Review: The Wise Women: A Novel

The Wise Women: A Novel by Gina Sorell
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Everything you need to know before buying this book is explained perfectly in the synopsis. This book is about three women, well, four if you count Barb's girlfriend and their difficulties in their lives.

This is a story about a true-to-life family. Unfortunately, this family seems to have it all, including major financial problems, a missing husband, a possible pyramid scheme, and an eviction.

This is also a book about the rising housing costs in cities (and suburbs) and what needs to be done to keep neighborhoods reasonable without over-building. We've been dealing with that in my own little city, so this aspect really resonated with me. I believe that it will resonate with many younger first-time home buyers too. But enough with my preaching!

The characters are fully fleshed, the story is told without repetition, the descriptions of the neighborhoods are spot on, and the resolution to this story is spot on. There are unique nuances and a lot of synchronicity to this book!

I loved this book and firmly see this as a wonderful book for book clubs and the perfect women's fiction beach read.

*ARC provided by the publisher Harper, the author, and Edelweiss.

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SYNOPSIS: "A witty and wildly enjoyable novel, set in New York City, about two adult daughters and their meddling advice columnist mother, for readers of Meg Wolitzer, Cathleen Schine, and Cynthia D’Aprix Sweeney.

Popular advice columnist Wendy Wise has been skillfully advising the women who write to her seeking help for four decades, so why are her own daughters’ lives such a mess? Clementine, the working mother of a six-year-old boy, has just discovered that she is actually renting the Queens home that she thought she owned, because her husband Steve secretly funneled their money into his flailing start-up. Meanwhile, her sister Barb has overextended herself at her architecture firm and reunited semi-unhappily with her cheating girlfriend.

When Steve goes MIA and Clementine receives an eviction notice, Wendy swoops in to save the day, even though her daughters, who are holding onto some resentments from childhood, haven’t asked for her help. But as soon as Wendy sets her sights on hunting down her rogue son-in-law, Barb and Clementine quickly discover that their mother has been hiding more than a few problems of her own.

As the three women confront the disappointments and heartaches that have accumulated between them over the years, they discover that while the future may look entirely different from the one that they’ve expected, it may be even brighter than they’d hoped."