Unaccompanied Women

June 15, 2006
In her best-selling A Round-Heeled Woman, Juska told of her personals ad in the New York Review of Books ("Trollope works for me") and of the erotic exploits that ensued. Here, she continues her rueful and entertaining kvetch cum memoir about man huntingnow also house huntingwith her intelligentsia boyfriends gone part-time or married and her rental bungalow threatened by landlord turnover. Less structured than her first book, this sequel paints the plaints and personalities of a variety of senior women, fans of Round-Heeled who became the author's co-conspirators. Some endure as vestal veterans; others have indeed found "good men." Juska herself, also too vestal for her own tastes, has unexpectedly become a poster grandmom for senior love and is regularly besieged with requests for advice. Twilight chick-lit readers will gain no assurance of happy endings, good men, or perfect bungalows but may be fortified to face the often lonely evening into night with Juska's savvy, humor, andeventually, if unwillinglygrace. Recommended for collections in sociosexuality, aging, and contemporary autobiography. [See Prepub Alert, LJ 1/06.]Martha Cornog, Philadelphia

Copyright 2006 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

Starred review from June 1, 2006
At age 66, Juska, a divorced teacher, placed a personal ad in the " New York Review of Books" proclaiming her desire "to have a lot of sex with a man I like." Her best-selling debut, " A Round-Heeled Woman" (2003), vividly recounted the steamy--and not so steamy--adventures that resulted from her refusal to go gently into senior-citizen celibacy. Her droll follow-up begins five years (and many dates) later, with Juska still precariously single, an "unaccompanied" woman looking for companionship and, yes, lots of sessions between the sheets. While she becomes a confidante to countless women, Juska readily admits to a less-than-stellar romantic track record. She pines for loves past: Robert, whom she desperately loved but who never loved her back (worse still, he took up with her best friend), and Graham, half her age and now happily married (heavy sigh). Juska is compassionate and wise, with an irrepressible, wry wit. She regales the reader with tales of her book signings and the testosterone-laden attendees she dubs "Men at the End of the Line." In a secondary--but no less compelling--story line, she longs for a larger home to replace the Berkeley, California, cottage she's outgrown. Even the most jaded souls will find it to hard to resist this sexy septuagenarian whose lust for life surely makes her the pride of AARP. (Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2006, American Library Association.)