Overview
“Underneath it all–designer clothes and moxie aside–my mother was more than any daughter should ever have to handle.”- from Bachelor Degree
Strolling the city sidewalks of Manhattan’s posh Upper East Side are a bevy of well-dressed, attractive, and notably eligible single men, but can Samantha Krasner snag one before the competition does? Finding Mr. Right would certainly help keep her mother at bay. After all, the only thing separating their two apartments is Central Park. Not big enough.
A successful gallery diva who must answer to a boss from hell, thirty-eight-year-old Samantha nonetheless finally feels as if she’s leading her own life. But the ever-hovering, smothering Madeleine Krasner-Wolfe, a twice-divorced and filthy rich force of nature, always seems to have advice for her daughter about everything from fashion and beauty regimens to men.
When Samantha signs up the new rising star of the art world, Blake Hamilton, Madeleine immediately sees him as a prospective son-in-law. Hoping to help her daughter land a husband before it’s too late, Madeleine launches a flirt campaign that both infuriates and enthralls Samantha– compelling her to finally take action. From the toniest penthouses of Park Avenue to the trendiest SoHo lofts, Samantha is on a mission–if only her mother would get out of the way.
Praise for Judith Marks-White’s Seducing Harry:
“Judith Marks-White writes with lashings of humor and a healthy dose of cynicism laced with sweetness.”
–Jane Green, author of Second Chance
“The literary equivalent of a bon bon . . . the perfect book to wedge between all those weighty Booker Prize-winning reads piled up by the bedside.”
–Elle.com
“[Marks-White] has a sharp eye for absurdity and excess.”
–The Boston Globe
Editorials
Publishers Weekly
In this brassy sophomore effort from Marks-White (Seducing Harry), divorced New York gallery associate Samantha Krasner, 38, has always been overshadowed by her rich, twice-widowed, art collector mother, Madeleine Krasner-Wolfe. To Madeleine's delight, Samantha hits it off with artist de jour Blake Hamilton, though she urges Samantha to put the long-distance affair on the back burner and get things brewing with much-gossiped-about hottie gynecologist Spencer Gould. Madeleine sets her sights on Spencer's also-gyno father, and schedules appointments for them (and a niece, too, for good measure)-with unexpected results. As Blake's debut exhibit approaches, secrets and lies are unleashed that test all concerned. Though Samantha, who narrates, is meant to be witty and acerbic, she comes off as hard. And in light of the book's theme of looking for love in the big bad city, the third-act scandal almost seems like a tacked-on after-thought. Marks-White does do a sterling job of name-checking the hangouts and proclivities of affluent New Yorkers ("When I dipped my fork into my lobster seasoned with vanilla and set on a cauliflower puree, I actually gasped"), which brings her brand of Manhattan to life.Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.