Ballantine, May 2004, 23.95, 320 pp. ISBN: 0345468570 While in Burbank Lucy Balder asks her best friend Jessica Taylor back in New York to bake something for her fifth grade daughter when the she makes something for her own child to take to school. While Lucy is happily married to Dan and has two other children, Jessica still dreams of her ex Jacques. She still desires him though his babyish behavior ended their marriage. Afterward she adopted her child. Lucy informs Jess that she has taken on a lover. Since Jess likes Dan, she is concerned about what her friend is doing to what seemed a stable contented marriage. From work, Josh Gordon wants Jess, but Jacques is back and in her mind no one measures up to her former French spouse. Josh plans to prove otherwise that he, Jess and her daughter belong together instead of the unreliable French lover. THE BOTOX DAIRIES is an interesting character study that looks deep into the minds of two women closing in on middle age. The story line focuses more on Jess, but also provides the audience insight into Lucy. The secondary cast, especially the males, enable the audience to glimpse even more so than normal into the respective essences of the two female friends. Though there is very little action, fans of powerfully insightful life stories will appreciate the profound collaborative effort of Janice Kaplan and Lynn Schnurnberger. Harriet Klausner | ||
Plot & Themes Tone of book? - thoughtful Time/era of story - 2000+ (Present Day) Romance/Romance Problems Yes Kind of romance: Unmarried Love Triangle? Yes Main Character Gender - Female Profession/status: Age: - 20's-30's Ethnicity/Nationality Main Adversary Identity: - none Setting United States Yes The US: - Northeast - California Writing Style Amount of dialog - significantly more dialog than descript |