive way, It's a Wonderful Life encourages us to ask the question, "What would life have been like if we hadn't been born?" During a crisis-filled night, in the little town of Bedford Falls circa 1945, George Bailey -- father, husband, and president of the Bailey Building and Loan, facing the prospect of scandal and ruin, finds out.

With the not-quite-an angel Clarence at his side to show him, Geroge is given a gift anyone might wish for: to see the world as if he had never lived in it. As if he had never met his wife, saved his family's business, rescued his brother from drowning, or single-handedly freed his lovely town from the greed and selfishness of a rich old man.

And the discovery that George makes on this Christmas Eve night -- that one life tuoches so many -- is a lesson to us all. Not just during Christmas, but all year long.

Review: I have never watched this movie. I didn't know what it was about and there was always something else that I thought I'd enjoy more. I hope to watch it this Christmas. What a sweet story with a timeless message.