GOSSIP by Beth Gutcheon

Finished We 2/20/13

February 2013 Selection for The Contemporary Book Club, Springfield IL.

This is the story of three female 'baby-boomers' who met in boarding school, and remained close over the next fifty years. The author, Beth Gucheon, includes a rather antiquated definition of the title word, however the novel is driven by rumor, malicious talk, and light, indiscreet chatter, in fact, the tone of the novel is downright, 'gossipy'. The three women become more-or-less very prominent fixtures in Manhattan's High Society. Dinah writes several newspaper columns and becomes an authority on all that's 'hip', Avis becomes an astute and reticent fixture in the rarefied world of Art, and Lovie French, the narrator of the tale, is the owner of a trendy fashion boutique, and renown for her impeccable taste. However, all of them seem to be trapped in lives that are governed and dictated by other people's false impressions of them. Jim Morrison claimed in one of his songs that, 'No one here gets out alive', and it seems that Gucheon's novel makes the point that 'No one here gets out free from the negative opinions of others'.

The novel is written in a light and breezy style, and filled with wonderfully written scenes. It's kind of a 'Thinking Man's, THE REAL HOUSEWIVES OF NEW YORK CITY.

My post on Good Reads-

A Thinking Person's---THE REAL HOUSEWIVES OF NEW YORK CITY, written in a light and breezy style, filled with wonderfully written scenes.

This is the story of three female 'baby-boomers' who met in boarding school, and remained close over the next fifty years. The author, Beth Gucheon, includes a rather antiquated definition of the title word, however the novel is driven by rumor, malicious talk, and light, indiscreet chatter, in fact, the tone of the novel is downright, 'gossipy'. The three women become more-or-less very prominent fixtures in Manhattan's High Society. Dinah writes several newspaper columns and becomes an authority on all that's 'hip', Avis becomes an astute and reticent fixture in the rarefied world of Art, and Lovie French, the narrator of the tale, is the owner of a trendy fashion boutique, and renown for her impeccable taste. However, all of them seem to be trapped in lives that are governed and dictated by other people's false impressions of them. Jim Morrison claimed in one of his songs that, 'No one here gets out alive', and it seems that Gucheon's novel makes the point that 'No one here gets out free from the negative opinions of others'.