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[/amazon_link]Title : The Pretty One
Author : Lucinda Rosenfield
Genre : Women’s fiction
Publisher : Atria Books
Pages : 320
Source : Netgalley/Publisher ARC
Rating : 3.5/5
Olympia (Pia) is the middle sister of three. She is the pretty, artsy one. Imperia or Perri is the eldest – the perfectionist – the wannabe perfect wife, mother, daughter, and CEO of her own home organization company. Augusta or Gus is the youngest. The brainy intellectual of the three, Gus is a lawyer busy fighting for women’s rights. The three live in the same city as their parents Carol and Bob, meet often, talk every day, carp and fight, harmonize and makeup, as it is with family.
On her 40th birthday Perri gets up and leaves her home with a nary a note or an explanation to where she is going or why. The family is thrown into confusion, especially with Carol in the hospital with a head injury. Pia is pulled into temporarily helping Perri’s household, with awkward consequences, and Gus makes matters worse by blabbing about everyone’s secrets; the sisters may never see eye to eye on anything ever again.
The pretty one is a tale of three sisters – one perfect, one accomplished and one pretty (hence the title); piqued yet? I wasn’t, a quarter of the way through. It seemed like nothing happened, and all I was privy to were the physical visits, the comings and goings of the sisters into each other’s homes, with very little insight into the hows and the whys. The narrative is split up between the three sisters and we get to hear of each one’s story, trials and tribulations (although not in first person). In the beginning at least it seemed like there was a lot of “telling” going on instead of “showing”, but then there were also lines to make me smile:
Olympia felt as if she needed a double dose of her anxiety medication. It wasn’t just the idea of Perri’s pantry that unnerved her.. The very idea of cooking filled Olympia with dread and self-doubt. She never understood how other women she knew all seemed to know how to make braised lamb shanks and turnip puree. When had they learned? And who had taught them?
After Perri’s birthday meltdown, the book really got going, and the pages flew by. I will say that each sister is interesting in her own way, although I am most sympathetic to Pia, the pretty one. While married-with-children Perri is fighting middle-age blues, and lesbian Gus is having a rocky time in her relationship, Pia is the single mother of 6 year old Lola and doesn’t know who Lola’s father is. She is on the brink of losing her job, beset with loneliness, beleaguered by her competitive, professionally successful sisters, and critical mother. She doesn’t need more heartache but she gets it anyway.
While Perri’s meltdown is the trigger that sets off chaotic events, this book is not about them. It is about the relationship between sisters, and parents and the ties that bind family together, even in the face of raging jealousies and big betrayals. Rosenfeld’s writing style is casual, but she etches out her characters very well and manages to make them real people we can identify with. I wasn’t too enthused about this book in the beginning but I am so glad I stuck with it; I might have lost out on a heart-warming read.
